Australian Alfetta Turbo Sedan History

[Darryl]

Hi,
I have a "factory" (ie Alfa Romeo Australia fitted the kit) Autodelta Turbo Alfetta Sedan. There is an article about these in Modern Motor June 1981. At the time of writing the article they had made just one and making any more under the 25 car "prototype" limit (for ADR compliance) was speculative if anyone were to order one (for $25000).

See attached pic for what the cars should have looked like new (from Modern Motor).... At one point I suspected that it was that car (there was a story they had only made one) but more likely there are at least 2... 20 (see below) seems unlikely (at a $8500 premium to standard sedan)....

I have a reasonable amount of history on the specific car I own including the books showing it was sold new, with turbo (described as "Alfetta 2000 Turbo") by West Orange Motors in June 1981... It was sold to "Equipment Service Co" whoever they may be/have been... Given that West Orange Motors web site says the dealership has been there under same ownership since 1974 I wonder if there is anyone (like the owner) who would remember the car - must have been something quite memorable at the time... Its seems a bit of a big operation these days - didn't manage to find anyone via the direct "cold call" approach - were keen to look it up on their computer system....

I also know the car has had some work done on it since. When I bought the car in late 1999 (from Gulsons) it appeared (+/- wear and tear) exactly as pictured on the cover of Sports and Classic Cars Aust (Sept 90/Feb 91 issue). At the time of that article being written the car was owned by Peter Dowling, but it had another owner before I purchased it. As described in the article the car had had some body and mechanical restoration work done and a respray + the  later Sportiva II round headlight grille fitted. Mention is made of the large turbo lettering etc on the side not being redone after the respray because Peter considered it too ostentatious. This article also claims the car was converted by Alfa Romeo Aust in 1982 - which doesn't match the delivery info I have, but could easily be a simple mistake. On the other hand the compliance plate on the car is 6/81, so if the delivery info is right it was complianced and delivered essentially straight away. The Sports and Classic article also mentions about 20 of these being made - not attributed to any particular source. Anyway - its all murky enough I'd be happy to find out anything about any of these turbo sedans - mine specifically or any others that may have existed. If you have any info however vague I'd be really interested.

[Darryl]

Its a bit quiet here...

Latest update on the car is  here....

[John Hanslow]

Good work.  look forward to seeing the finished result.

[Mat Francis]

Looking good Darryl.

Glad to see that it was fixable after the horrific luck you had!

[ItalCarGuy]

Darryl, the car looks great!  A colleague who sits next to me grew up in Orange and left in 1984. He said his mechanic was an absolute Alfa nut. His name was Rick Kent. After a bit of googling I found that he is still trading. Might be worth a cold call to see if he remembers your car.

Rick Kent
37 Peisley St, Orange, NSW, 2800
(02) 63629602