Markus Schöberl was the owner of this Alfasud Giardinetta. If you look at it, you might think that this is just a rare and well conserved estate-version of the Alfasud. Not many Giardinetta left the Pomigliano d'Arco plant and even more have long gone their last way: the German "Kraftfahrtbundesamt" counted 54 imatriculated Giardinettas in 1990.

But infact this particular car is a little different. Of course you might think that the car has the less powerful 1.2 litre engine with 63 bhp. But you're wrong! Markus implanted the 1.5 litre engine with two twinchoke-downdraft carburettors of an Alfasud Ti 1.5. This makes the Giardinetta a real Sportwagon! Markus also exchanged the serial dashboard into one of a series II Alfasud ti. The leather-steeringwheel is the one of a series III Alfasud Ti 1.5 QV. The driver and his passengers sit on black leather seats which give the once very simple interior a quite luxurious touch... The complete exhaust system also came from a series III Ti 1.5 QV (have a look at the twin exhaust pipes at the rear). This is one of the few details which give a hint about the real power of the sportive Giardinetta. The wheels (not on those pictures) were also taken from a series II Alfasud ti.

Unfortunately the Alfasud Giardinetta was not very successful. When the Alfasud Giardinetta was launched, estate cars where still something for craftsmen and maybe for families who need the extra boot capacity. Driving an estate car became en vogue 10 years later... In contrast to the four-door Alfasud body the Giardinetta offered a foldable rear bench - something which many early Alfasud buyers wished to have in their four-door version. When Alfa Romeo finally offered a foldable bench in the three- and four-door versions of the saloon, the Alfasud had still about two years to live - too late. Maybe the only mistake in the concept of this great car.

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Last Update: May, 27th 2004      Created: June, 14th 2001

© Layout and text by Tim Rauen. Photos by Markus Schöberl.