Alfetta The Alfa Romeo 158/159 Grand Prix Car

Today’s Grand Prix are dominated by Ferrari, but the achievement of this Italian team is nothing to the success achieved by Alfa Romeo more than fifty years before, with a single car. That car was the Alfa Romeo 158 or Alfetta. It raced successfully in the years before World War 2, in the period 1946-1948, and then again in 1950-51 – the first two years of the Formula 1 World Championship. Though the 158 became the 159 for the later part of its career (as a result of relatively minor changes to the engine), the Alfetta remained essentially the same car for the entire period. This remarkable achievement remains unmatched by any other racing car. When the Alfetta first took to the track in the ‘voiturette’ class of racing in August 1938 it frightened the life out of the opposition, in particular those running Maseratis, which had been campaigned in a similar form for some time. Alfa Romeo designed the Alfetta to win races - an aim that had lately eluded the company in the Grand Prix arena as a result of the stiff competition from Mercedes and Auto Union – and they were not going to be disappointed. But no one could have foreseen that the Alfetta’s success would continue for so long; when the racing scene reopened after the war, the car was nearly unbeatable. Behind the glory of the 158/159 was a darker story of in-house plotting and jealousy between the leading characters at Alfa Romeo including Enzo Ferrari, Vittorio Jano and many others, all played out in the Italy of Mussolini and post-war austerity. Ed McDonough tells the fascinating story with the aid of interviews with some of the last survivors, archive photos and a detailed examination and test drive of the only surviving Alfetta in private hands. Well illustrated with a wealth of period images, the book progresses from the origins of the design, the arrival of the prototype in 1937, racing through the period 1938-1940, to the post war revival of motor sport,. The final chapter takes a look at ‘one Man’s dream – Mike Sparken's Alfetta, his acquisition of his car and subsequent rebuild. The Appendix cover the various chassis types, register of existing cars and race record.