>>Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta

Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta

Alfa Romeo 159 at Nürburgring

Alfa Romeo 158, 159, 159A, 159B, 159M

Alfa Romeo 159 Formula-1 car
Category	Voiturette (1938–1947) Formula One (1948–1951)
Constructor	Alfa Romeo
Designer(s)	Gioacchino Colombo
Successor	177
Technical specifications
Chassis	Single-seater, tubular frame
Suspension (front)	Trailing arm, transverse leaf springs, hydraulic dampers
Suspension (rear)	Swing axle*, transverse leaf spring, hydraulic dampers *De-Dion-axle was one of the last modifications 1951.
Engine	Alfa Romeo 158/159 1,479 cc (90.3 cu in), straight-8, Roots-type supercharger**, front mounted. ** 158: single stage – 190 bhp (142 kW) @ 6500 rpm (voit), 350 bhp (261 kW) @ 8500 rpm (F1); 159: two stage – 425 bhp (317 kW) @ 9300 rpm
Transmission	Alfa 4-speed manual
Fuel	Shell (98.5 % methanol, 1 % Castor oil, 0.5 % water)
Tyres	Pirelli
Competition history
Notable entrants	Alfa Romeo SpA
Notable drivers	(GP) Emilio Villoresi Achille Varzi Giuseppe Farina Carlo Felice Trossi Jean-Pierre Wimille Consalvo Sanesi Alberto Ascari (F1) 1. Giuseppe Farina 2. Juan Manuel Fangio 3. Luigi Fagioli (1950) 3. Felice Bonetto (1951) Reg Parnell, Consalvo Sanesi, Piero Taruffi (1950) Emmanuel de Graffenried, Luigi Fagioli, Paul Pietsch, Consalvo Sanesi(1951)
Debut	1938 Coppa Ciano Junior (158) 1951 BRDC International Trophy(159)
Races Wins Poles Fastest laps 41 (GP) 13 (F1) 37 (GP) 10 (F1) 10 (F1) 13 (F1)
Constructors' Championships	Not applicable before 1958
Drivers' Championships	2 (1950 – Giuseppe Farina 1951 – Juan Manuel Fangio)

The 1.5L supercharged straight-8 159 engine.

Drivers place.

The Alfa Romeo 158/159, also known as the Alfetta (Little Alfa in Italian, is one of the most successful racing cars ever produced. The 158 and its derivative, the 159, took 47 wins from 54 Grands Prix entered. It was originally developed for the pre-World War IIvoiturette 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 Fangioand Luigi Fagioli, it dominated the first two seasons of the Formula One World Championship.

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 GP2 series 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 200 bhp (150 kW) 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 254 bhp (189 kW) in 1946.

In 1947, the Alfetta became eligible for the newly-created Formula One. The new rules allowed 1500 cc supercharged and 4500 cc naturally aspirated engines. The 158 was modified again, this time to produce over 300 bhp (220 kW) 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).

The car won every race in which it competed during 1950; it was incredible that a car which had originated in 1938 was so victorious. The Alfa Romeo team included talented drivers such as Giuseppe 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. This version had reworked rear suspension, the old swing axle was replaced with a De-Dion axle and the engine produced around 420 bhp (313 kW) at 9600 rpm. For their last World Championship race (until 1979), the 1951 Spanish Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo introduced a new evolution version known as the 159M, the "M" standing for Maggiorata ("enlarged").

The 1952 World Drivers' Championship was run to Formula Two regulations, so the 159 became obsolete.

The car's last Grand Prix win came in 1953 at Merano Grand Prix, Italy.

Race victories

Date	Type	Race	Location	Class	Driver
August 7, 1938	158	Coppa Ciano	Livorno	Voiturette	Emilio Villoresi
September 11, 1938	158	Milan Grand Prix	Monza	Voiturette	Emilio Villoresi
July 30, 1939	158	Coppa Ciano	Livorno	Voiturette	Giuseppe Farina
August 13, 1939	158	Coppa Acerbo	Pescara	Voiturette	Clemente Biondetti
August 20, 1939	158	Swiss Grand Prix	Bremgarten	Voiturette	Giuseppe Farina
May 12, 1940	158	Tripoli Grand Prix	Libya	Voiturette	Giuseppe Farina
July 21, 1946	158	Grand Prix of Nations	Geneva	-	Giuseppe Farina
September 1, 1946	158	Valentino Grand Prix	Turin, Valentino Park	non-Champ. F1	Achille Varzi
September 30, 1946	158	Milan Grand Prix	Milan, Sempione Park	-	Carlo Felice Trossi
June 8, 1947	158	Swiss Grand Prix	Bremgarten	-	Jean-Pierre Wimille
June 29, 1947	158	European Grand Prix	Spa	-	Jean-Pierre Wimille
July 13, 1947	158	Bari Grand Prix	Bari	-	Achille Varzi
September 7, 1947	158	Italian Grand Prix	Milan, Sempione Park	-	Carlo Felice Trossi
July 4, 1948	158	Swiss Grand Prix	Bremgarten	-	Carlo Felice Trossi
July 18, 1948	158	French Grand Prix	Reims	-	Jean-Pierre Wimille
September 5, 1948	158	Italian Grand Prix	Turin, Valentino Park	-	Jean-Pierre Wimille
October 17, 1948	158	Autodrome Grand Prix	Monza	-	Jean-Pierre Wimille
April 16, 1950	158	San Remo Grand Prix	Ospedaletti	-	Juan Manuel Fangio
May 13, 1950	158	European Grand Prix	Silverstone	Formula One	Giuseppe Farina
May 21, 1950	158	Monaco Grand Prix	Monaco	Formula One	Juan Manuel Fangio
June 4, 1950	158	Swiss Grand Prix	Bremgarten	Formula One	Giuseppe Farina
June 18, 1950	158	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Formula One	Juan Manuel Fangio
July 2, 1950	158	French Grand Prix	Reims	Formula One	Juan Manuel Fangio
July 9, 1950	158	Bari Grand Prix	Bari	-	Giuseppe Farina
July 30, 1950	158	Grand Prix of Nations	Geneva	-	Juan Manuel Fangio
August 15, 1950	158	Coppa Acerbo	Pescara	-	Juan Manuel Fangio
August 26, 1950	158	International Trophy	Silverstone	non-Champ. F1	Giuseppe Farina
September 3, 1950	158	Italian Grand Prix	Monza	Formula One	Giuseppe Farina
May 27, 1951	159	Swiss Grand Prix	Bremgarten	Formula One	Juan Manuel Fangio
June 2, 1951	159	Ulster Trophy	Dundrod	-	Giuseppe Farina
June 17, 1951	159	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Formula One	Giuseppe Farina
July 1, 1951	159	French Grand Prix	Reims	Formula One	Luigi Fagioli/Juan Manuel Fangio
October 28, 1951	159	Spanish Grand Prix	Pedralbes	Formula One	Juan Manuel Fangio
September 2, 1951	159	Bari Grand Prix	Bari	-	Juan Manuel Fangio
1953	159	Merano Grand Prix	Italy	-	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
1950	158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8	P		GBR	MON	500	SUI	BEL	FRA	ITA		88	-
				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
1951	159	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8	P		SUI	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	ESP	75	-
				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		f
				Gianbattista Guidotti	DNS
				Luigi Fagioli				1
				Felice Bonetto					4	Ret	3	5
				Paul Pietsch						Ret