Re: Alfa Spica vs Ferrari Webbers (sic; correctly Webers)

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

Alfa's statements at the time, widely reported in the US automotive press at
the time and not, to my recollection, rebutted by anyone at the time, was that
the Spica system enabled them to meet then-current emissions requirements
(albeit modest ones, in hindsight) WITH NO LOSS IN PERFORMANCE, ECONOMY,
DRIVABILITY, or anything else. Admittedly it was a short-lived accomplishment;
three years later the 2000 had much milder valve timing, and soon after that
the exhaust manifolds started coming with cast-in bosses for the future
air-pumps, and from '75 through '81 the company was playing catch-up with
49-state, CA, and 50-state versions and several substantial losses in
performance.

It may be that there were other performance cars which stayed with carbs
without taking any hits on any aspects of performance. If so, good for them.

James Montebello, responding to Paul Misencik, wrote "People forget that fuel
injection was considered an exciting exotic performance technology in the 60s.
I'm sure a great many other manufacturers would have switched if they could
have justified the expense to the beancounters.  The engineers won at Alfa and
Porsche, and lost in many other places." Perhaps so, and maybe earlier; the
300 SL in the mid-fifties, Corvette in '57, Stu Hilborn (one 'l' or two?) at
the dry lakes in the late forties, with the first lakester to break 150 mph
(memory; if I'm wrong, do correct me.) My recollection is that among US
Alfisti Webers were revered; I had no sense that they yearned for (or
welcomed) a new exciting exotic performance technology to replace what they
considered simply the best. I wasn't really following what BMW or Porsche were
up to, but my impression is that their excursions into injection technology
were home-market or world-market rather than USA-only, but I may be wrong.
Whether the Italian home market would or would not have been excited by the
new performance technology I can't say, but Germany was a major export market
for Alfa, and Alfa didn't offer Spicas there to compete with BMW's and
Porsche's lead in injection.

The only explanations I have heard for the US being the only market to get, or
be offered, Spica-injected cars is that Spica didn't have the production
capacity, and that the system was more expensive to manufacture than the
Webers or their Dellorto and Solex semiclones. I don't believe there were any
claims at the time that performance with Spica injection was better than the
best carburetion; only that it met US emissions regulations with no loss in
performance. Whether any of the cars that stayed with carbs appreciably later,
whether Honda or Ferrari, could claim that last clause - "with no loss in
performance" - is a question I'll let someone else answer.

Cordially,

John H.

Raleigh, N.C.
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