The Alfa Romeo 158/159, also known as the Alfetta (Little Alfa in Italian), is a Grand Prix racing car produced by Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo. It is one of the most successful racing cars ever; the 158 and its derivative, the 159, took 47 wins from 54 Grands Prix entered. It was originally developed for the pre-World War II voiturette formula (1937) and has a 1.5-litre straight-8 supercharged engine. Following World War II, the car was eligible for the new Formula One introduced in 1947. In the hands of drivers such as Nino Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli, it dominated the first two seasons of the World Championship of Drivers.
Overview The first version of this successful racing car, the 158, was made during 1937/1938. The main responsibility for engineering was given to Gioacchino Colombo.
The car's name refers to its 1.5-litre engine and eight cylinders. The voiturette class was for racing cars with 1.5-litre engines, standing in the same relation to the top 'Grand Prix' formula (usually for 3-litre engines) as the Formula Two does to Formula One today. Alfa's 3-litre racing cars in 1938 and 1939 were the Tipo 308, 312 and 316.
The 158 debuted with the works Alfa Corse team at the Coppa Ciano Junior in August 1938 at Livorno, Italy, where Emilio Villoresi took the car's first victory. At that time the 1479.56 cc (58.0 x 70.0 mm) engine produced around at 7000 rpm. with the help of a single-stage Roots blower. More success came at the Coppa Acerbo, Coppa Ciano and Tripoli Grand Prix in May 1940. Soon World War II stopped development of the car for six years. After the war the engine was developed further to push out in 1946.
In 1947, the Alfetta was put back into service. The new rules allowed 1500 cc supercharged and 4500 cc naturally aspirated engines. The 158 was modified again, this time to produce over and was denoted as Tipo 158/47. The car made a tragic debut in the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix where Achille Varzi lost control of his car and was killed. Another loss for the team came in practice for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, where Jean-Pierre Wimille was killed in an accident (driving with Simca-Gordini).
In 1950, the 158 was eligible for the new World Championship of Drivers. The car won every race in which it competed during that first season of Formula One; it was incredible that a car which had originated in 1938 was so victorious, most likely because all the other constructors (as few as there were) had less money to build and develop their cars and the Alfa had so much development time. The Alfa Romeo team included talented drivers such as Giuseppe "Nino" Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio, the latter of whom later won the World Drivers' Championship five times.
At the end of the 1950 season, a further updated version known as the 159 was produced, which was used for the 1951 season. This version had reworked rear suspension, the old swing axle was replaced with a De-Dion axle and the engine produced around at 9600 rpm. The 159 had top speed of and it weighed .Fiat Chrysler Automobiles EMEA Press: Alfa Romeo GP Tipo 159 Alfetta at F1 British GP - Press Releases - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles EMEA Press , accessdate: 11. July 2019 In order to achieve this power however, the simplistically designed engine was fitted with larger superchargers over time. This fact, combined with the rich mixture required to burn methanol in the engine resulted in extremely poor fuel economy - the 159 achieved , compared to the Talbot-Lagos of the time, which delivered . The 1951 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first Formula One Grand Prix not won by an Alfa primarily because Fangio and Farina both had to stop twice simply to re-fuel their cars – and the Ferrari of José Froilán González did better on fuel and would go on to win the race, with Fangio second. Still, the Alfa had the edge on performance and with wins in Switzerland, France and Spain, Fangio won his first of five championships that year. For their second-to-last World Championship race (until 1979), the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Alfa Romeo introduced a new evolution version known as the 159M, the "M" standing for Maggiorata (lit. "busty woman").
After an unsuccessful bid by Alfa Romeo to obtain government assistance to meet development costs, the team announced their retirement from Grand Prix racing at the end of 1951 (leaving the development of the 2.5-litre Alfa Romeo 160).Mike Lang, Grand Prix, Volume 1, 1950 to 1965, Haynes Publishing Group, 1981, page 39 This, combined with problems for other Formula One teams lead to a decree by the FIA that all Grand Prix races counting towards the World Championship of Drivers in 1952 and 1953 would be for cars complying with Formula Two rather than Formula One.
Technical data
Technical data 158/39 158/50 159 Engine: Front mounted 8-cylinder in-line engine Displacement: Bore x stroke: Max power at rpm: at 7 500 rpm at 8 500 rpm at 9 300 rpm Max Torque at rpm: at 7 000 rpm at 4 500 rpm at 5 300 rpm Valve control: 2 overhead Camshaft, 2 valves per cylinder Induction: Roots compressor2 Roots compressors Gearbox: 4-speed manual, transaxle suspension front: Double longitudinal links, transverse leaf springs, hydraulic shock absorbers suspension rear: Pendulum axleDe Dion axle Rear suspension: Transverse leaf springs, hydraulic shock absorbers Brakes: Hydraulic drum brakes Wheelbase: Dry weight:
Race victories Date Type Race Location Class DriverAugust 7, 1938158Coppa CianoLivornoVoituretteEmilio VilloresiSeptember 11, 1938158Milan Grand PrixMonzaVoituretteEmilio VilloresiJuly 30, 1939158Coppa CianoLivornoVoituretteGiuseppe FarinaAugust 13, 1939158Coppa AcerboPescaraVoituretteClemente BiondettiAugust 20, 1939158Swiss Grand PrixBremgartenVoituretteGiuseppe FarinaMay 12, 1940158Tripoli Grand PrixLibyaVoituretteGiuseppe FarinaJuly 21, 1946158Grand Prix of NationsGeneva-Giuseppe FarinaSeptember 1, 1946158Valentino Grand PrixTurin, Valentino Parknon-Champ. F1Achille VarziSeptember 30, 1946158Milan Grand PrixMilan, Sempione Park-Carlo Felice TrossiJune 8, 1947158Swiss Grand PrixBremgarten-Jean-Pierre WimilleJune 29, 1947158European Grand PrixSpa-Jean-Pierre WimilleJuly 13, 1947158Bari Grand PrixBari-Achille VarziSeptember 7, 1947158Italian Grand PrixMilan, Sempione Park-Carlo Felice TrossiJuly 4, 1948158Swiss Grand PrixBremgarten-Carlo Felice TrossiJuly 18, 1948158French Grand PrixReims-Jean-Pierre WimilleSeptember 5, 1948158Italian Grand PrixTurin, Valentino Park-Jean-Pierre WimilleOctober 17, 1948158Autodrome Grand PrixMonza-Jean-Pierre WimilleApril 16, 1950158San Remo Grand PrixOspedaletti-Juan Manuel FangioMay 13, 1950158European Grand PrixSilverstoneFormula OneGiuseppe FarinaMay 21, 1950158Monaco Grand PrixMonacoFormula OneJuan Manuel FangioJune 4, 1950158Swiss Grand PrixBremgartenFormula OneGiuseppe FarinaJune 18, 1950158Belgian Grand PrixSpaFormula OneJuan Manuel FangioJuly 2, 1950158French Grand PrixReimsFormula OneJuan Manuel FangioJuly 9, 1950158Bari Grand PrixBari-Giuseppe FarinaJuly 30, 1950158Grand Prix of NationsGeneva-Juan Manuel FangioAugust 15, 1950158Coppa AcerboPescara-Juan Manuel FangioAugust 26, 1950158International TrophySilverstonenon-Champ. F1Giuseppe FarinaSeptember 3, 1950158Italian Grand PrixMonzaFormula OneGiuseppe FarinaMay 27, 1951159Swiss Grand PrixBremgartenFormula OneJuan Manuel FangioJune 2, 1951159Ulster TrophyDundrod-Giuseppe FarinaJune 17, 1951159Belgian Grand PrixSpaFormula OneGiuseppe FarinaJuly 1, 1951159French Grand PrixReimsFormula OneLuigi Fagioli/Juan Manuel FangioOctober 28, 1951159Spanish Grand PrixPedralbesFormula OneJuan Manuel FangioSeptember 2, 1951159Bari Grand PrixBari-Juan Manuel Fangio
Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Points WCC 158 Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8 GBR MON 500 SUI BEL FRA ITA88-* Giuseppe Farina 1 Ret 1 4 7 1 Juan Manuel Fangio Ret 1 Ret 1 1 Ret Luigi Fagioli 2 Ret 2 2 2 3 Reg Parnell 3 Gianbattista Guidotti DNS Consalvo Sanesi Ret Piero Taruffi Ret 159 Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8 SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA ESP75-* Giuseppe Farina 3 1 5 Ret Ret 3 3 Juan Manuel Fangio 1 9 1 2 2 Ret 1 Toulo de Graffenried 5 Ret 6 Consalvo Sanesi 4 Ret 10 6 Gianbattista Guidotti DNS Luigi Fagioli 1 Felice Bonetto 4 Ret 3 5 Paul Pietsch Ret * The Constructors' Championship was not awarded until 1958.
See also Mercedes-Benz W165 Ferrari 125 F1 Maserati 4CLT BRM Type 15 Veritas Meteor
Legacy The 158/159 Alfetta remains one of the most successful cars in the history of Formula One, having won every race it entered in 1950, and winning 4 out of 7 races (with a podium in all of the other 3) in 1951.
Notes