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The name Alfa Romeo is synonymous with motor racing in South Africa.
Back in the early 1960's, Alfa's jewel-like, twin-cam, 1500 cc motor
was the preferred choice of many of SA's top drivers - men like Syd
van der Vyver, Doug Serrurier, Bruce Johnstone and Ernie Pieterse.
But the most famous Alfa ever to appear on local tracks were
production cars; to name but a few, there were the red Alfa
Giulietta raced by the Pieterse brothers back in the 1960s (and
known by the nickname of Streepie), the Wesbank Championship winning
GTV 2 litre driven by Arnold Chatz in the early eighties and the
Glenwood Motors Alfa GTV owned and run by Dawie de Villiers of
Pretoria.
One should also give recognition to the two 3 litre GTV6 Group One
race cars driven by the late Abel D'Oliviera and the late Nicola
Biancho in the mid eighties. They were prepared by the highly
regarded Sampie Bosman and Dawie de Villiers. Remembering these
legends it is good to know that the Glenwood machine is still alive
and well.
Originally built as a road car back in 1982, no car earns a bigger
cheer from race fans today than the scarlet Shell sponsored Alfa GTV
driven by Glen Gibbons. In essence, the Glenwood car enjoyed three
separate racing careers. It started life as a production 2.5 litre
machine and was initially entered by tuner Dawie de Villiers as a
Group One car for Pretoria racing driver George Fouche.
By 1986 the Alfa dominated Group One had unfortunately collapsed and
Dawie turned his attention to the Wesbank modified-saloon series. In
time, however, the "time bar" Wesbank rule precluded the Alfa from
racing, so in 1988 De Villiers turned his attention to a new
category: the no-holds-barred Ultimoil Super Cup Challenge based at
the Zwartkops race track near Pretoria. By now the car has grown to
3.2 litres, and also featured fuel injection. At the same time the
driving chores were entrusted to flame-haired Pretoria rally ace
Glen Gibbons, Bianco having lost his life in a tragic accident.
The Glenwood team soon found out, however, that the giant American
V8 engines, against which the Alfa had to compete, were too
powerful, so De Villiers turned his attention to the black art of
turbo charging. It was a frustrating process initially, and many a
turbocharger ended up expiring in an expensive cloud of smoke. But
he eventually got the right formula and the Alfa has subsequently
enjoyed enormous success in the Ultimoil series.
In 1990 and '91, Gibbons and the howling Alfa turbo swept all before
it, becoming Super Cup champions in fine style. 1992 saw a number of
mechanical problems, mainly destroyed gearboxes, rearing their ugly
head - but in 1993 Gibbons and the Glenwood team, being pushed very
hard by Johnny Eekhout in his very powerful Nascar Chevy, bounced
back to take the Ultimoil title for the third time.
In spite of the fact that it is over 15 years old, the Glenwood Alfa
is still a magnificent racing machine. The 3 litre V6 motor features
a stock standard crankshaft, but pistons are by the UK's famous
Cosworth company, while the con-rods come from Carillo in the USA.
The power comes from twin Mitsubishi turbos which, at 1 bar, push
out 320 hp at the rear wheels, or 480 hp at the flywheel. At 1,3
bar, the car becomes virtually uncontrollable, with a staggering 400
hp being achieved at the rear wheel!
All this power has created two major problems for the Glenwood team.
The first is that the car shreds its 16-inch Dunlop racing slicks in
a disturbing manner and 17-inch tyres became a necessity. An even
bigger problem is that the sheer power has destroyed all the team's
original Alfa gearboxes and to overcome this difficulty, Dawie
fitted a front-mounted Getrag gearbox. At the rear, suspension is by
means of a De Dion back axle, while at the front De Villiers has
retained the traditional Alfa torsion bar system - a design which by
today's standards is completely outdated. To stop the speeding
scarlet projectile, massive Brembo disc brakes have been added, the
front units measuring a colossal 350 mm in diameter.
Sadly, however, the Glenwood GTV turbo's days are numbered. Back in
his Glenwood Motors base in the eastern suburbs of Pretoria, Dawie
de Villiers is devising a plan that will see the return of the Alfa
Romeo name to the big time. His dream, he says, is an Alfa Romeo
155, powered by a 24-valve, 3,2-litre, V6 motor driving the rear
wheels and which will run in Class B of the Wesbank modified series.
Dawie de Villiers, being recognised as one of the finest Alfa tuners
in the world, can make the dream of the Alfa return to the big time
in South Africa come true. You only have to look at the history of
the Glenwood Alfa GTV Turbo to realize that.
Dawie can be contacted at +27-12-47-7945.