Alfetta GTV8 La bomba

[Gabor K.]

Yes of course, this is the original GT V8 3000 car with aluminium body and according to Manfred with 32Valve engine. The second car was only partly finished and built up in later years, also with alu body. This one had a 3L converted Montreal boat racing engine of around 340 Hp. This car has been sighted in Holland owned by Mr van Der Sluis. Some more info here:

http://www.autodelta.de/ADHome1/club...al-gtv8_1.html

So the where is this car now owned by Mr Sauerbier ?

Gabor

[Gabor K.]

A quote from Montreal info pages:


Montreal GTV
In 1975 Carlo Chiti's team at Autodelta fitted a 3-litre 340 bhp version of the Montreal engine to two special light-alloy Alfetta GTV shells. Described at the time as an Alfetta GT3000, this hybrid car has been referred to as a GTV8 after the appearance of the GTV6. One of these cars was entered in the rally of Elecar, Piacenza, Italy, in December 1975 but failed to finish due to failure of the gearbox (in spite of its having been strengthened). After further improvements were made for the 1976 session, the car had a few racing successes before the project was abandoned to save costs and the two drivers Jean Claude Andruet and Ballestrieri left the team.

One of these cars was located near Milan and fully restored by Bob van der Sluis in Holland. It has been described by Jos Hugense in the Dutch Alfa Romeo Club publication "Het Klaverblaadje", No. 73, 1996. Ed McDonough's impressions on driving the car at the 1997 SCARB meeting at the Assen circuit are recorded in "Assen Alfas", Auto Italia, No. 19, March 1998. It is believed that the second car was sold to Japan in 1990.

In 1977, at the request of Alfa Romeo's German distributor in Aachen, about 20 GTVs were equipped by Autodelta with the Montreal's normal 200 bhp engine. These GTV shells were the regular steel ones and only the bulge on the bonnet betrayed that they were fitted with the V8 engine. This powerful coupé was marketed in Germany as the Alfetta GTV 2.6i V8 for DEM 50,000. 0-100 km/h acceleration for the hybrid vehicle remained as for the Montreal, but the maximum speed was claimed to exceed 230 km/h.

A fine original Alfetta GTV 2.6i V8 is maintained by Stefan Schmölzl in Bavaria, South Germany. These pictures show the engine bay from the side, from the front, and the car in 1992 and in 2000.

Starting with parts from an incomplete original car, Manfred Kopp has completely rebuilt an Alfetta GTV 2.6i V8 which is beautifully finished in metallic champagne colour. This picture shows the engine bay. Manfred maintains an Alfetta GT Club website.

Richard Anderson and Martin Darch are currently making a replica Alfetta GTV 2.6i V8 to compete in the Classic Adelaide and possibly the Targa Tasmania events. Martin would be very pleased to hear from anyone who has original documentary material on this model.

Gabor

[GTVke]

Mr.Sauerier is indeed the present owner .

Gabor , the article in ''Het Klaverblaadje'' mentiones that the Dion tubing was replaced by a complete modified suspension , do you know anything about that ?

There's also something strange about the vin codes .
The second car with the Alfetta GTV body has a lower vin code than the first ?

[Gabor K.]

"Mr.Sauerier is indeed the present owner"
OK-but where is he living?

The closest info I have got about the works car is the story from Manfred, that he had sat in it and was offered to buy it. I only asked about the engine. Have no info about other technical alterations. There is some technical info about the car in the book "Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV e GTV" of Giorgio Nada editore( in italian) but I have not noticed any alteration of the transaxle.

Gabor

[GTV116]

[quote=Gabor K.]A quote from Montreal info pages:


In 1977, at the request of Alfa Romeo's German distributor in Aachen, about 20 GTVs were equipped by Autodelta with the Montreal's normal 200 bhp engine. These GTV shells were the regular steel ones and only the bulge on the bonnet betrayed that they were fitted with the V8 engine. This powerful coupé was marketed in Germany as the Alfetta GTV 2.6i V8 for DEM 50,000. 0-100 km/h acceleration for the hybrid vehicle remained as for the Montreal, but the maximum speed was claimed to exceed 230 km/h.

Guys great infos.You are serious GTV8spotters.
According to Manfred's photos (Manfred my deepest apologies for hijacking your site)i can count four examples with different number plates plus the Reif's car:totaly five.Let's suppose that pics one and two are the same car.Pic number four (Auto Zeitung)isn't Reif's car as this one has a normal GTV interior.I start wondering?
PS:Gabor i saw your letter to Auto Italia.

[Gabor K.]

GTV 116: (would nice to know you name though)

I really don´t believe that there were made more than 2 cars (and not 20) by the Reif company. We have discussed it Manfred and I. If there had been we would have seen them at one time, but we have not! We have reasoned that the car in the article and the IAA show car is the same. Also the two red cars are the same. When cars get new owners in Germany they also get a new license number, so you cannot just look at the license plate. As it is the red GTV8 is owned by a friend of Manfred, Stefan. The champagne coloured car (UL-0725) is owned by Manfred and converted by himself - nothing to do with the Reif cars.

GTVke:

I looked up in the mentioned book, now looking for evidence of different rear axle and maybe you are right! Anyone speaking italian here?

"Comunque i tempi erano di tutto rispetto e addirittura si pensava , dopo L´omologazione della vettura in 400 esemplari per il Gr., prevista per luglio dello stesso anno, di introdurre al retrotreno una sospensione a route indipendenti, al posto del ponte De Dion; la nuova sospensione avrebbe cosí permesso un migliore sfruttamento degli enormi pneumatici e della potenza di circa 350 CV effettivi"

It seems to me that the De Dion tubes were relieved by an indipendent rear suspension. However still a transaxle. Wonder how they did it!

Gabor

[AR4me]

I would also be very interested in learning about an laternative rear setup. Wonder if it could have been a modification related to the increased power of these cars? That would then have been developed by Autodelta (Italy)?
Jes

[GTVke]

Gabor , I think Sauerbier also lives in the Netherlands but I have no further informtion about him .

Hugense also mensiones that there was an indipendent rear suspension together with Lockheed brakes been developed and that it replaced the tradional Dion and Montreal(?) brakes in ' 76 .
I think Autodelta used the Lockheed brake system that they developed and used on the early Alfetta GT rally cars and later returns on the GR.A GTV6 .


Also found back this picture , the only one I've got from the car in action .
Andruet behind the wheel , don't know the event ?

[Gabor K.]

GTV116:
I remembered another thing about the Reif car! When I got the article from Stern, which was several years later than 1977, I called the Reif company to ask what had happened with the GTV8 production. In the article it was mentioned a production run of 100 pcs(!), so I wondered if there were some for sale still. This guy in the factory told me that only 1 was made and it was the exhibition model! This one had busted the donut in the drive shaft on the Autobahn and they actually did´nt have time to repair it, because of the bankruptcy, so it was sold in this state to an italian guy. So when I later came over an ad. in a magazine where sombody wanted to sell a red GTV8 I thought it was a privately made car. It was advertised by a company who did not know the origins of the car. I got a lot of photos of this red car and these photos convinced me that our own GTV8 project was possible, so we went ahead. Details from this car shows the present owner(Stefan) that his and this car is the same! This red car is in fact a prototype which the Reif company used. So we have arrived at 2 german cars produced!

GTVke:
Thanks for the photo! Seldom to see this car in action!
Matter of fact the Lockheed brakes are mentioned in the next sentence in the book:
"Per l`impianto frenate si utilizzó un Lockeed con i dischi anteriori autoventilanti e la scatola dello sterzo fu modificata(diminuito il rapporto e l´angolo di sterzata)."

What I get out of this is that they used ventilated Lockheed disc brakes in the front.

Gabor

[gtv2000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabor K. "Comunque i tempi erano di tutto rispetto e addirittura si pensava , dopo L´omologazione della vettura in 400 esemplari per il Gr., prevista per luglio dello stesso anno, di introdurre al retrotreno una sospensione a route indipendenti, al posto del ponte De Dion; la nuova sospensione avrebbe cosí permesso un migliore sfruttamento degli enormi pneumatici e della potenza di circa 350 CV effettivi" Gabor

[GTV116]

Dear Gabor
Thanks for your time and all these great details.
As Stefan's car is actually Reif's mule (test car) the only unidentified example must be auto zeitung's test car.I think that it can't be Reif's exchibition car as the colour looks different and has a standard GTV dashboard (take a look in Manfred's site), but you and Manfred know beter.
If you wish give us some details for your project V8.Do you regret to sell it?
Thanks again for your time.
Vlassis


PS.We should suggest Auto Italia to ask Stefan's or Manfred's car for a future article.

[GTVke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtv2000 Roughly, it means: "Anyway, the chronos were of absolute interest and it has even been foreseen, after the car would be homologated in Group 4 with 400 ex., planned for July that year, that an IRS would have been implemented to the car in replacement of the De Dion; that new suspension would have allowed a better use of the huge tyres and of the 350 Hp of available power." It seems thus clear that the IRS was planned, but not fitted, since the 400 ex. run never took place, and Group 4 homologation never granted to the V8. If an experimental IRS was ever built is not said, but reasonable reading of the text suggests it wasn't. Thanks for sharing your infos about Reif's single V8 built and the whereabouts of the other GTV V8s.

[Alleggerita]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTVke Hugense also mensiones that there was an indipendent rear suspension together with Lockheed brakes been developed and that it replaced the tradional Dion and Montreal(?) brakes in ' 76 . I think Autodelta used the Lockheed brake system that they developed and used on the early Alfetta GT rally cars and later returns on the GR.A GTV6 .

[GTVke]

I have my doubts about that last !
Front suspension lower A-arms were indeed out of Ergal but the rear axel wasn't , Autodelta reinforced them .
Also Luigi Racing from Belgium , who prepared GTV6's for ETCC , used reinforced De Dion's .

[Alleggerita]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTVke I have my doubts about that last ! Front suspension lower A-arms were indeed out of Ergal but the rear axel wasn't , Autodelta reinforced them .