The hood latch was hard to find, but was finally located on the firewall directly over the pedals. An orthodox safety catch up front released the hood, revealing the compact 65 hp Sprint engine sitting well done in the engine room. There is easy access to plugs, oil dip stick and the like, but the battery is in the trunk away from engine heat. Instead of the single-throat Solex that comes on the conventional Giulietta Berlina, the TI version is fitted with a double-choke downdraft Solex 35 APAI-G with accelerator pump.

Once behind the wheel if the car and out on the open road, it’s easy to feel at home. Our immediate reaction was that it would turn out to be a “fun car”, and this proved to be true. The steering is light and quick: the gear lever, thought situated on the column, it solid yet light, with the feel of the floor-mounted version found on the Sprint Veloce and Spyder. The engine is extremely responsive and the weight of the overall car has been kept down to a minimum. In traffic, one is laps ahead if the rest of the pack by merely using engine revs and the gear box as they ask to be used. Shifts can be rushed without gronching noises jumping out from under the floor boards.

On the autostrada we checked the speedo and found it to be hopelessly fast, but a maximum in third gear proved to be an honest 65 mph. As for top speed, we were able to clock only a 90 miles per hour two-way average, but with a bit of attention to the carburetor, the TI should reach its advertised 95 with ease.

At high revs engine noise was loud, but the wind noise was less than that of the Sprint Veloce. At high revs in high gear, there is the same feeling of extreme confidence that the Veloce inspires.

Brakes are taken directly from the Sprint, and no criticism is needed, Giulietta drivers know that their best weapon is their anchors, and this little four-door bomb is no exception. We had fade in our test, but recovery was almost immediate. Brake potency is amazing, even though the system is not servo-assisted.

Cruising speed of the TI is anything up to 90 mph. Stability is good at high speeds and fast cornering showed the car the have excellent road holding qualities on either Pirelli “Cinturato” or Michelin.

To determine the car’s mannerisms on the track, we took our TI to the Modena “autodromo”. This is not an earthshaking circuit, but still it offered opportunity to discover how the car behaved when really trying. Fast corners offered no problems; but on slow to medium fast (such as the “S” corner at Modena) we found too much understeer for complete happiness. Adjusting tire pressure, both front and rear, altered the slip angles of the tires, putting the car in a better frame of mind to turn, and us just in a better frame of mind. Rear end breakway could be provoked, but as the British say, in “an untidy manner”. The high rev limit gives the car considerable flexibility.

Complaints center around the poor quality and small dash and window controls, and the trunk latch is driss and difficult to accurate without undue force. But aside from this, the TI is a first class sports-touring type car with near perfect brakes, and a lively, well-proven 4 cylinder dohc engine. For the frustrated family man who want to put some fun in his motoring –real Italian style fun that is – don’t walk, but run to your nearest Alfa dealer.

Jesse L. Alexander.

Source: SCI

Edited by: BeeGee