1750 Berlina battles it out-vintage footage

[MD]

Some rare stuff for the 105 lads. A great dice mid field by the Berlina..

[AikenDrum105]

Excellent !

[Paul Gulliver]

Interesting to see an Austin Healey bug eye sprite in the opening corners. Used to have a yellow one just like that one but unfortunately i pushed it as far as i drove it. I probably could have brought a Porsche with what i spent on it. Getting a 105 GTV  after the bug eye was like going into the space age.

gully

[MD]

Confirms a reliability survey done some time ago where Toyota was number 1, Mercedes number 3 and British Leyland was worst at number 26 if I remember correctly. I don't know where the bug eye was made but it sounds like it was made next door.

Mind you in the same survey, Alfa was somewhere in the middle of the pack..

[Davidm1600]

Nice to see yet another Berlina out there getting some action on the track.

Mind you I too used to punt my 2L at club days which I started preparing, after reading about a very sweet red 2L over in the UK that had been set up for Classic Tarmac Rallying.  And if you really wish to see one super nice example, you could go a lot worse than the Navy Blue one raced by Manualalfaholic over in the US (as seen on the BB).  Oh and then there was a really sweet 1750 (red) in Scandanavia and a seriously worked red 2L in South Africa, and of course Mortimer 2 over in the US, that was raced extensively, complete with Ferrari F40 seats, etc.

From memory I sure I read that the Factory (via Autodelta) used the Berlina as a mule for the 1750GTAM for some limited testwork.

So while the Super and the GTV are the norm for racing 105s, Berlinas also can be set up quite well for such purposes, albeit they are a little heavier.   Damn shame so few Berlinas have survived though, as I would love to add a 1750 to my 105 collection.

[MD]

That's interesting David.

I don't know how true this is but at some stage I heard that Alfa were offered the Italian designed Mazda1500
for the the Berlina body shape but it was rejected for the one eventually put into production.

As for the best 105 handler between the Giulia, Berlina and the coupe, the Berlina wins hands down for me at least and I have owned two out of the three. I always lamented that the styling lacked the character of the other two otherwise I would still own one.

[Davidm1600]

From memory, and I suspect if I searched hard enough, I too am pretty certain that indeed the Mazda 1500 by Bertone ?  was offered to Alfa but rejected.  Apart from its poor mechanicals and a less than inspiring interior, the external shape of the Mazda, for its time was a really clean and nice design, IMHO.

I know exactly what you mean re the various 105s re the Berlina's handling.  Yes indeed it was a really excellent tourer, and its handling more predictable than either the relativey twitchy GTV or Super.  Having said that they are all fun. 

I agree, I think the Berlina because of its more staid design has always been overlooked in preference to the GTV, Super and Spider.  Hence so many have been scrapped for engines etc in the past to keep the other models going. 

It always warms my heart when I see a really nice Berlina.  I have a mate who has a really lovely 2L (in dark blue with tan interior) down here, and have enjoyed the odd drive of it over the years.   I do though love the interior more so though of the 1750, especially with its sweeping consol etc.