– Formula 1 racing cars of the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team and legendary vintage cars from the Alfa Romeo factory museum in Arese are the stars of the event in Hinwil/Switzerland. – Autograph session with Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc. – Arturo Merzario does demonstration laps in the 33 Alfa Romeo 12TT1975 world championship car. – More than 400 Alfa Romeo cars from all over Europe on the grounds of the Betzholz driving training center.
More than 5.000 visitors, over 400 Alfa Romeos from all over Europe on site - the Betzholz driving training center in Hinwil, Switzerland, was the venue for one of the largest Alfa Romeo brand meetings of all time. The location for "Passione Alfa Romeo" was chosen carefully by the organizers. Hinwil is home to the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, with which the brand returned to Formula 2018 for the 1 season. And so two stars of the event came from the neighborhood: Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc and one of the racing team's Grand Prix cars. To the delight of the fans, the mechanics started the racing car's engine several times over the course of the day.
An Alfa Romeo 33TT12 from 1975 was in the same league in terms of sound, and visitors could even admire it in motion. The former Formula 1 driver and Alfa Romeo works driver Arturo Merzario did a few laps on the track of the driving training center in the racer with which Alfa Romeo won the World Championship. The prototype with the twelve-cylinder boxer engine in the rear was accompanied on the exhibition grounds by around a dozen other vehicles from the Alfa Romeo factory museum "La macchina del tempo" in Arese and from private collectors.
The second focus of the “Passione Alfa Romeo” was the brand’s current models. The range was led by the two special models Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio NRING and Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio NRING. The additional name NRING is a reference to the most famous race track in the world – the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. The model name is a tribute to the track records and the numerous successes that Alfa Romeo achieved in races on the Nürburgring. Only exactly 108 examples of each of the two special models will be built for the EMEA economic region (Europe, Middle East, Africa). The number of units is explained by the founding year of the company, which later became Alfa Romeo, in 1910. Automobiles of the brand have been delighting for 108 years with Italian style as well as performance, technology and driving pleasure.
For almost all car manufacturers, the Nürburgring Nordschleife, built in 1927, is the most demanding test track for production vehicles. Lap records are considered an unofficial accolade. Alfa Romeo has achieved this feat twice. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio in the four-door saloon class (7.32 minutes) and the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio in the SUV category (7.51,7 minutes) set new records.
The special models Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio NRING and Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio NRING celebrate these records. Both are powered by a 375 kW (510 hp) 2,9-liter V6 bi-turbo engine, which in the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio NRING is combined with the AlfaTM Q4 four-wheel drive. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio NRING reaches a top speed of 309 km/h and accelerates from a standstill to 3,9 km/h in 100 seconds. For the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio NRING, the corresponding values are 283 km/h and 3,8 seconds.
The 216 buyers of an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio NRING or an Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio NRING not only acquire one of the most exclusive automobiles on the market, they also benefit from additional services, including an exclusive welcome kit and a sports driver training course at the Nürburgring.
Alfa Romeo 4C Competizione and Alfa Romeo 4C Spider Italia
Like the NRING special models, the Alfa Romeo 4C Competizione and Alfa Romeo 4C Spider Italia also authentically represented the racing tradition that is deeply rooted in Alfa Romeo's DNA in the "Passione Alfa Romeo". Both variants are powered by a four-cylinder turbo engine that, with an intercooler and variable valve control on the intake and exhaust sides, produces 176 kW (240 hp). A numbered plaque on the transmission tunnel underlines the exclusivity of the special models.
The Alfa Romeo 4C Competizione is painted Vesuvio Grey. The roof, rear spoiler, exterior mirror covers, side air intakes and headlight surrounds are made of carbon fibre.
The interior also exudes a racing atmosphere. The sports seats and steering wheel are covered in a combination of leather and microfiber, and red stitching provides visual contrast.
The Alfa Romeo 4C Spider Italia has a Misano Blue body color. The alloy wheels - 18 inches at the front, 19 inches at the rear - have an asymmetrical five-spoke design. The brake callipers are painted yellow, matching the color of the stitching on the seat covers, dashboard, steering wheel and door panels.
test drives with up to 375 kW (510 hp)
Many visitors to the “Passione Alfa Romeo” took advantage of the opportunity to test drive the cars on site. The Alfa Romeo 4C, Alfa Romeo Giulia and Alfa Romeo Stelvio were available, including the Quadrifoglio model variants, which provided a special driving experience with 375 kW (510 hp) of power.
Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team was represented with its own exhibition, bringing two Formula 1 cars to the driver training center just a few kilometers from its own base. Thanks to the strategic partnership with Sauber, Alfa Romeo has returned to the highest level of motorsport after more than 30 years. In 2018, the team will field drivers Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson, both of whom have already scored world championship points in the Alfa Romeo Sauber C37. In 2019, former world champion Kimi Raikkonen has already been confirmed as a driver for the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
FCA Heritage
Alfa Romeo is one of the biggest names in international motorsport. The successes achieved by Alfa Romeo racing cars have had a decisive influence on the brand's image. At the "Passione Alfa Romeo" visitors were able to take a close look at some of the racing cars that are normally on display in the factory museum "La macchina del tempo" in Arese near Milan. They were brought to Hinwil by FCA Heritage, the department of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) responsible for the history of the Italian group brands. The following were on display, among others:
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS (1930)
With the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Grand Sport, Grand Prix star Tazio Nuvolari and co-driver Giovanni Battista Giudotti won the Mille Miglia road race in 1930. The six-cylinder engine with 1.752 cubic centimetres of displacement and two overhead camshafts enabled an average speed of over 100 km/h for the first time on the approximately 1.000-mile (approx. 1.600 kilometre) route from Brescia to Rome and back.
Alfa Romeo GP Tipo B P3 (1932)
Alfa Romeo's Grand Prix car, known as the P3 for short, designed by Vittorio Jano, was one of the most successful racing cars of all time. Powered by an eight-cylinder in-line engine, it won at its official premiere, the 1932 Italian Grand Prix on the Monza race track, with Tazio Nuvolari at the wheel.
Alfa Romeo GP Tipo 159 “Alfetta” (1951)
After Giuseppe "Nino" Farina won the first ever Formula 1950 World Championship in 158 in the Tipo 1 for Alfa Romeo, the factory team developed the car further for the following season into the Tipo 159. Once again, the racer nicknamed "Alfetta" (little Alfa Romeo) was the measure of all things - in 1951, Alfa Romeo factory driver Juan Manuel Fangio became world champion.
Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint (1954)
At the beginning of the 1950s, racing with more or less standard saloons, the so-called Gran Turismo, became fashionable. The Alfa Romeo 1900 was one of the successful models, which the brand celebrated with the slogan "The family car that wins races". In 1954, the series was expanded to include the sportier 1900 Super Sprint model. Its engine had a displacement increased from 1.884 to 1.975 and correspondingly increased power.
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAm (1970)
Four round headlights, the silhouette crouched low on the asphalt and the powerful fender flares are unmistakable features of the Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAm. The Alfa Romeo factory team first entered the European Touring Car Championship in 1970 with this version of the model commonly known as the "Bertone". The two letters "Am" in the name are a reference to the engine - it is equipped with the mechanical Spica injection system used in America, and thus produces around 162 kW (220 hp) from a displacement of two liters. The Dutchman Toine Hezemans became European champion in 1970 with the Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAm. Ex-Formula 1 driver Ivan Capelli was at the wheel of the "Passione Alfa Romeo". The Italian won the Formula 1984 European Championship in 3 in a Martini Mk42 with an Alfa Romeo engine.
Alfa Romeo 33TT12 (1975)
In the 1970s, the World Endurance Championship was hotly contested. Alfa Romeo developed the Tipo 33TT12 for this racing series, the name of which is a reference to the most important technical components. TT stands for "Telaio Tubolare", or tubular space frame. And the 12 refers to the twelve-cylinder boxer engine in the rear, which produces more than 367 kW (500 hp) and enables a top speed of over 300 km/h. In 1975, Alfa Romeo won the World Endurance Championship for Manufacturers with the Tipo 33TT12. One of the drivers was the Italian Arturo Merzario.
At the “Passione Alfa Romeo” in Hinwil, Merzario met his 1975 racing car again. The now 75-year-old ex-Formula 1 driver personally drove his former world champion car, normally an exhibit in the Alfa Romeo factory museum in Arese near Milan, on the track at the Betzholz driving training center.
*Combined fuel consumption (l/100 km) according to Directive 80/1268/EEC and combined CO2 emissions (g/km). Further information on official fuel consumption and the official specific CO2 emissions of new passenger cars can be found in the “Guide to fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and electricity consumption of new passenger cars”, which is available free of charge at all sales outlets and here.
