Alfasud - Motor

Front-wheel drive in an Alfa Romeo is new. And an opposed cylinder engine in series production is new, too. This engine reflects a combination of simplicity and elegance. The engine displays a three bearing crankshaft with counterbalances which are not standard at that time with for the opposed cylinder engine. This does not account for the Heron pistons and the valves, all in one row. Above of them, there is one camshaft per cylinder bank with toothed belt drive and unusual valve timing with a self-locking allen screw between the double cams.
For the future, the cylinder heads offer an admittance canal per cylinder and enough space for later drilling out. The right cylinder bank was moved somewhat to the back to create space for the coolant pump, driven by the crankshaft via a V-belt. The distributor on the left next to the oil filler socket is driven directly by the crankshaft, just like the oil pump. Up to here everything is wonderfully compact.
Picture number 2 shows the additional aggregates, making the engine clearly higher. There is the starter in the back, and the generator in front; and the induction pipe and the thermostat housing. Most height devour the single venture carburetor and the air filter. Nevertheless, the opposed cylinder engine versus in-line engine has advantages, because the heaviest engine parts are arranged low level, including the cylinder heads, a good condition for easy controllable driving.
Picture number 3 reveals how very short the opposed cylinder engine really is, allowing the center of gravity of the complete car to be somewhat away from the front axle towards the middle of the car. Remarkable is the mounting on top in the middle.