Alfa Roméo a joué un rôle actif et décisif dans la croissance du sud de l'Italie.
   La firme créa une usine moderne à Pomigliano d'Arco, dans la province de Naples, faisant des investissements considérables pour la production de masse d'une petite voiture 1200 cc de grande classe.
   Ce nouveau véhicule fut nommé "Alfasud" et associa la traction avant avec un grand nombres de solutions techniques raffinées tels qu'un 4 cylindres à plats opposés et un arrière aérodynamique avec hayon dessiné par "Giugiaro's Ital Design".
   Malgré son petit moteur, la voiture était exubérante, avait une excellente tenue de route, un caractère et un style qui caractérisa avec distinction l'emblème au serpent.
   Grâce à l'Alfasud, les acheteurs d'Alfa Roméo augmentaient en nombre aussi bien en Italie qu'à l'étranger.
   Cette gamme de voitures fabriquées à Pomigliano d'Arco fut augmentée d'une Ti qui était un 1300cc deux portes et de l'Alfasud Sprint coupé.
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   Development of a new, small, front-wheel drive Alfa Romeo began in the late 60's, at the same time as began the construction of a new factory at Pomigliano d'Arco in Southern Italy, where it was to be built. Shown to the public for the first time at the Turin Motorshow in 1971, the Alfasud immediately received high praise from road testers for it's handling.
   The most noticeable features of the design were :
   
   an 1186cc 4 cylinder horizontally opposed engined with sohc for each cylinder bank
   all round disc brakes (inboard at the front) and a handbrake operating on the front callipers
   MacPherson strut front suspension and a dead axle at the rear
   rack and pinion steering
   design by Giorgio Giugiaro
   
   Initially the car was only available with four doors, but the arrival of the ti in the following year brought two doors, a higher compression ratio (up to 9.0), some more power (up to 68bhp) and a five speed gearbox. Externally the car received twin round headlights replacing the original square units.
   In 1976 the Alfasud Sprint was introduced. This shared the same floorpan and mechanicals as the saloons, but had a new coupe body (two doors plus hatchback, also designed by Giugiaro) and was fitted with a new 1286cc engine generating 75bhp. A five speed box was also used in the Sprint. Shortly afterwards this engine was fitted into the saloon, producing the 1300 TI. Around the same time the five speed gearbox became available in the 1186cc four door car, creating the 5M. This was also later fitted with the 1286cc engine from the Sprint.
   The next change came with the introduction of a new 1490cc engine in Sprint 1.5 (85bhp). This still used a single Weber carburettor, but soon afterwards, in 1980, the Sprint Veloce arrived with a twin Weber IDF carburettor on each cylinder head. In this form it produced 95bhp, and was shortly afterwards fitted into the saloon, becoming the 1.5 ti Veloce. The twin carburettor layout was also installed in the 1300ti's, giving 86bhp.
   The four door saloon also received the 1490cc engine, albeit only with a single carburettor (84bhp), as well as a new engine of 1351cc, producing 79bhp.
   1981 saw a major change to the range when the three door cars were introduced. The small bootlid was replaced by a large hatchback, although the high loading rim limited accessibility. Folding rear seats were also fitted, which provided a useful luggage area. At this point it was possible to buy a 1186cc with four or five doors, a 1351cc with three or five doors, a 1490cc with five doors as well as the ti's which all had three doors.
   A final development of the saloon body came with the Green Cloverleaf, which had the 1490cc engine tuned to produce 105bhp through modified camshafts, carburettor jets, cylinder heads and more. This was also fitted to the Sprint.
   Production of the saloon stopped in 1983 when it was replaced by the new 33. The Sprint continued on until 1989, in it's latter years being fitted with the 1712cc unit from the 33. Various other changes were also made to the later Sprints to commonise parts with the 33, including the use of drum brakes on the revised rear axle and outboard disc brakes at the front replacing the original Sud's inboard ones.
   Worthy of mention is also the 1982 Sprint 6C, in which Autodelta fitted a GTV6 160bhp V6 engine behind the front seats, driving the rear wheels.
   An estate version, the Giardinetta, was also produced which had two doors and a very long, single piece rear side window.
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