Review by Pete Vack
With Alfa Romeo, Cars in Motorsports Since 1945, there is more between the covers than one might think at first glance. In fact this is a prodigious effort to record almost 80 years of Alfa racing around the world via photographs. It took noted author, historian and Alfisti Peter Collins over five years to find, curate and caption some 370 photos.
And who be this? Jo Bonnier of course in his Alfa 6C 3000 Spider at Oulton Park in 1955. Bonnier’s family was the Alfa importer in Sweden.
Mind you, there are no tech specs or race results, all of which can be found elsewhere, but the captions are informative and add depth. Collins takes a chronological approach, then defines the Alfas in competition in period. Collins has also chosen to use contemporary photos only, even if the images are not crisp, in focus, or in perfect condition.
He used a number of sources, the first and largest being Alfa Romeo Storica via Marco Fazio, as well as Ted Walker, now of Fotoracing, Actualfoto in Bologna, Motosportsimages, Ed McDonough and Vincet Goffin of Belgium, and his own collection.
Collins notes that the Alfa 2600 Bertone coupes were being raced as late as 1968, here at Mugello along with GTAs, a TZ1, and a 1600 Spider in the foreground. Missing is an action shot of the 2600 Zagato.
Collins also quotes from his own interviews with the Alfa drivers involved with the Autodelta years, providing unique insights to some very rare Alfas that even today can’t quite be nailed down, such as the Scooter Patrick T33 set up for the Can Am races by Otto Zipper. (Collins is also the author, along with Ed McDonough, of the acclaimed Alfa Romeo Tipo 33, the development and racing history.)
Only one Montreal was set up for racing in Europe by Carlo Chiti, and seen here at the Nurburgring 1000km in 1973.
The author includes the Boxer formula, the European touring car championship races and even more confusing, the plethora of Alfa-engined competition cars that blossomed with Alfa V6 and four engines in the 1980s. He does not forget to include the Alfa 2600 Berlina, the 1750 sedan, and the Alfa 1600 and 1750 Spiders, rarely seen in competition, and there are ample photos of the 1900 series including the sedan. There are a lot of models and a lot of years covered in the book. For your convenience, we have included a copy of the table of contents at the end of this article.
In F1, the Alfa Romeo name re-appeared on the 2018-22 F1 Sauber, also sponsored by Puma, and the team’s name was Alfa Romeo Team Orlen.
It tends to peter out after 2010 or so, and we don’t know if it is the book that is lacking or Alfa’s participation in racing that has lessened, but it does seem like the glory days of Alfa are fewer with each passing year. And that is another good reason for such a book. We do wish that the Alfas raced and rallied in the US were given more attention…only a handful of photos illustrate Alfa’s racing successes in the U.S. There is a very good index and handy bibliography.
Order here
https://www.veloce.co.uk/store/Alfa-Romeo-p455563040
Alfa Romeo, Cars in Motorsports Since 1945
Publisher: Veloce
By Peter Collins
Hardback • 29.5×26.5cm • 328 pages • 370 pictures
Pages from the book:
Contents
INTRODUCTION 7
01 Sporting Renaissance 9
Alfa Romeos in competition as motor sport re-starts post-war 10
The Alfa Romeo 158/9 Grand Prix cars 19
412 and 6C 3000 24
02 Birth of the Modern Alfa 31
The 1900 range of sports and touring cars in race and rally 32
The 750 and 101 families of Giuliettas
Factory-bodied cars 40
Giulietta Zagato-bodied variants 49
03 Autodelta 1 56
The Giulia TZ1 and TZ2 Zagato developments 57
The six-cylinder 2600 Sprint Coupe 64
The Giulia and 1750 saloons 68
Giulia Sprint GTV and derivatives 73
Giulia GTA 1300/1600 77
Giulia GTAm 89
04 Autodelta 2 92
Tipo 33 2-litre cars: First Series 93
Tipo 33/2 2-litre and 2.5-litre 96
Tipo 33 3-litre V8s 1969-1970 101
Tipo 33 3-litre V8 monocoque cars 1971 107
The tube-framed T33/TT/3 cars 112
The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 twelve-cylinder cars 117
Alfa Romeo V8-powered Formula single-seaters 122
The Montreal Group 4 128
2000 GTV 131
Alfetta saloon and GTV 140
05 Power Provider 150
Brabham BT45 Alfa Romeo Grand Prix cars 151
Brabham BT46 Alfa Romeo Grand Prix cars 156
Alfa Romeo’s Tipo 177 and 179 Grand Prix cars 160
Brabham BT48 Grand Prix cars 163
Normally-aspirated 182 Grand Prix cars 165
Alfasud Berlina and Sprint 166
Alfa Romeo powered single-seaters in Formula Three 177
The 183 Turbo Grand Prix cars 183
06 Many Distractions 188
The 33 in motor sport 189
The 75 saloon in race and rally 191
The Alfetta GTV6 200
The Alfetta GTV8 206
The Osella Grand Prix cars 208
The 184T/185T Grand Prix cars 216
The 164 Celebrity race series 220
Formula Alfa Boxer 222
Italian/French National race series cars utilising the Alfa Romeo V6 motor 226
The South African-built Giulietta Group One cars 231
07 Win on Sunday, Sell’em on Monday 232
The first 155 competition touring car: the GTA 233
The 155 in Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft 239
The 155 in International Touring Cars 245
The 155 in D2 racing worldwide 250
The 155 Q4 259
08 More Distractions 262
The Alfa Romeo-powered Indycars 263
Use of the V6 in international motor sport 266
The ES 30 SZ 273
09 To Rule the World 275
The 147 276
The 916 GTV Cup races 280
The 156 in Italian Super Touring 284
The 156 in ETCC/WTCC/Super Production racing/Group N 290
The 159 in competition 299
10 The Brand’s the Thing 300
The Romeo Ferraris Giulietta TCR in WTCR racing 301
Formula W 305
21st century Formula One 306
11 All that Glitters 310
750 Competizione 311
South African National Grand Prix races 312
The 164 Procar 314
Cooper T86C 318
Ligier 319
Looks like a must have for Alfisti. You got me with the mention of racing and 2600 Berlina in the same paragraph……surely just to fetch the pasta lunch for the pit crew!!!
It was Jo Bonniers own car dealership who was the Swedish Alfa Romeo agent in 1955 and 1956, until he got to race for Maserati. His family had no interest in cars whatsoever, his dad being a professor in genetics.
I am mostly curious if here is any new light shed or more unseen photos of Bonnier racing Alfas!?