Italian car manufacturers seem to have a passionate heart, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati have strong power performance, and have also performed very well in major world races. The speedy speed makes them have a lot of fans, but there are also some car brands because of their casual unruliness, which makes people think that this company is a little "weird" and has become a niche sports car with a relatively low sense of existence.
The current Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, Lamborghini and other supercar manufacturers are simply not comparable, but in the 90s of the last century, Alfa Romeo still has a place in the colorful car market, and Alfa Romeo also created a "heavyweight" product that has been remembered for half a century, this car is the Alfa Romeo 164. Today we will find out the origin of this sports car that has been remembered for half a century.
The birth of the Alfa Romeo 164 can be traced back to 1978, when Ford Granda, BMW 5 Series and other models were popular in the market, and Italy, as the cradle of sports cars, also wanted to develop a new car that could compete with these two models. So Alfa Romeo joined forces with three car manufacturing companies, Fiat, Lancia and Saab, to develop the car through the Type4 platform.
But due to their financial crisis and insufficient funding, the development of new cars was repeatedly postponed, and the project did not officially begin until 1982. Enrico Fumia, a designer from Pennsylvania, submitted a new design and named the new car "164."
The 164 concept was designed with aerodynamics in mind, with a minimum drag coefficient of 0.3, but the concept car was not mass-produced. In 1984, during testing on the road inside Alfa Romeo. In order to make the car a memorable product, in addition to testing on urban roads, Alfa Romeo also drove the vehicle to various harsh environments for testing.
In addition to being extremely strict in testing, Alfa Romeo also designed test props specifically for 164 in order to improve its durability, and these special props also cost a lot of money. Just as the so-called effort pays off, Alfa Romeo's efforts for the 164 also paid off in later sales and profits.
In 1987, the Alfa Romeo 164 was officially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and in the rectangular grille, Alfa Romeo showed his difference with a small triangular grille. This grille has also become Alfa Romeo's most recognizable family icon, and to this day, in addition to the difference in size, Alfa Romeo's grille still retains this design.
Thanks to the efforts of Fiat, Lancia and Saab, Alfa Romeo 164 not only has a lightweight body, but also adds a lot of electrical equipment to the car, the chassis suspension system also adopts variable damping suspension, the sporty performance and comfort performance of the whole car have also been well balanced, Alfa Romeo 164 has also become the first product in the history of Alfa Romeo to use galvanized steel to create a body frame.
The Alfa Romeo 164 is a favorite of thousands of people, and it has also shown great competitiveness in the lightweight racing field, achieving the purpose of building this car at that time. During Alfa Romeo's most glorious 15 years, the impact of the Alfa Romeo 164 was very far-reaching.
Unfortunately, because Alfa Romeo participated in the F1 World Championship branch of 16 times, only this car met the requirements, and the final event was cancelled, and Alfa Romeo 164 was also put in the museum and became a collector's item for fans.
Alfa Romeo has a long history, but to talk about its 90s, I think a "164" can represent its development during this time. This car not only made a breakthrough in design, but also achieved excellent results on the racing track, so it can be remembered for half a century.