It is a fascinating car, this Alfasud. He should transfer the driving dynamism of Alfa Romeo into the compact class, and judging by the design, he could succeed. The company Alfa and the Italian state invest a lot of money into a factory in the South of Italy (Pomigliano d'Arco, province Naples). The production figures of this one car could excel that of all other Alfas taken together. He is presented with a great deal of hope on the Turin car show of 1971. Why did it not work out?
Before dealing with this question, a few more facts. Because the Italian state wants absolutely to promote the less developed South of Italy, he favors this project, which stands in opposition to Fiat, for this reason also named 'Alfa South'. Actually, that even marks the birth of a new car brand. Rudolf Hruska, an experienced and well known car developer, leaves Fiat for this new task. Also the designer was "new", and the factory is built synchronically with the vehicle development, thus it could be adapted to the requirements of the new car. It must have been quite a challenge and a great adventure for the persons concerned.
The outcome is a very modern car with level opposed cylinder engine and front-wheel drive. The engine impresses with its little construction length, causing a short overhang, and, because it is level, good aerodynamics. Only the mixture preparation is somewhat sparing in the first versions. Many Alfas dispose of a multiple-carburettor system, which would have made even more sense for the Alfasud. But presumably Alfa wants to avoid the fine-tuning sensitiveness and they have to be price orientated.
The remaining ingredients of this Alfasud live up fully to the cost saving philosophy, and they are nevertheless constructively absolutely advantageous. The front axle qualifies as being state of the technology, still, the brake discs are moved inwards for the reduction of the non-spring mounted masses. The rear axle is rigid, which does not alter its qualities of running along well. The rear axle is equipped with disc braking, too. The opposed cylinder engine provides yet another advantage, an especially deep center of gravity for the whole chassis.
The car does not feature a large tailgate; a person with a large family should have waited a little longer for the less successful, but more spacious station-wagon Giardinetta. Also, the rear seat backrest was mounted solidly, without possibility to turn it down for an improved loading-through. Maybe the reasoning was to keep the interior light, in line with the body, for the typical Alfa sportiveness, in spite of just 1,200 cm ³. Nevertheless, the design was a success, indeed, so much that it was used twenty years later again. Just look at the Seat Leon of the 90s.
Back to the question raised in the outset. Why was it that this car did not become a sales success in spite that testers did not criticize much more than the bad - at that time usual in Italy - hand brake effect? There is a large quality gap between the construction and the production. It is primarily reflected on the bodywork. Damages to new vehicle-engines would have been hard to conceal, but who is capable of detecting a defective undercoat for brand-new varnished bodywork. We do not want to examine at this point who should have been blamed; in any case, there are cases of Alfasuds rusting through within their first two years. Since at the same time Alfasuds are very popular, production is lagging behind for the immense inquiry, thus, potential buyers can still cancel the order on time.
For sure, this car has done more harm than good for the image of Alfa. Rust prevention was definitely one of the items while designing the car. Galvanized sheet metal is used for the underbody and foamed wishbones. The suspicion is that except for sloppy handcraft, also sheet metals were used that were very prone to rust. If e.g., the bore for an antenna is not sealed very carefully, the diameter of the bore has grown after one year so far that the antenna falls through.