Ever since the car appeared on the road, speed and handling were important attributes for car buyers. The Alfa Romeo car brand excelled in both these qualities, and became famous both among motor sports athletes and other speed-loving drivers.
Early years
Since we mentioned speed and handling, we have to go back to the beginning of Alfa Romeo. It was as far back as 1906, when several gentlemen interested in cars sat down to plan the new car factory. At the start, cars were made based on French designs, but eventually they decided to do everything on their own. As early as 1911, the first self-developed cars went into production in small series. The cars from the new factory were named ALFA The experiences from the previous license production of French cars with weak engines laid the foundation for the new products. Now cars were to be produced that could compete with other fast cars. As early as 1913, a fully enclosed, streamlined purpose-built model came that caused a stir in the automotive world. in 1915 the factory was taken over by Nicolo Romeo and it later changed its name to Alfa Romeo.
Enzo Ferrari drove for Alfa Romeo
The factory began to participate in motorsport, and already in 1920 the first victory was achieved. One of the great drivers who was part of the factory team from the start was Enzo Ferarri. Investing in car races and new sports models for the country road gave the factory a good name among car enthusiasts.
Alfa Romeo 164
Alfa Romeo also produced fast family cars in many sizes and variants. Introduced in 164, the 1987 model was a luxury 4-door family car. It came as a result of a collaboration with Fiat, Lancia and Saab. The Alfa 164 was only produced as a pure passenger car with 4 doors. The model came with a number of engine options in addition to the vigorous 2 liter engine that was in the most affordable variant. The engine was equipped with 2 spark plugs on each cylinder, and had the designation "Twin Spark" and had enough horsepower for proper sporty driving. For those who wanted more horses, the 164 could be delivered with a V6 engine. There were very few changes to the 164 during its production period which lasted until 1998. The few changes that were introduced were a few more horses and more equipment.
Alfa Romeo 164 – 2,0
Length: 455 cm.
Width: 176 cm.
Height: 139 cm.
Top speed: 205 km/h.
Engine: 1962 ccm, 148 hp
Alfa Romeo 164 – Make driving a passion
See
Anders de Lange
Anders de Lange writes about car history. He has written about cars and car history for over 30 years, published his own books and written for the Norwegian car press.