Alfa Romeo Tipo 158/159

**Alfa Romeo Tipo 158/159**
Constructor:	Gioachino Colombo
Predecessor:	Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 Alfetta
Technical specifications
Chassis:	Tubular steel chassis with aluminum body
Engine:	8-cylinder in-line engine ; with 1479 cm³ displacement ; and Roots compressor
Length:	4280 mm
Width:	1473 mm
Height:	1164 mm
Wheelbase:	2502 mm
Weight:	710 kg
Tires:	Pirelli
Petrol:	Shell
statistics
Driver:	Juan Manuel Fangio Nino Farina Reg Parnell Consalvo Sanesi; ; ;
World Cup points:	-
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	k. A. / tba

The Alfa Romeo Tipo 159 - also known under the name " Alfetta " (Italian: Small Alfa, Alfachen) - is one of the most successful racing cars to date. It was conceived as " Tipo 158 " as early as 1937 , continuously developed and, after extensive modifications, was last used in 1951 as "Tipo 159" in the second season of Formula 1 , which, like the first, it decided for Alfa Romeo . After the Formula 1 season in 1951 , Alfa Romeo withdrew from Formula 1 for the time being. In the original type designation of the Alfetta, 15 stood for the displacement and 8 for the number of cylinders.

Racing history

The Alfa Romeo 159 officially debuted on September 3, 1950 at the XXI. Italian Grand Prix , with Nino Farina winning both that Grand Prix and the world title that season. The second driver was Juan Manuel Fangio , who was unable to finish the race. With this car, Alfa Romeo succeeded almost seamlessly in building on the previous successful series of the Tipo 158 .

The Alfa Romeo 159 won the first 3 European Grand Prix of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1951 : the Swiss Grand Prix on May 27th with Juan Manuel Fangio, the Belgian Grand Prix on June 17th with Nino Farina and the Grand French Prix on July 1st with Fangio again. At the end of the season, the team also won the last Grand Prix of the year, the Spanish Grand Prix on October 28th. In Indianapolis Alfa Romeo entered not. The Alfa 159 set the fastest lap of the race in all 7 European Grands Prix of the year: five times with Fangio and twice with Farina. In the end, Fangio won his first world title on Tipo 159 .

Other grands prix won by the 159 Alfetta in 1951 but not included in the world championship were the V. Ulster Trophy on June 2nd with Farina, the 5th Gran Premio di Bari on September 2nd with Fangio and the 4th Goodwood Trophy on June 29th. September again with Farina.

After an unsuccessful request from Alfa Romeo for government support to cover development costs, the team announced its retirement from Grand Prix racing in late 1951 and development of the 2.5-liter Alfa Romeo 160 was discontinued. This withdrawal, together with the financial problems that other Formula 1 teams also had, led the FIA to decide to post all Grand Prix races in the 1952 and 1953 Drivers' World Championship for cars that conform to Formula 2.

The planned successor "Tipo 160"

For the 1952 season, Giuseppe Busso and his department designed the Alfa Romeo Tipo 160 , which would have been a significant technical advancement compared to the Tipo 159. It was originally designed for a 180 ° V12 front engine with a capacity of 2000 cm³, which was shortly afterwards increased to 2500 cm³. The project featured some significant innovations: all-wheel drive , a separate frame that houses the engine and transmission, and a driver's seat behind the rear axle. The project, the first full sketches of which were completed on July 13, 1952, delighted everyone who knew about it, including Juan Manuel Fangio.

The engine is exhibited today in the Museo storico Alfa Romeo in Arese (clearly recognizable because the cast contains the base for the housing of the front differential). The further development of the 12-cylinder engine was discontinued from 1955 because the engineers at Alfa Romeo had to concentrate on the Giulietta project in order to restart Alfa Romeo's series vehicle production. This ultimately led those responsible to withdraw from the automobile world championship.

It took 20 years before the company entered Formula 1 in 1971 for a very short and unsuccessful period as an engine supplier (with the 8-cylinder V engine of the Alfa Romeo 33/3 ) for the March 711 of Andrea de Adamich and Nanni Galli returned. The brand returned to F1 on October 26, 1975, when the Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT45 was presented to the press on the test track in Balocco .

gallery

"Alfetta", type 159
"Alfetta" in the north curve of the Nürburgring
The 8-cylinder in-line engine
with 1479 cm³
Tipo 159 cockpit
The 159 next to a Mercedes-Benz W 196
1951 Alfa Romeo 159 "Alfetta" exhibited in Sestriere during the "4 ° Cesana-Sestriere Experience", July 2014.

Technical specifications

Tipo 159	Year of manufacture 1951
Engine:	8-cylinder in-line engine
Bore × stroke:	58 × 70 mm
Displacement :	1479 cc
Compression:	7.5: 1
Power:	425 hp (317 kW) at 9600 rpm
Max. Torque:	39 mkp (382 Nm) at 4000 rpm
Crankshaft :	stored nine times
Motor control:	two overhead camshafts , driven by spur gears
Charge:	Roots blower with two stages
Fuel:	98.5% methanol , 1% castor oil , 0.5% water
Tank capacity:	300 liters
Cooling:	Water (with pump)
Transmission:	4-speed (installed on the rear axle)
Landing gear:	Flat tube frame
Front suspension:	Independent wheel suspension on crankshaft core with transverse leaf spring
Rear suspension:	De-Dion axle * with transverse leaf spring, lower trailing arms and upper wishbone
Shock absorber:	Telescopic and friction shock absorbers
Brakes:	hydraulically operated drum brakes (braking area 1350 cm²)
Wheelbase:	2502 mm
Track (V / H):	1250 mm / 1250 mm
External dimensions (L × W × H):	4280 mm × 1550 mm × 1164 mm
Dry weight :	710 kg
Top speed:	approx. 310 km / h

* The De-Dion axle was one of the last modifications in 1951. Before that, the wheels were individually suspended.

literature

Griffith Borgeson in Motor Revue. No. 1/1965, Motor-Presse-Verlag, Stuttgart
Cyril Posthumus: Classic Racing Cars. Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1977

Web links

Commons : Alfa Romeo Typ 159 - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Ultimatecarpage.com Articles, pictures and technical information on the 159 type.Retrieved on July 4, 2020. (English)
Alfetta, one of the greatest racing cars of all time . Retrieved July 7, 2020.
Alfa Romeo GP Tipo 159 "Alfetta" - 1951 "Walk around" on YouTube . Retrieved July 4, 2020.
Alfa Romeo GP Tipo 159 Alfetta heading to the F1 British GP Various recordings on YouTube . Retrieved July 4, 2020.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Mike Lang, Grand Prix , Issue 1, 1950-1965, Haynes Publishing Group, 1981, p. 39
↑ Alfa Romeo Tipo 160: The circuit dragster (racing car). www. Zwischengas.com, August 12, 2019, accessed July 7, 2020 .
↑ Giuseppe Busso, “Nel Cuore dell'Alfa”, Ed. Automobilia, 2005
↑ 1951 Alfa Romeo 159 'Alfetta' Specifications. Retrieved July 4, 2020 .

[:0-1] Mike Lang, Grand Prix , Issue 1, 1950-1965, Haynes Publishing Group, 1981, p. 39

[2] Alfa Romeo Tipo 160: The circuit dragster (racing car). www. Zwischengas.com, August 12, 2019, accessed July 7, 2020 .

[3] Giuseppe Busso, “Nel Cuore dell'Alfa”, Ed. Automobilia, 2005

[4] 1951 Alfa Romeo 159 'Alfetta' Specifications. Retrieved July 4, 2020 .