Guide: Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione
Background
With a history that stretches back to the dawn of motoring, few manufacturers have experienced such wide-ranging competition success as Alfa Romeo.
Since taking victory at the 1923 Targa Florio, the Milanese firm has most notably secured the inaugural 1925 World Manufacturer’s Championship for Grand Prix cars, the 1950 and ‘51 Formula 1 World Driver’s Championships, the 1975 World Sportscar Championship, eleven editions of the Mille Miglia, ten editions of the Targa Florio and four editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Unlike some of its esteemed European rivals, Alfa Romeo has also achieved considerable success in Touring Cars; following the formation of in-house competition department Autodelta in 1963, Alfa Romeo secured no less than 13 Manufacturer’s titles in the high profile European Touring Car Championship between 1966 and 1985 (most recently with the GTV6).
Unfortunately, by the end of 1985, Autodelta was in a poor financial shape. As a result of an expensive F1 programme that yielded little in the way of results, the revered operation was closed over the winter of 1985-1986. Alfa Romeo withdrew from F1 as a constructor although they continued to supply the Osella team with engines until 1988.
Autodelta was replaced by a new department, Alfa Corse, headed by the company’s freshly appointed Sporting Director, Giorgio Pianta. Alfa Corse occupied the old Autodelta premises in Settimo Milanese and took on many of the existing workforce.
For 1987, Pianta was charged with returning Alfa Romeo to the top of the international Touring Car scene with a suitably uprated iteration of the 75.
The 75 was a four-door compact executive model which had been launched in May 1985. Named to celebrate Alfa’s 75th year of production, it was produced at the firm’s Arese plant in Lombardy.
The front-engined rear drive model had initially been launched with a choice of three all-alloy DOHC engines: an inline four of 1.6, 1.8 or 2-litres, a 2-litre turbo diesel and a 2.5-litre V6. A five-speed manual or three-speed automatic gearbox was also offered.
In 1986, Alfa added a turbocharged 1.8-litre 75 to the range. With its intercooled Garrett T3 turbine and separate oil cooler, the 75 Turbo quickly became popular as it offered broadly the same level of performance as the big V6 but cost much less in taxes.
Anticipating the 75 Turbo would make an ideal basis for a Group A touring car, Alfa Romeo had the new model homologated on August 2nd 1986 once the 5000 cars required by the rule makers had been completed.
Three months later (in November ‘86), Alfa Romeo was taken over by Fiat. Thankfully, the 1987 touring car programme was permitted to go ahead.
For 1987, the FIA organised the inaugural World Touring Car Championship to Group A regulations. The eleven race series comprised seven European rounds followed by two in Australia, one in New Zealand and a Japanese finale. Like Alfa, BMW and Ford also entered with their Group A homologation specials while Holden, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo occasionally ran the gauntlet as well.
Group A regulations stipulated that, once the initial batch of 5000 cars had been completed, manufacturers were permitted to produce a batch of 500 more highly tuned Evolution variants. Evolution models could be used to introduce new mechanical and aerodynamic improvements that would prove advantageous on track.
To give themselves every chance of success, Alfa Romeo unveiled the 75 Turbo Evoluzione in March 1987 to serve as the basis for their 1987 World Touring Car Championship challenger.
In typical Evolution fashion, the new Alfa came with an array of mechanical and aerodynamic enhancements over the standard 75 Turbo.
Chassis
Each Evoluzione started life as a regular 75 pressed steel bodyshell with standard 2510mm wheelbase.
The front suspension layout comprised torsion bars connected to lower wishbones and shocks. A de Dion arrangement was used at the back.
To improve handling, stiffer springs and dampers were fitted than on the existing 75 Turbo.
Anti-roll bars were once again fitted at either end albeit with a thicker-than-usual component at the rear.
Brakes were imported from the donor model with vented 265mm discs up front and solid 250mm discs (mounted inboard) at the rear. ABS was standard.
Although the 6 x 15-inch wheels fitted to the Evoluzione were the same size as on the regular 75 Turbo, they were sourced from the outgoing GTV6 and painted Rosso Alfa to match the exterior. Michelin MXV tyres were originally issued.
A standard 68-litre fuel tank was located above the rear axle in the boot floor.
Engine / Gearbox
The standard 75 Turbo ran a front longitudinally mounted iteration of Alfa Romeo’s all-alloy inline four. It had a DOHC head with two valves per cylinder, wet-sump lubrication, Bosch LE2 Jetronic fuel-injection, a 7.5:1 compression ratio, a single Garrett T03 turbo running at 0.65 bar, an air-to-air intercooler and separate oil cooler.
As a result of a bore and stroke of 80mm and 88.5mm respectively, the little Alfa twin came displaced 1779cc. Peak output was 153bhp at 5800rpm and 166lb-ft at 2600rpm.
Group A regulations of the time mandated a 1.7 multiplier for turbocharged engines which meant the 75’s forced induction 1779cc motor had a swept volume of 3024cc. Because this would have placed their challenger firmly in the Class 1 category (where it would be disadvantaged from a weight and power perspective), Alfa Romeo chose to slightly reduce the size of the Evoluzione’s cylinder bores (which meant it would qualify as a Class 2 contender (like the BMW M3).
The Evoluzione’s Tipo 061.58 motor was thus de-bored from 80mm down to 79.6mm which gave a cubic capacity of 1752cc (and a swept volume of 2995cc). A happy by-product of this was that the Evo’s thicker cylinder walls made the engine better suited to producing higher power outputs in competition trim.
Other special features included a four valve cylinder head, boost pressure cranked up to 0.9 bar, stronger bearings, an uprated exhaust and reconfigured intake ducting.
Although the power and torque ratings were officially unchanged, the Evoluzione motor was reputedly good for around 175bhp.
Like every 75, the Evoluzione used a transaxle layout with the five-speed gearbox and clutch integrated with the rear differential. A limited-slip differential was fitted as standard.
Bodywork
Design work for the 75’s exterior was undertaken at Centro Stile Alfa Romeo. The handsome car that emerged was arguably on a par with the industry benchmark for entry-level executive saloons: BMW’s E30 3-series.
For the Evoluzione, the 75’s striking steeply raked body was enhanced with an array of aerodynamic enhancements created to optimise airflow, increase downforce and add stability.
At the front was a new bumper assembly with a completely reworked lower section that incorporated enlarged brake and radiator cooling intakes and a jutting chin spoiler. The bumper’s sides were outwardly splayed to merge with beefed up front wheelarch extensions. More subtly flared arches were also fitted at the back.
Other new additions to each flank were deep skirts and plastic rain guards for the front windows.
The Evoluzione’s back end came with a rear spoiler imported from the V6-engined 75 and a re-profiled bumper with extended apron.
Aside from the rear spoiler, all this new equipment was painted body colour.
To complete the specification, each Evoluzione came with a side stripe kit and a 75 Turbo E badge on the boot lid.
Each of the 500 cars produced were painted an identical shade of Rosso Alfa.
Interior
Inside, the Evoluzione came with all the fixtures and fittings from the standard 75 Turbo.
Like the door panels, the well-bolstered seats were upholstered in a mix of hard-wearing woven fabric and black vinyl. Between the front seats was the 75’s unconventional handbrake.
The boxy black-and-grey plastic dash assembly comprised a U-shaped instrument binnacle which housed six analogue read-outs set back from a bank of switches on either side. Large dials for road and engine speed were flanked to the right by four smaller dials for fuel, turbo pressure, water temperature and oil pressure.
A bank of warning lights, a digital clock and an overhead schematic to inform the occupants if the doors were open or closed were located at the top of the central control panel. Underneath were the ventilation controls and an empty recess where the audio system would normally reside.
Orange-on-black instrumentation was used throughout.
Electric windows, electric mirrors and central locking were fitted as standard.
Options
No options are understood to have been offered with each of the 500 cars completed to an identical specification.
Weight / Performance
With its almost perfect weight distribution and lively range of engines, the 75 was already considered the best handling car in its class.
Although at 1150kg the Evoluzione weighed the same as a standard 75 Turbo, its was noticeably quicker; the 0-62mph time dropped from 7.5 to 7.1 seconds and top speed crept up from 133mph to 139mph.
Production
All 500 examples of the 75 Turbo Evoluzione were produced between March and April of 1987.
The entire run was built in left-hand drive and the overwhelmingly majority were delivered to Italian customers.
Competition History
Alfa Romeo ran a quintet of official Evoluzione Turbos for the 1987 World Touring Car Championship: two were campaigned by Alfa Corse, two by Brixia Corse (Scuderia Italia) and one by Albatech. The 320bhp cars ran in Class 2, but like BMW with the E30 M3, outright victory was the target.
Unfortunately, the ‘87 WTCC campaign proved underwhelming. The Evoluzione’s only podium finish came in round seven (the Silverstone Tourist Trophy) when Giorgio Francia and Nicola Larini finished third behind a pair of BMWs.
Afterwards, Alfa Romeo decided to pull out ahead of the four expensive flyaway races.
Ford went on to win the ‘87 Constructor’s title while BMW’s Roberto Ravaglia was crowned the Driver’s champion. Them after just one season, the WTCC was canned.
As a result of new turbo regulations that would have placed the 75 in Class 1 for the 1988 European Touring Car Championship, Alfa decided not to participate although Gianfranco Brancatelli did go on to claim the 1988 Italian Superturismo crown.
That year, Alfa Corse also produced a 335bhp IMSA-spec. Turbo Evoluzione to contest the revived Giro d’Italia in which Alfa Corse finished first (Riccardo Patrese / Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero), second (Nicola Larini / Dario Cerrato / Giuseppe Cerri) and third (Alessandro Nannini / Yves Loubet / Jean-Marc Andrie). Driving an uprated 400bhp car, Giorgio Francia / Dario Cerrato / Giuseppe Cerri and Nicola Larini / Miki Biasioan / Tiziano Siviero also finished first and second in the 1989 running.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Alfa Romeo - https://www.alfaromeo.com
