Tested: 1976 Alfa Romeo Alfetta Treads a Fine Line

From the July 1976 issue of Car and Driver.

Beneath the Alfetta’s shell of sober four-door dedication lurks that curious half Volvo, half Italian hot-rod beast known as the sporting sedan. This Alfetta lugs around a sedan body that provides full­-size comfort, yet it has the raspy exhaust, five-speed transmission and brisk acceler­ation to satisfy your lust for speed.

Because Alfa has surrounded the per­formance components present in the Alfetta GT with a basic four-door edifice, the sedan has a core of over-engineered toughness and poise to back up its imme­diate impression of smooth-riding balance. To create that balance, the enduring two­-liter twin-cam Alfa four has been mounted conventionally in front, and the clutch, transmission and differential are com­bined at the rear. Although the long-throw gearshift may inhibit intense driving, the rack-and-pinion steering, De Dion rear suspension, four-wheel disc brakes and standard Michelin X tires provide a solid base for serious highway felonies.

The lack of overhang at either end of the plain, unadorned body belies the Alfet­ta’s sizable interior dimensions. The seats fit very well (though the standard velour would be better than our car’s sweaty vi­nyl), and the rear seat belongs in the same world as real legs and real heads. Despite the inevitable go-kart-knees and gorilla-arms driving position endemic to Italian cars, the Alfetta puts a lot of verve into going and stopping. Indeed, it does those things so well that it becomes frustrating to carry a sedan body around with you.

The Alfetta sedan treads that fine line between frumpiness and brutality often seen in high-speed police cruisers. Alfa Romeo builds Italian police sedans. May­be that’s the key.

Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com