General Description of the Berlina
The 105 series Berlina (Italian for "sedan") was introduced by Alfa Romeo in 1967, and remained in production until 1976. The Berlina was an updated and slightly enlarged version of the Giulia sedan, which had been introduced in 1962. In turn, the Giulia was a fairly significant revision of the Giulietta sedan, which had gone into production in 1956.
The Berlina is a four-door sedan, seats five, has a 1779 cc or 1962 cc four-cylinder twin-cam aluminum engine in front, a five-speed manual transmission or (in a few cases) three-speed automatic transmission, four-wheel disc brakes, independent front suspension, live axle rear suspension, and a unit steel body.
In style and general arrangement, the Berlina was based heavily on the Giulia sedan, though the body was restyled, by Marcello Gandini at Bertone . The Giulia had been styled in-house by Alfa Romeo. By modern standards, the Berlina would probably be considered a restyle of the Giulia, rather than a new model, because the mechanical components are functionally identical and interchangeable, and because the basic structure is very similar, the only significant change being an additional two inches in the wheelbase.
In general, the major components of the Berlina, including the engine, transmission, brakes, suspension, drivetrain, electrical systems, and switches and controls, are identical with those same components of the contemporary GTV and Spider models. However, the body, interior, lighting, details, and trim of the Berlina will be distinct from the GTV and Spider in most cases. And a few items, related to the longer chassis of the Berlina, such as the exhaust system, fuel lines, parking brake cable, and driveshaft, are identical in concept, but slight longer and different in execution, than in the two-door models.
Copyright © 1997 by Andrew D. Watry
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