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This week Alfa
Romeo dealers across the world will stop taking orders for
the Alfa 156 sedan and 'Sportwagon' as the
countdown to the arrival of its replacement
gets underway. With its eagerly anticipated successor due to
arrive around the middle of the year, the production lines
will have to be re-tooled in Naples for the new model, which
still goes by its codename 'Project 939'.
The Alfa 156,
first introduced in 1997, is undoubtedly Alfa Romeo's most
significant model in recent years. It is a car that went on
to redefine the general public's perception of marque,
introducing a whole new generation of car buyer, and
successfully re-launching the famous carmaker into the
modern world.
Designed in-house by Walter de
Silva, it was a conventional three-box saloon, but
with a host of innovative features, including concealed rear door handles which kept the
lines surprisingly clean, demonstrated by its
drag coefficient of just 0.31.
The Alfa Romeo 156
arrives to widespread acclaim
The Alfa 156 was car of utter beauty, and it truly mesmerised
the automotive world when it made its first appearce. Its
smooth, sleek, curvaceous lines were like nothing
ever seen before in a 'large saloon' family saloon
car, and in true Italian tradition it did what none
of its bland, faceless Germanic rivals could ever
hope to do: it
stirred passion and evoked emotion.
A variety of petrol (1598cc with 121bhp, 1797cc
with 144bhp & 1970cc with 155bhp four cylinder
twin spark, 2492cc V6 with 190bhp) and diesel
(1910cc four cylinder turbo with 106bhp & 2387cc
five cylinder turbo with 137bhp, both with common
rail) engines were made available
with either a five-speed gearbox, or in the case of
the 2.5 V6 only, a six-speed gearbox or
a Q-system four speed automatic.
The suspension featured
double wishbones at the front, and a development of
the 164 suspension with McPherson struts at the
rear. Aluminium alloys have been employed for
several components in both the front and rear
suspension in order to reduce the weight. This theme
of weight reduction was continued in various other
areas of the vehicle, for example in the front seats
which had magnesium frames, saving about 4kg per
seat. The structure was also designed to be light
whilst also offering excellent crash protection. The
latter trend continued with front airbags.
The seal of approval came quickly as it
had captivated the hearts of motoring journalists, and
for 1998 it scooped
up that most prestigious of awards, 'European Car of the
year'.
The Selespeed
version, was at first available only with the 2.0 litre twin
spark engine (although later it was added as an
option to the GTA), used a five speed manual gearbox
operated electro-hydraulically and controlled by
buttons on the steering wheel - technology directly
transferred from Ferrari in Formula One. The shift
speed depends on driving parameters, with over
5000rpm and 60% throttle the shift takes 0.4
seconds, below these parameters and it slows to 1.5
seconds. A 'city' mode can also be selected, giving
a fully automatic shift. The automatic also has a
conventional H-pattern shift for manually selecting
the four ratios, rather than the now more popular
sequential type.
The Alfa 156
Sportwagon joins the fray
In March 2000 the Sportwagon
was introduced, a 'lifestyle fastback' version with
identical mechanicals and engines as the saloon, but
with an extended roofline and a hatchback. The Alfa
156's gorgeous lines lent themselves perfectly to
creating an 'estate' version, a gap in the marque's
range left by the discontinuation of the Alfa 33
Sportwagon in 1994, and the Alfa 156 Sportwagon can justifiably lay claim to being one of
the most beautiful estate cars of all time.
The next year saw
the launch of the sporty GTA, made available as
both saloon and Sportwagon. This new version made
use of the classic V6 in a new 3.2-litre 250bhp
format with manual or Selespeed transmissions, new suspension
geometry and setting, greatly improved brakes, more
direct steering, 17-inch wheels, and a variety of aesthetic
modifications that gave it a hard, sporty look.
The beginning of 2002 saw a mild facelift across the
range. External changes were insignificant, a
revised
dashboard featuring a mutli-function display
being the most visible change. More significantly a
new
direct injection 2.0-litre engine replaced the
old TS unit, with an improved power outpt of 165bhp.
The 2.4JTD also had its power increased to 150bhp.
Various electronic systems (VDC, MSR, etc) were
added, as were
window-bags, an air quality sensor and a
dual-zone climate control system.
Giorgetto Giugiaro entrusted with giving the Alfa
156 a makeover
June 2003 saw a
second facelifted and revised 156 and
Sportwagon range brought out. This was principally a
cosmetic makeover, and the job was handed to that
most legendary of car designers, Giorgetto Giugiaro.
He
grafted the new 'family' vertical grille onto the nose, together with new,
sharper headlights,
stronger bumpers
and slightly revised rear lights.
It added up to give the Alfa 156
a new tougher, more aggressive look, allowing the
six year old car to grow up, but importantly without losing any of its
simple, smooth beauty. The interiors and equipments
levels were also very carefully upgraded and
improved.
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On track success: In
the hands of Fabrizio Giovanardi and Gabriele
Tarquini, the Alfa Romeo 156 has proved itself the
most successful touring car of recent years with a
string of European drivers' and manufacturers'
titles to its name |
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Three years ago Alfa
Romeo created the 156 GTA and Sportswagon GTA line,
wild-looking, performance cars with the marque's
legendary 3.2-litre V6 engine under the bonnet |
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The
beautiful Alfa 156 Sportwagon has also been a huge
sale success, and deservedly takes its place as the
most stylish and exciting 'fastback' to emerge in
the last decade |
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The
ultimate performance Alfa Romeo 156 arrived last
year after legendary London-based tuner Autodelta
turned their attention to the GTA version and took
it to the very edge |
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Introduced in 1998, the
beautiful Alfa Romeo 156 re-launched the brand,
scooping up the accolade of 'European Car of the
year' one of a whole host of awards it would go on
to win |
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Walter de Silva was
responsible for penning the Alfa 156's smooth,
flowing lines: here the designer discusses the
'hidden' rear exterior handles on a pre-production
model |
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Two years ago the master designer Giorgetto
Giugiaro restyled the Alfa 156, sharpening its lines
and creating a more aggressive look, all without
harming the car's beauty |
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Last autumn saw the market arrival of the Alfa
156-based Crosswagon and Sportwagon Q4, 'pumped up' models
which cash in on a market trend for 4x4 'Crossover'
vehicles |
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The long-awaited
Alfa 156-based coupé also finally
emerged that year. Called simply the GT, it was well
received by the press and public alike, its sleek
two door lines, winning it a whole host of important
awards.
Q4 badged
versions signify the arrival of four wheel drive
The next addition
to the range saw the introduction of
four-wheel-drive last autumn with the arrival of the Crosswagon
Q4 and
Sportwagon Q4. Both these 'pumped up' new models
cashed in on a market-demand for 'Crossover'
vehicles, used a new Torsen 4x4 drivetrain
under the Sportwagon body, and are powered by the 1.9 MutliJet JTD engine.
The Crosswagon
Q4 has been designed to
appear more off-road, with various plastic
embellishments and a raised ride height. The Sportwagon Q4 remained visually the same as the
normal 2WD Sportwagon, apart from the badge.
Autodelta create
the ultimate Alfa 156...with 328bhp
Last year the ultimate
road-legal version of the Alfa 156 arrived on the scene
when London design and tuning house Autodelta, famed
for eking the very last drop of performance out of
Alfa Romeo's, turned their attention to the GTA model.
The result, dubbed the Autodelta 156 GTA AM, has
seen an amazing 328bhp squeezed out of a larger-bore
3.7-litre V6 engine which features new,
Ferrari-inspired, engine mapping. Together with an
uprated engine, transmission and suspension, this
car takes the Alfa 156 to the very technological and
performance edge.
On the tracks the
Alfa 156 continues the Alfa Romeo racing legend
The Alfa 156 has been just as successful on the tracks as
in the showroom, a real requirement for a marque which has
based its entire history on defeating the opposition on the
toughest and most demanding circuits of the world.
In fact the Alfa 156 has staked its claim as the most
successful touring car race of this decade. It started its
racing life in Italian Superturismo at the end of the 1990s,
where Fabrizio Giovanardi swept to victory after victory,
before it arrived in the newly reformed European Touring Car
Championship during 2001.
Alfa Romeo's almost continual involvement in the
FIA European
Touring Car Championship, virtually from its inception in 1963, is
the stuff of legends. Ever since the legendary Andrea De Adamich won the 1600cc class in 1966 at the wheel of a
Giulia GTA, a feat he was to swiftly repeat the next year,
Alfa Romeo's name have been indelibly etched on the roll of
honours. In various guises the famous Guilia GTA and GTAm
models raced to
an amazing six manufacturers', and an incredible nine drivers',
titles.
The Alfa 156 was not to disappoint,
rightly taking up its place in the history books. In 2001
the European Touring Car Championship was reformed, and Fabrizio
Giovanardi effortlessly switched from winning in Italy to
winning in Europe, taking away with him the new drivers' title, while Nordauto,
the Italian outfit charged with running the factory-backed cars,
scooped up the teams' award.
The next year saw Giovanardi
claim a second title, while Alfa Romeo took home the trophy
of the newly revived manufacturers' cup. 2003 was to prove another
highly successful year as Gabriele Tarquini, a driver
rightly embedded in Alfa Romeo's recent racing history, returned to the Milanese marque
in style, and got straight down to winning races.
The year was to culminate with a stunning final pair of
races at Monza. Tarquini arrived on home soil sharing equal
points with his arch BMW rival, Jörg Muller, and with Alfa
Romeo, now running under the revived Autodelta banner, very
much the underdogs as the German car's had held the upper
hand during the closing stages of that season. Despite Muller
claiming pole position, Tarquini, starting down the order, was
unstoppable on race day, and imperiously, he swept to the title.
Last year the honours kept on coming as Autodelta claimed the
teams' title.
Now after more
than seven years in production and rapidly approaching the
end of its life cycle, the Alfa 156 still looks just as
fresh and stylish as the first day it was unveiled. Its
place in Alfa Romeo history is assured: its style, its
design, its innovation, its sales success, and its countless
victories on the race tracks, have embedded its position as
one of the Milanese marque's great models.
In just a few
months time, its successor, codenamed project 939, arrives
on the scene. Generally dubbed as the 'Alfa 157', inside
glimpses certainly give the impression that Alfa Romeo will
have another worthy winner on their hands, that the superb Alfa 156
will now give way to another Alfa Romeo worthy of bearing the
famous 'cross and serpent' badge.
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by Edd Ellison (Additional material: CarsFromItaly.com)
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