Pictures copyright Ray Castelhano
Old soldiers never die, they just lose 300 cubic centimeters. The Super Nuova was a 1300 based on
the old 1600 Super.
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Ray Castlehano's Nuova Super is featured today, via the kind of twisty road the Alfa loves so much…
Do you remember when David E. Davis first drove the BMW 2002, and rushed headlong into Nirvana, gushing about this new sports sedan which was, if he was to be believed, (and many, many did), the epitome of all sports sedans?
The year was 1968, and Davis's road test-cum-editorial in Car and Driver magazine probably sold more BMWs than any single article before or since. It is probably giving too much to say that it literally put BMW on the map in America, but only by a short margin. It would have sold anyway; the BMW 2002 was admittedly a great car, and earned its plaudits.
Somewhere in the confusion, hoopla and spin, the Alfa Romeo Guilia sedan was lost, undermined, forgotten, and at the very worst of times, became the 1750 Berlina, which was a very bad move. The original Satta sedan was a better car by half than the much publicized BMW 2002, and a better car by 2 than it's successor. Satta's four door was the original serious sports sedan, at once a vast improvement over its 1300 predecessor, and its legendary performance and handling would not be seen again until the 156.
If Alfa had been smarter at marketing, all they would have had to do was to install the 1750 into the existing 105 bodywork, and upgraded the interior to full leather (although the quality of the Alfa vinyl was excellent).
Perhaps then the BMW 2002 would not then have raised such a stir.
This writer was also one of the many who believed that Davis must be right about the new BMW, and after owning a 1966 1600 Super--the neat one with the dual Webers, red leatherette interior and bucket seats, five on the floor and full instrumentation---a new BMW 2002 was purchased as a replacement. Oh, yes, owning a new BMW in 1972 was a real kick ($3600 off the dealer's showroom floor). We autocrossed it successfully, joined the BMW club, did the normal mods, took it to Watkins Glen and slept with the Bog people, and through it all, it was a very, very nice car.
But an Alfa it wasn't. It was Germanic, sturdy, bulky. It was a sedan but with only two doors, a limitation noticeable on every occasion. The steering wheel was very big, linking to a steering box which never woke up, and the rear suspension, being of the modified swing axle variety, was never very comforting and often alarming. A four speed transmission disappointed. The performance was almost on par with the 1600 Super, but the SOHC cam never sang. Never revved. German precision with no soul.
Davis had been wrong, at least in our book. He should have ranted and raved about the 1600 Super. Alas, Alfa stopped importing it just about the time when BMW came to the US with the Bimmer.
Secretly, we wished we had not sold the Alfa 1600 Super.
The interior
was what made the trim Super on the Nuova 1300. The multi-gauged dash, floor shift,
wooden rimmed steering wheel and seats made a world of difference.
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So, it was not long before, in the midst of the gas crisis number one, that we sold the BMW. Two years later we found a 1750 Berlina, lovingly cared for in the same red and white color combination as our ealier Satta 1600 Super.
But the Guilia it wasn't. Something indefinable had been lost in the translation to the longer, wider, heavier Berlina. It was most certainly no longer Super, and much more akin to the BMW 2002.
Not so secretly, we wished we had not sold the Alfa 1600 Super.
More years passed and in the mid-eighties, much to our delight, we found another Satta sedan, this one an illegal car imported by someone at a embassy which eventually found a home with a local Alfa nut. We pursued it relentlessly until it was ours, despite the fact it was a 105 1300, blue on gray and not nearly as attractive as the 1600 Super. But, it was a Nouvo Super, with almost the same interior as the 1600, minus that beautiful Nardi-style steering wheel.
It wasn't as fast, but seemed more nimble, its handling was even more delightful than the 1600, and this particular 1300 was very healthy, and revved and revved and revved. We drove it all over, up and down the east coast on assignments for the new Sports Cars International magazine, and on one very memorable occasion, used it as the photo chase car for a 1932 Alfa Monza. It was always delightful.
Ray's example came with the sidedraft Solexes, but he converted to Webers and installed 2000 cams,
which give it a bit more grunt where needed.
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One very sad day we sold it and bought a new Alfa sedan, something called the Milano. But that's another story for another time.
But secretly, we wished we hadn’t sold the 1300 Nuova Super.
Scroll down another 20 years and an old acquaintance by the name of Ray Castelhano emails to tell me about this really great Nuova Super he has acquired and is working on. Now Ray is a very well-rounded car guy—he has owned and restored Ford Model As, and a few years ago owned a 1959 Ferrari 250GT Pininfarina coupe. And suddenly he's into this old, charming, delightful Alfa Satta sedan. Ray's got good taste.
Ray's Alfa Satta is a NUOVA Super which was produced in 1975. "These were not imported to the US as Alfa North America was pushing the Alfetta. The car is basically the same as a regular Super except that the dip in the center of the trunk lid was eliminated.
"Note that my car does NOT have an original grill. The front bumper is above the parking/signal lights and the grill was changed. I put the front together from pieces of 3 cars. Mechanically the car is about the same as a late (1968) Super 1300. I have installed electronic ignition, 2 liter Euro cams and replaced the side draft Solexes with Weber DCOEs. (Webers also came stock on many of the 1300s).
"The 1300 is surprisingly easy to drive hard. The engine pulls really hard and although it has a bit of a vibration at around 5 thousand rpm, it keeps going up to over 6. I use 6 thousand as my shift point in day-to-day driving. If I need or want more there is more there.
"The 2 liter cams really make a difference around town and they are nice for third gear work on the twisties also. All in all you can't beat these Alfa sedans for fun per buck."
Turns out that Ray is also an Alfaholic. "This my fourth Alfa. I bought a 1971 GTV (1750) brand new off the show room floor at Algar. Then a 1974 Berlina from Algar, also new. Used that one for many miles. I would keep the 1750 GTV if doing it all over again but I needed the extra seats for work. Also when the Ferrari was undergoing its restoration I had a 1959 Giulietta Spyder. Poor body but ran well."
Note the differences
in the trunk lid as compared to the 1600. And we say goodbye
again to the most pleasant, delightful, enthusiastic sedan ever built.
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We thought, maybe longingly, that our old Alfa 1300 Nuova Super we sold in the eighties had been brought back to life in the US, but apparently not so. Ray’s was from Germany, and had come from the factory with Solexes, ours with Webers. "It was in Jacksonville Florida owned by a man who exports American muscle cars to Germany. Ray met him via the Internet. "He is an Alfisti and owned 5 Nuova Supers that he bought in Germany and brought here. He sold most of them on ebay. My son Dave (who runs a Ferrari restoration shop in Florida) had a contact in Jacksonville who went to see the owner and checked out the car for me."
Ah well. Ray knows who he can call on if he ever wants to part with it.
