Alfa Romeo Milano

A compact vehicle produced by Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo, the Alfa Romeo 75 was also sold under the name Alfa Romeo Milano between 1985 and 1992.

Mechanically, quite similar to the earlier Alfetta, the Alfa Romeo Milano was introduced the 17th of May 1985 to replace the Alfa Romeo Giulette and Alfetta.

The Alfa Romeo Milano was named to celebrate Alfa's 75th year of production and was designed by Ermanno Cressoni, head of Centro Stille. Developed under the supervision of Domenico Chirico, it was design under the codename K-1.

The newest Alfa vehicle was meant to be a true sports sedan without seeming to be aggressive or harsh with a racy appearance.

Though it featured some strange technical features, including a body that was perfectly balanced from front to rear, the Milano was styled in a striking wedge shape that tapered at the front with square headlights and matching grille. The symmetrical balance was attained by mounting the standard 5-speed gearbox in the rear that was connected to the rear differential (RWD).

Designed to optimize the vehicle's handling, the front suspension was a combination of a torsion bar and shock absorber. The rear had an expensive de-dion assembly with shock absorbers.

Running the length of the underside from the engine block to the gearbox, the engine crankshaft was bolted directly to the two-segment driveshaft, and rotated at the speed of the engine. It joined the shaft segment with elastomeric ‘doughnuts' it helped prevent vibration and engine/gearbox damage.

The 75 featured a 4-cylinder 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 liter petrol carbureted engine, a 2.5 liter fuel injected VG and a 2.0 liter inter-cooled turbo diesel. A 3.0 liter V6 was added in 1987.

In North America, the Alfa Romeo 75 was known as the Milano and was available in the 2.5 and 3.0 V6's from 1987 to 1989.

The inside of the Milano was considered to be quite updated for its time. It came with a dashboard-mounted diagnostic computer that was capable of monitoring the engine systems as well alerting the driver of potential faults.

Both the interior and exterior of the Milano were similar in keeping both of the same square corners and straight lines. The Alfa Romeo Milano featured exceptional standard equipment such as air conditioning, sunroof, leather interior, ABS, power steering, limited slip differential and light-alloy wheels.

Some criticism was raised based on the eccentricities of the interior. The electric window switches mounted in the roof of the vehicle, and the square shaped hand brake lever were the main sources of criticism by the public.

The 75 Turbo was introduced in March of 1986 and featured the 1.8 liter engine fitted with a water cooled Garrett AiResearch T3 turbo compressor. The Turbo also came with an intercooler and Bosch LE-Jetronic fuel injection and was able to reach maximum power of 155BHP.

Twin Spark was introduced in February of 1987. Two sparkplugs per cylinder were fitted to the 2.0i engine to simultaneously produce twin sparks per cylinder. This new engine also featured a higher compression ratio of 10:1 instead of 9,0:1 and Bosch Motronic fuel injection system along with a variable phase system on the inlet camshaft.

The Alfa 75 Twin Spark was sold in Switzerland in two different models in 1987, the Twin Spark 2.0 and the Twin Spark S.

A 75 sportswagon was introduced in 1986 at the saloon of Turin. Built by Italian builder Rayton Fissore from Cherasco on a turbo base, it was originally introduced as a Turbowagon. The plan was to build it in small number, but this never became a reality.

The Alfa 75 1.8 Turbo Evoluzione was released in March of 1987. The distinguishing differences between the Evoluzione and the 75 Turbo were reflected in various ways. The Evoluzione was only delivered in red, with a front-grill not grey, but red. The seat design was slightly altered and came with stiffer springs and even stiffer suspension units.

Introduced in 1991 on the Italian market, the 75 Turbo Quadrofoglio Verde Serie Numerato with extra features such as a numbered aluminum plate on the dashboard unit.
A twin spark version of this car was also introduced by Alfa Romeo.

The final Alfa Romeo was imported in 1991. The Greek importer created a special and final version, called the TROFEO that came with 1.6 and 1.8 cat engines. This new version came with body-colored side mirrors, flared arches, side skirts, Twin Spark interior trim and body-colored front and rear bumpers.

This edition came with additional features such as amber front turn signals, and was available in only four colors, white, red, silver and dark anthracite metallic. This new version was sold in Greece until 1994.

By Jessica Donaldson