Giardinetta Story
The Alfasud
Alfa Romeo has always been a brand with a sporty and exclusive image. Mass
produced vehicles were started late in the companies history. Since the early
fifties Alfa started “mass production” with the 1900 and the Giulietta. Though Alfa was now involved in mass production they never made a
small affordable “peoples” car. In 1967 this was about to change and the Alfasud
project was started. The Italian government was eager to create jobs in the so
far industrial underdeveloped south of Italy. Many young people were moving away
from the south to the more industrial north of Italy to find jobs. To stop this
exodus the government decided to actively promote industrial development in the
area. Alfa Romeo already had a production facility in the south in Pomigliano
d’Arco near the city of Naples. In this Pomigliano d’Arco plant Alfa Romeo had
it’s relatively small aviation division. The plant was not well maintained and
the new Alfasud project provided a chance to boost the plant to modern standards
with the aid of the Italian government.
A part of the Alfa Romeo Avio plant was sacrificed for the Alfasud project. The
airport at the factory was transformed into a test track for the car factory to
come. The government support consisted amongst others out of 300 billion Lire
and 240 hectares of land. The government support was as promised and provided a
solid base for the project. Now the difficult task for Alfa to get a work force
of 16,000 people was the next obstacle to tackle. Over 130,000 people applied
for a job in the factory to be. Many people wanted to take this opportunity to
get a job. The amount of applicants was abundant, the only problem was the vast
majority was uneducated and/or had no experience what so ever with industrial
work and processes. This was heavily underestimated and would haunt the whole Alfasud project throughout its lifetime.
The team which developed the Alfasud was a mix of fantastic minds. The huge
amount of talent in the team was bound to deliver a spectacular end result. The
most familiar names of the team consisted out of ;
Rudolf Hruska as the chief engineer for the
whole project.
July 2nd 1915 – December 4th 1995
Born
in Vienna Austria. He graduated from the Vienna university of technology. His
professional career started at Magirus from 1935 to 1938 followed by Porsche
from 1938 till 1945. Several companies were to follow. His first period at Alfa
Romeo was from 1954 to 1959. In 1967 he returned to start the Alfasud project.
The achievements of mr. Hruska are too many to list down here. If you want to
see a more detailed history I advise you to search the internet. Mr. Hruska passed
away in Turin in December 1995 at the age of 80.
Giorgetto Giugiaro as the responsible person
for the design of the car.
August 7th 1938 ~
Born
in Garessio, province of Cuneo (Piedmont) Italy. At the age of 17 he started
working at the FIAT styling centre. After that he moved to Bertone from 1960 to
1965 and Ghia from 1966 to 1968 before he started his own design company Studi
Italiani Realizzazione Prototipi S.p.A. (these days known as Italdesign) in
1968. His resume consists out of an incredible amount of interesting vehicles for
which he received the “car designer of the century” award in 1999. In 2002 he
was awarded with a place of honour in the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn
USA. Besides many vehicles he also designed camera housings for Nikon and
several other objects. In 1997 Giugiaro retired from Italdesign although he
remains a member of the board till today.
Carlo Chiti as an engineering executive.
December 19th 1924 – July 7th 1994
Born
in Pistoia Italy. He graduated the university of Pisa with a degree in
aeronautical engineering in 1953. He joined Alfa Romeo in 1952 and moved to
Ferrari at the end of the fifties when Alfa shut down its racing department. He
remained at Ferrari till 1962. In 1963 he joined the famous Autodelta company.
From 1979 till 1984 Chiti was in charge of the Alfa Romeo formula 1 team after a
relatively successful period for the Brabham F1 team with Alfa Romeo engines.
There was little success in the Chiti Alfa F1 years and he started yet another
project. Carlo Chiti died in Milan in 1994 at the age of 69.
That is a development team any car manufacturer would envy. The only surviving member as of
today (dated October 2009) is Giorgetto Giugiaro.
The targets for the project were clear from the start; Provide work for about
13,000 people and result in an affordable car with easy maintenance. In 4 years
these tough targets were accomplished and on the Turin motor show of 1971 the Alfasud made it’s debut. The car was well received and the expectations were
high. In the spring of 1972 the cars came to the market. More additional
information on the Alfasud project and the complete history can be found on Tim
Rauen’s extensive Alfasud site
http://alfasud.alfisti.net/indexe.htm After the
introduction of the 4-door saloon version in 1972 the 2-door sporty “TI” version
followed in 1973. By the time of the “TI” introduction the Alfasud Giardinetta
project was well on its way. The Alfasud project had besides the 4-door saloon
vehicle also a 2-door sports version, this site’s subject the Giardinetta, a
3-door coupe and a convertible in the planning. The only derivative which didn’t
make it into the production stage was the convertible. That one remained at a
driving prototype stage.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
| Alfasud
Berlina
introduced in 1972. |
Alfasud TI introduced in 1973. |
Alfasud
Giardinetta
introduced in 1975. |
Alfasud
Sprint
introduced in 1976. |
Alfasud Spider prototype |
The
Giardinetta
Alfa Romeo had produced very few station car vehicles in its long history.
The 6C 2500 with Viotti and Farina bodies, the 1900 with Ghia (Frua) body, the
Giulietta with Boneschi and Colli bodies, the Giulia with Colli bodies and the
1750 Berlina with Pavesi body are either one-off’s or very limited production
vehicles at the site of the affected coach builders. The Alfasud Giardinetta broke with this tradition.
The vehicle designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro was built in the Pomigliano d’Arco
factory together with the other Alfasud variants. In 1973 the first test
vehicles were spotted on test tracks. The picture below shows a 1973 test car.
If you look carefully at the picture you can see that the rear window area near
the C-pillar has a slightly different geometry from the vehicle which went into
production. Also in 1973 artist impressions of the vehicle started
appearing in car magazines. Below a sample of a 2-door and 4-door impression.
Whether Alfa Romeo actually intended to make 2 variants initially is unknown.
![]() 1973 Artist impression of Giardinetta 2-door (source: Mot magazine). |
![]() 1973 Artist impression of Giardinetta 4-door (source: Mot magazine). |
![]() 1973 Giardinetta prototype (source: Gente Motori magazine). |
|
The name Giardinetta more or less means "for garden use". This name indicated that the usage could be more then just a people carrier. Besides this official name also sometimes the name "Familiare" is used in Italy. The name "Familiare" basically means family car. In other countries the vehicle name is adjusted to "Estate" for English speaking countries, "Break" for French speaking countries and "Kombi" for German speaking countries. In rare occasions also mistakenly the name "Giardinera" is used, but that's a name used by used by other Italian brands such as Fiat and Autobianchi to designate there estate vehicles.
The vehicle code of the Alfasud Giardinetta introduced to the market in 1975 was 904A. The 1200cc (1186cc) engine is the only available engine upon its introduction. The luggage compartment could fit from a convincing 600 litres to a whopping 1300 litres with the back seat folded down. In order to be able to get the back seat down the lower seat needs to be folded forwards. In this configuration the folded up lower seat serves as protection for the front occupants to avoid luggage slipping forward when braking. The interior and equipment of the Giardinetta is apart from the rear end the same as the Alfasud L except for 2 things. The revolution counter is missing in the Giardinetta and the floor carpet is out of rubber as opposed of the Alfasud L which is out of fabric. The market introduction in Italy was in May 1975. Other European markets had to wait till autumn 1975. For some reason not all European countries were assigned as regular markets for the Giardinetta. The United Kingdom for example never had the vehicle in the price lists, for France only unofficial import was done. Overseas countries like for example Japan and the United States were also not designated for the sale of the Giardinetta.

Giardinetta dimensions.

Giardinetta dashboard without rev. counter (picture only valid for tipo 904A).
The Giardinetta was derived from the 2-door Alfasud TI which was introduced in 1973. Most probably the vehicle was derived from the 2-door TI to benefit from its higher body stiffness than compared to the 4-door Alfasud Berlina. Although there are a lot of common components between the Giardinetta and the other Suds there are obviously also significant differences to the body and less obvious differences to other components;
1.) Rear bumper position Giardinetta lower than other Suds to allow easy access to the luggage compartment.
![]() Giardinetta rear bumper height. |
![]() Alfasud (TI) rear bumper height. |
2.) Rear bumper to body attachment brackets longer for Giardinetta (rest of bumper is the same as for other Suds).
3.) Foldable rear bench to allow enlargement of the luggage room for the Giardinetta. The folded bench doubles as a safety feature which avoids luggage moving towards the driver.
4.) Wooden floor covers in luggage compartment with rubber strips for protection and anti-slip for the Giardinetta.
![]() Giardinetta wooden boot trim with rubber anti-slip strips. |
![]() Alfasud (TI) rubber boot trim. |
5.) The lock for the boot is unique for the Giardinetta.
For a pictorial representation of the boot lock differences refer to the luggage compartment section pictures (item 4).
6.) The rear light clusters are different for the Giardinetta. The Giardinetta clusters are also used for the Alfa Romeo F11/F12 vans from 1975 onwards.
![]() Giardinetta rear light clusters with separate reversing light. |
![]() Alfasud (TI) rear light clusters with integrated reversing light. |
![]() Alfa Romeo F12 rear light clusters. |
7.) The reversing light is not incorporated into the rear light clusters as for all other Suds, but a separate light below the rear bumper is used for the Giardinetta.
For a pictorial representation of the reversing light differences refer to the rear light cluster section pictures (item 6).
8.) The rear springs for the Giardinetta are longer and have a higher spring rate to allow more load than other Suds.
9.) The roof of the Giardinetta has 2 stiffener ribs to stiffen out the significantly increased roof surface compared to the other Suds. At the rear of the vehicle these stiffener ribs end in the position where the hinges for the boot are placed. These stiffener ribs for the estate version were also applied to the Alfasud successor. The Alfa 33 Berlina had no stiffener ribs and the Alfa 33 Giardinetta/SportWagon did.
![]() Giardinetta roof with 2 stiffener ribs. |
![]() Alfasud (Berlina + TI) roof without stiffener ribs. |
10.) The dashboard gauges for the Giardinetta do not have a revolution counter on the right hand side like the majority of the other Suds, but a multi information light cluster. Early Sud Berlina vehicles also used the gauges without revolution counter.
![]() Giardinetta gauges with multi information light cluster on RH side. |
![]() Alfasud Berlina / TI first series gauges (black background) with revolution counter. |
In numbers the differences between the Giardinetta and its father the "TI" can be summarised as shown below.
| Giardinetta '75 (1186cc) | TI '73 (1186cc) | |
| Overall length | 3935 mm | 3926 mm |
| Kerb weight | 915 kg | 810 kg |
| Boot capacity | 600 - 1300 litre | 400 litre |
| Engine performance | 63 BHP @ 6000 RPM | 68 BHP @ 6000 RPM |
| Carburettor | 1 Solex C32 DISA/21 | 1 Weber 32 DIR 62/250 |
| Top speed | 153 km/h | 161 km/h |
| Tyres | 165 / 70 SR 13 | 145 / 70 SR 13* |
*As an option the 165 / 70 SR 13 tyres were also available on the Alfasud TI.
Engine
3 engines were used for the Giardinetta throughout its lifetime. All 3 of these engines were common with the other Suds and for the Giardinetta equipped with 1 vertical single barrel Solex carburettor. The engines are of the boxer type with 2 horizontally opposed cylinders on each side. Lubrification is of the wet sump type with exchangeable oil filter. Cooling is done in a closed system with a mechanically driven pump. The radiator fan is controlled by an electrical thermostatic sensor. The 2 overhead cam shafts are driven by 2 timing belts connected to the crank shaft. Each timing belt has its own tensioner. 2 valves per cylinder are operated by the cam shafts. An ingenious system is incorporated into these cam shafts. Each cam is separated into 2 pieces with space between them. The space between the cams allows a hole in the cam shaft through which you can adjust the valve play with a hexagon wrench (refer to picture below). The engine block is out of cast iron and the cylinder heads are out of light alloy. The engine proved to be very reliable and almost indestructible. An advantage of the boxer engine is the low centre of gravity which enhanced the road handling as well as allowing the bonnet line to be kept low to achieve a good streamline.
![]() Alfasud (Giardinetta) 4 cylinder boxer engine. |
![]() Ingenious valve clearance adjustment mechanism through hole in cam shaft. |
| Capacity | Engine number | Bore | Stroke | BHP @ RPM | Torque @ RPM | Top speed | Application |
| 1200cc (1186cc) | AS30102 | 80mm | 59mm | 63 @ 6000 | 88Nm @ 3200 | 153 km/h | 904A / 904A1 |
| 1300cc (1286cc) | AS30180 | 80mm | 64mm | 68 @ 6000 | ?? @ ?? | ?? | 904B |
| 1300cc (1351cc) | AS30160 | 80mm | 67.2mm | 71 @ 5800 | 88Nm @ 3000 | 155 km/h | 904B2 |
Transmission
The transmission of the Giardinetta is the same as the Alfasud one. During the Giardinetta's lifetime 2 different gearboxes were available. A manual 4-gear and a 5-gear transmission. The transmission is located behind the engine in vehicle longitudinal direction. First the bell housing then the differential and lastly the transmission are incorporated in the aluminium gearbox housing. All forward gears have a synchromesh, the rearward gear doesn't. The gear lever is a floor mounted one. The differential is of the hypoid bevel pinion type. The clutch is a hydraulically operated single dry plate one with self adjusting diaphragm spring. The self adjusting feature is to compensate wear of the clutch plate. A notable fact is that the brake callipers are fastened to the transmission/differential housing.

Alfasud (Giardinetta) transmission.
Brakes
The brakes of the Giardinetta are common with other Alfasud vehicles. 4 disc brakes of which the front ones are inboard mounted to reduce the unsprung weight. The system itself is a servo assisted dual circuit hydraulic one. The circuits are separated between 1 circuit for the front and the 2nd circuit for the front & the rear axle. That is a rather unusual lay-out. The front brakes are functionally the most important ones and therefore almost all vehicles have a diagonally separated circuit to guarantee that at least one front brake remains operational in case of a circuit failure. In case of a circuit failure in the Sud the front brakes always remain fully functional. Alfa Romeo changed to the more common diagonally separated system with the Alfasud successor the Alfa 33. A pressure limiter valve is attached to the rear axle to avoid locking the rear wheels when braking hard. 4 disc brakes is a feature no competitor in the same price range offered at that time. The front discs have a diameter of 258mm and the rear discs 233mm. The callipers are all non floating dual piston callipers. The hand brake works on the front callipers. Even though this concept is theoretically okay in reality the hand brake has caused many Alfasud owners and mechanics headaches. The maintenance is quite difficult and poor access to the inboard brake callipers doesn't help either. If you go for a (bi)yearly roadworthiness check with your vehicle you may run into a mechanic who doesn't realise the hand brake applies to the front wheels.

Alfasud (Giardinetta) brake system lay-out.
Front suspension
The front suspension of the Giardinetta is completely common with the other Alfasuds and consists out of an independent Mc Pherson construction with inboard brakes to reduce the unsprung weight. The dampers are telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers. The front springs are of the helicoidal type. A stabiliser is connected to the front suspension arms. The steering system is of the non power assisted "rack and pinion" type. The Alfasud suspension was commonly praised for being very neutral for a front wheel drive car instead of the usual understeer. Rumours say that several car manufacturers bought an Alfasud to see for themselves how the suspension was made in order to improve the performance of their own vehicles. In combination with the low centre of gravity of the boxer engine the suspension provided a lot of driving pleasure.

Alfasud (Giardinetta) front suspension.
Rear suspension
The rear suspension is a rigid axle positioned longitudinally by a Watt parallelogram and transversally by a Panhard rod. The rear suspension is common between the "normal" Sud and the Giardinetta except for the helicoil spring. The Giardinetta spring is longer and has a higher spring rate. In an empty Giardinetta it's quite obvious that the suspension is harder than that of the Alfasud Berlina. Another item caused by the Giardinetta unique springs is that the vehicle is higher on its feet in unloaded condition. The rear suspension is just like the front equipped with hydraulic telescopic dampers.

Alfasud (Giardinetta) rear suspension.
In 1976 the first technical update was made. Besides the original
4-speed gearbox the 5-speed gearbox became available. The so called type “A1”
was equipped with the 5-speed gearbox.
1978 Facelift
904A
904B
In 1978 the facelift of the Alfasud Berlina and TI was followed by the Giardinetta. For the
Giardinetta this meant the following changes;
| 1.) | New bumpers front and rear with bigger plastic shock absorbing blocks (same change as other Sud variants in 1978). | |
![]() Tipo 904A with small black plastic strip on bumpers.
|
![]() Tipo 904B with bigger and thicker black plastic strip on bumpers.
|
|
| 2.) | Chromed licence plate light cover on the rear bumper replaced by black plastic ones (same change as other Sud variants in 1978). | |
![]() Tipo 904A chrome licence plate light cover on rear bumper.
|
![]() Tipo 904B black plastic licence plate light cover on rear bumper.
|
|
| 3.) | New dashboard & centre button (same change as other Sud variants in 1978). | |
![]() Tipo 904A dashboard & steering wheel centre cap.
|
![]() Tipo 904B dashboard & steering wheel centre cap..
|
|
| 4.) | Dashboard
speedometer colour changed from black into blue for all Suds except
the Giardinetta. The Giardinetta remained with the black colour (Giardinetta
specific item). Most probably the reason why
the Giardinetta gauges didn't change colour is because the RH side
had the light cluster which had a black plastic housing for the
multi information light cluster. To make
this plastic housing in the blue colour of the new Alfasud gauges
seems too expensive or introduce unnecessary complexity in (spare)
parts supply.
|
|
| 5.) | Chromed Alfasud boot
badge replaced by sticker (Giardinetta specific change).
For pictorial representation of the differences between tipo 904A and 904B refer to the pictures shown at item 2.
|
|
| 6.) | The 1186cc engine was
abandoned and the choice was out of 2 different 1300cc engines. 904B = 1286cc - 904B2 = 1351cc |
|
| 7.) | Addition of black plastic trim on engine bonnet near windscreen wipers (same change as other Sud variants in 1978). This change was made to improve the air intake for better interior ventilation. | |
![]() Tipo 904A bonnet without plastic trim.
|
![]() Tipo 904B bonnet with plastic trim for improved air intake.
|
|
| 8.) | 4-speed
gearbox was cancelled (Giardinetta specific change, 4-speed
gearbox remained available for the Sud Berlina for low cost entry
models).
|
|
| 9.) |
Windshield in rubber for 904B instead of glued (same
change as other Sud variants in 1978). For a pictorial representation of the windshield difference refer to the first pictures in this section dealing with the bumpers. The rubber version has no chrome list in it, the glued version does. |
|
| 10.) | Gear lever knob change from black plastic round shape into imitation wood ellipse shape (Alfasud Super also used imitation wood knob from 1978), | |
![]() Tipo 904A1 (5-gear) black plastic gear lever know. |
![]() Tipo 904B imitation wood gear lever knob. |
|
| 11.) |
Chrome trim for roof
liner for 904B For a pictorial representation of the chrome trim roof liner refer to the pictures for item 1 & item 2 where you can see that the 904A vehicle has a roof liner in body colour and the 904B vehicle has a chromed roof liner. |
|
The face lifted Giardinetta received the vehicle code 904B. 1 year after the introduction of the 904B an engine update led to the vehicle code 904B2 for vehicles with the AS30160 1300cc (1350cc) engine. In Italy the Giardinetta was in the price lists till 1981, but it is unclear whether actually vehicles were built in 1981. In 1982 apparently available stock of bodies and other parts was used to build vehicles. The majority of these vehicles were used by Alfa Romeo dealers as service cars and some were sent to South Africa.
The most famous Giardinetta owner was
most probably formula one driver Niki Lauda. He used
to drive the Brabham-Alfa formula 1 cars in the late seventies and during this
period he owned a Giardinetta for his private use. It is said that mainly his
wife Marlene Lauda used the vehicle.
The Giardinetta was not a sales success. The vehicle was produced from 1975 till 1982 and only 5899 vehicles were built. In the seventies owning a station car vehicle was not fashionable, especially not for people who bought an Alfa Romeo. This in addition to the fact that Alfa Romeo didn't bother too much to promote the vehicle led to the low sales volume. Looking back now the car was ahead of its time. The concept sells well today as proven by the amount of Alfa 33 SportWagon, Alfa 156 SportWagon & Alfa 159 SportWagon sold vehicles. The Alfa 33 estate car was initially also sold under the Giardinetta name but soon changed to the more fashionable SportWagon name.
Giardinetta Furgone
Besides the window version a very limited amount of non window versions “Furgone” were made by coachbuilder “carrozzeria Moderna” based upon the 904A1 Giardinetta. These Furgone’s didn’t have a rear bench but only a luggage compartment, where the rear side windows usually are there is metal bodywork. The luggage compartment and the driver are separated by a metal "net" to avoid objects in the back hitting the driver. These vehicles were purpose built for Alfa Romeo usage. The 2 pictures on the left hand side below show the original decoration as applied when they were in service of Alfa. The right hand side 3 pictures show a fully restored Furgone. The exact number built is unknown, but rumours say 17 pieces. These days a Giardinetta is already a very rare vehicle, but the “Furgones” are of course even more scarce. Carrozzeria Moderna is still active today and still does the same activities, modifying or custom building trucks, vans and other industrial vehicles.





Giardinetta Furgone (non window version).
Rumours exist that Alfa Romeo used a Giardinetta in the Pomogiliano d’Arco factory which was converted into a pick-up though no evidence of the existence of this vehicle has been found so far. The vehicle could very well have existed judging by some other Alfa’s which were converted by Alfa Romeo for usage in their factories and other facilities such as the well known Alfa Berlina, Alfa Giulietta, Alfa Sei and Alfa 164 fire engine pick-up vehicles.
South African Giardinettas
The Giardinettas were not only built in the Pomigliano d’Arco factory in Italy, but also in the Alfa Romeo plant in Brits South Africa. The production of the South African vehicles was apparently only in 1982. The number of vehicles is unclear. South African sources say that less then 200 were assembled. Whether they went as Complete Knock Down "CKD" kits from the Pomigliano d'Arco factory to the Brits plant or some South African content was added is unclear at the moment unfortunately. Rumours say that the cars were already assembled in Italy and since they were not sold in Europe they were shipped ("dumped") to the South African market and the conversion of the steering wheel to the right hand side was the only thing done in the Brits plant. Due to the fact that the vehicles were already built the South African cars are a hybrid between the 904A and 904B models. It looks like Alfa was getting rid of vehicles and the available parts. If information becomes available in the future this section will be updated.
Pomigliano d’Arco (Italy) built vehicles;
| Year | Type | Chassis numbers | Engine code | Number of built vehicles |
| 1975 | 904A | AS*5000002*904A
till AS*5005451*904A |
AS30102 1200cc (1186cc) single carb. | 1520 |
| 1976 | 904A1 | AS*5005451*904A
till
AS*5007000*904A |
AS30102 1200cc (1186cc) single carb. | 1139 |
| 1977 | 904A | AS*5007501*904A
till AS*5008581*904A |
AS30102 1200cc (1186cc) single carb. | 1095 |
| 1977 | 904A1 | AS*5007000*904A
till
AS*5007077*904A |
AS30102 1200cc (1186cc) single carb. | 2 |
| 1978 | 904B | AS*5001251*904B
till AS*5001750*904B |
AS30180 1300cc (1286cc) single carb. | 45 |
| 1978 | 904B2 | See type 904B | AS30160 1300cc (1350cc) single carb. | 643 |
| 1979 | 904B2 | AS*904B20*05003001 and onwards | AS30160 1300cc (1350cc) single carb. | 393 |
| 1980 | 904B2 | Unknown | AS30160 1300cc (1350cc) single carb. | 262 |
| 1981 | 904B2 | Unknown | AS30160 1300cc (1350cc) single carb. | Unknown |
| 1982 | 904B2 | Unknown | AS30160 1300cc (1350cc) single carb. | 600? |
Source: Guida all' identificazione Alfa Romeo.
Brits (South Africa) built vehicles;
| Year | Type | Chassis numbers | Engine code | Number of built vehicles |
| 1982 | 904? | ??? | AS30180 1300cc (1286cc) single carb. | 200? |
Body colours
The Giardinetta was in available in many body colours. Almost all colours which were available on the Sud Berlina and Sud TI were also available on the Giardinetta. Metallic colours and black were not destined for the Giardinetta. The South African Giardinettas seem to have different colour designations, but unfortunately no confirmed data is available. Almost all colours use the names of Italian cities or places. Some exceptions like "mountain top white" and "Alfa red" are also present.
| Body
colour (abbreviation / colour code) |
Applicable model |
Body Colour sample |
Possible
upholstery |
| Bianco Capodimonte /
Mountain Top White (BIOA / AR015, AR018, AR023, AR600) |
904A 904B |
![]() |
BHV (I) BHT (I) GHV (E) NGT (E) |
| Blu Posillipo / Posillipo
Blue (BLOD / AR355, AR369) |
904A 904B |
![]() |
CAV CET |
| Blu Prodica / Prodica
Blue (?? / AR353) |
904A |
![]() |
?? |
| Bruno Cilento / Cilento
Brown (BNAS / AR834) |
904B |
![]() |
CAV CET |
| Grigio Indaco / Indigo
Grey (I)
(GRIN / AR753) |
904B |
![]() |
?? |
| Grigio Somma / Somma Grey (I)
(GCSA / AR745) |
904A |
![]() |
BHV BHT |
| Giallo Pompei / Pompei
Yellow
(GPAS / AR126) |
904A 904B
|
![]() |
GHV NGT |
| Giallo Pozzuoli (E) /
Pozzuoli Yellow
(GTAS / AR127) |
904A 904B |
![]() |
GHV NGT |
| Rosso Alfa / Alfa Red (ROAA / AR130, AR210, AR303, AR501, AR555) |
904A 904B |
![]() |
GHV NGT |
| Rosso Corallo Torre del
Greco / Corallo Torre del Greco Red (ROAN / AR531) |
904A 904B (E) |
![]() |
BHV (I) BHT (I) GHV (E) NGT (E) |
| Verde Matese / Mateze
Green (VMSA / AR232) |
904A 904B (E) |
![]() |
CAV CET |
| Verde Pino / Pine Green (VEPI / AR234) |
904B |
![]() |
?? |
I = Italian market only
E = Export markets only
Interior trim & upholstery
Even though the number of built vehicles was low, the Giardinetta unique interior trim (luggage room side walls) was available in 4 colours;
| Beige | Black | Blue | Red |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
How the trim colour was decided is unknown. There seems to be no direct link between the colour of the seats and the colour of the trim. The table above for body colours shows a clear connection between the body colour and the upholstery colours, but for the trim there's no clear indication. By looking at the pictures/information of surviving vehicles it can be assumed that black seems to be the most common colour for the trim. All brochures made for the Giardinetta show the beige colour except for the 1977 Alfa Romeo range brochure which shows a blue vehicle with red trim.
| Abbreviation | Upholstery colour sample |
| BHV - Velluto / Velvet |
![]() |
| BHT - Texalfa / Imitation leather |
![]() |
| GHV - Velluto / Velvet |
![]() |
| NGT - Texalfa / Imitation leather |
![]() |
| CAV - Velluto / Velvet |
![]() |
| CET - Texalfa / Imitation leather |
![]() |
The front seats do not have headrests as opposed to the majority of other Sud variants. The seat upholstery was available in 2 options. The first option was imitation leather sides with velvet centre trim combination as shown in the picture on the left side below. The second option was complete imitation leather trim as shown in the right side picture below. This imitation leather trim is convenient for maintenance such as cleaning, however in the summer it becomes very hot and in the winter it becomes quite cold. Unfortunately there's no information available relating to the chassis numbers to show what percentage of the built vehicles had the "option 1" & "option 2" upholstery.
![]()
Option 1; Imitation leather sides with fabric combination. |
![]()
Option 2; Full imitation leather. |
Headlights
The Giardinetta was equipped with the same rectangular headlights as used for the Alfasud Berlina. 2 Variants were available, one with a white coloured indicator light and one with an orange coloured indicator light. What decided the colour of the indicator light is unclear at the moment. The majority of the Italian vehicles had the white indicators and the majority of the northern European vehicles had the orange indicators. Since there is no absolute connection between the country and the colour it looks like it's not a regulatory controlled item. Especially for the Swedish market headlight wipers were made available. Due to the fact that the Giardinetta in Sweden was only used by the Alfa Romeo organisation it is very likely that no Giardinetta's with the headlight wiper system were actually sold to a customer. The main beam was provided by Bilux light bulbs. From 1978 the rectangular headlights also became available from the brand Bosch. These headlights were equipped with H4 Halogen light bulbs. The percentage of Bosch halogen rectangular headlights is quite low.
![]() Headlight with white coloured indicator light. |
![]() Headlight with orange coloured indicator light. |
![]() Headlight with wiper/washer for Swedish market (excerpt from Giardinetta parts manual). |
|
Bumpers
The front & rear bumpers for the Giardinetta are the same as for the Alfasud Berlina. The Berlina version however had bumpers with and without overriders. The Giardinetta always had bumpers without overriders. As stated earlier there is a clear difference between the 904A and 904B bumpers, refer to the section of text discussing the differences between the 904A and 904B.
![]() Giardinetta rear bumper (till 1978) without overriders. |
![]() Sud TI and Berlina rear bumper (till 1978) with overriders. |
Options
The Giardinetta was standard sufficiently equipped, but not full of all options. Some options and accessories were available although there were not so many.
| - Headrests for the front seats (common headrests with other Suds). | |
| - Seatbelts for the rear bench. | |
| - Tow bar (Giardinetta unique tow bar). | |
| - Wiper for rear window (not Alfa Romeo part, but aftermarket part). | |
| - 13 inch alloy wheels (not listed as an option for the Giardinetta in Alfa Romeo brochures). | |
| - Rearview mirror on the right hand door (not officially listed as an option but of course possible) | |
| - Roof rack |
Survivors
The fact the Giardinetta was mostly used for commercial purposes or intensive family usage added to the unusual design of the car making it unpopular lead to the fact that few survivors remain today. A rough estimation is that less than 100 survivors of the almost 6000 vehicles are available worldwide. In another section on this internet page you can find a list of surviving vehicles known to me. To make the Giardinetta more "attractive" a large number of the vehicles were equipped by their owners with TI headlights throughout the years. Of course the halogen TI headlights provide significant better visibility, however the looks are drastically changed by replacing the original rectangular headlights by the double TI lights. Another popular modification was the replacement of the chrome bumpers by the later black plastic Alfasud bumpers and the addition of aftermarket sunroofs. Also an engine replacement of the original 1200 and 1300cc with bigger displacement engines like 1500cc and 1700cc from other Alfasuds, Alfa 33, Alfa 145 & Alfa 146 is a popular update. A truly functional change which was done often is the addition of a rear window windscreen wiper. That should have been a standard feature from the factory. The visibility through the rear window is increased significantly by this additional feature. Another modification often done by owners is the replacement of the rubber flooring with the fabric trim from other Suds. In many cases the rubber trim becomes brittle and starts to disintegrate by itself. An advantage of the fabric trim is that the acoustic inside the car improves. Road noise is reduced slightly and the car doesn't sound as "hollow" as it does with the rubber flooring. Completely original vehicles are like the well known needle in the haystack. With this site I hope to convince people to saviour remaining vehicles and treat them with the respect they deserve.