AR 1090, and Giulietta Nuova

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Henrik Johansen took the bait and asked "BTW what is a tipo AR 1090,
transaxle, wrong wheel drive? The only late fifties - early sixties Alfa I
know of is a tipo 103 prototype with a transversely mounted 898 cc engine. 2
cars and 3 engines were made."

It is essentially identical to a Renault Dauphine, except built by Alfa Romeo
at Portello, badged as an Alfa Romeo, and sold and serviced by Alfa Romeo
dealers. There were other detail differences- 12 v instead of 6v,
hound's-tooth check upholstery fabric from the Giulietta T.I., etc. There was
also a more deluxe version called the Ondine.

The front engined front wheel drive R4, a more spartan-looking econobox, was
also built under the same arrangement but not actually badged as an Alfa
Romeo.

A fairly large number were built - 112,311 over five years, compared to 21,152
1900s over seven years, or 174,713 Giuliettas over seven years (of which about
17,000 were Spiders).

Alfa purists may question whether it was a "real" Alfa Romeo (as some did
later over other models). Fusi does not list it at all, but d'Amico & Tabucchi
do list it as an Alfa Romeo production car.

On the Giulietta Nuova, Henrick's statement that "Most, if not all, bodypanels
are a straight fit. The interior is a straight fit, except for one differently
placed bolt in the dashboard" is, I think, a considerable overstatement. The
production number he gives, 379,691 is a tad higher than d'Amico & Tabucchi
(348,145) but both are appreciably higher than the 316,699 of the 75/Milano in
all versions.



John H.
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