The Alfasud was an attempt by Alfa Romeo to enter the lower middle class market, and was also seen by the Italian Government as a means to reduce unemployment in the southern part of country. A totally new factory was set in Naples and production duly started after the car had been revealed at the Turin Motorshow of 2001.
After the unsuccessful efforts with the Tipo 103, the Sud became the first front wheel driven Alfa. The styling was done by Italdesign, the new company formed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, after he had left Ghia.
Less attention but outwardly much daring was the variant of the car shown at the same time on Italdesign’s own stand, a car dubbed the Caimano. It turned out to be possible to convert the 4 seater into a stunning wedge shaped concept car, offering space for only two. The cockpit was way backward, and the whole door/window construction could be opened in one go. The long hood was meant to be flat, but even the boxer did not allow that, so the car still has a little bulge in the middle. The interior was special too, with horizontal indicators moving in square boxes, for the indication of the usual things.
Underneath this spectacular body the car has the same engine as the new standard model, 1186 cc and giving 63 BHP. (Some sources on the web quote capacity as 1300 or even producing 105 BHP like the later 1600 TI variants of the Sud, but the car was really standard and larger version of the engine became only available in later years).
Today the car survives in the Alfa Romeo museum in Arese, where we shot it earlier this year.