[alfa] Alfetta 'Turbina' wheels

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Arnoil@domain.elided

Alfetta 'Turbina" wheels

Arno Leskinen writes "Keep in mind that there are two designs of the Alfetta
'turbina'.  The Cromadora version is labeled 'Campanatura 45'.  The version
sold by Cosentino is made by Campagnolo.  They differ in detail, such as
having 3 vs. 5 indentations in the pattern.  Thus, be careful if buying wheels
from different sources or parts cars, since they may not match and you will
notice the difference."

The "Turbina" story is a tad more complicated than that. At least among the
ones I have, both the Cromodora (with an 'o', not an 'a', according to them)
and Campagnolo Alfetta Turbinas are labeled "Campanatura 45". The "45" is
useful in distinguishing between the similar-looking 105/115 wheels
(Campanatura 38) and Alfetta wheels, but not for distinguishing between
Cromodora wheels and Campagnolo wheels. The distinction between three
indentations and five (in the central hub ring, between the bolt holes) is
also not reliable; Cosentino's own catalog shows 105/115 Campagnolos with
three indentations (on p.96) and with five indentations (on p.99) and on p.100
a three-indentation Alfetta wheel misidentified as a 105/115 wheel. Cosentino
also sold Cromodora wheels, listing Alfa as one of the fitments, although his
catalog does not illustrate the Cromodora in the Turbina pattern with an Alfa
caption.

The most obvious visual distinction between 105/115 Turbinas and Alfetta
turbinas, among the ones I have seen, is that regardless of make the Alfetta
wheels have all of the turbine "blades" separate, while the 105/115 have all
of the blades in siamesed pairs with the alternate recesses filled in. The
other most obvious visual distinction between Campagnolo Turbinas and
Cromodora Turbinas, among the ones I have seen, is that regardless of fitment
the Campagnolos appear cruder in finish; Campagnolos were apparently
originally sand-castings, with some perfunctory hand-finishing, and later were
low-pressure die castings, while Cromodora used high-pressure die-casting from
the beginning, generating smoother surfaces and sharply defined letters and
other details, and possibly different mechanical attributes.

"Campanatura" simply means offset (Fred D. taught me that, in no uncertain
terms.) It derives from campana, bell; the campanatura is the distance to the
back of the bellmouth from the wheel's centerline. (Campanilismo is
parochialism, provincialism, chauvinism, being intellectually stuck in the
shadow of the belltower of the village where one was born.) Campagnolo (with
the all-important 'g') is similarly derived from the very different word
campagna, countryside; it means rustic, peasant, countryman, farmer, bumpkin.

There is one more twist to the offset story; while both Campagnolo and
Cromodora made similar-looking wheels for the aftermarket as well as for the
OEM market, neither the details nor the offsets were exactly the same; the
Cromodora Alfetta aftermarket wheels had an offset of 36mm, not 45. Don't know
about the aftermarket Campagnolo offset.

Last footnote, Campagnolo branched out of its original bicycle-parts business
into car wheel manufacture when it bought Amadori, a small maker of cast alloy
wheels (seen on some early Alfa Sprint Zagatos) in 1961, and changed the name
of its wheel-making division to TecnoMagnesio in 1981; the division was sold
seven years later, and the name changed with a couple of ownership changes,
but the TecnoMagnesio trade name was retained. So the current TecnoMagnesio
'copies' of TZ and GTA wheels, which differ in some details from the
originals, are more legitimate descendants of the originals than knock-offs,
which they are sometimes assumed to be.

One of the culturally interesting aspects of the alloy wheel history is that
the alloys used by Alfa on the SZ, TZ, Giulia TI Super, and GTA looked very
much like the standard steel wheels; the point had been to have a competition
car which looked very much like a standard production car even if the wheels
were lighter and stronger. At some point in the late sixties the purpose was
reversed; the point became to have production cars in the showroom which were
obviously different, thus presumably better, whether they were as good,
better, or worse, so every alloy became distinctly different. By the late
seventies we had progressed to "styled steel wheels" (as on the base-level '78
and '79 Alfettas) which were intended to look more like snazzy alloys to the
uninitiated. Draw your own conclusions?

Cheers

John H.
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