ALFA ROMEO TWIN-CAM
Iconic engine
This Italian four-cylinder proves that you don’ t need an exceptional number of cylinders to be an exotic engine. Its 40-year lifespan and innumerable fans prove that
When you think of an Alfa Romeo engine, your mind probably conjures up images of V6s with polished intake pipes. The famous, sonorous Busso V6 is, perhaps, Alfa’ s most renowned engine. But that V6 came in riding on the coattails of another motor that had confirmed Alfa’ s reputation for punchy engines that emitted great noises, the four-cylinder Twin-Cam. This engine was in production for 40 years and, over its lifetime, evolved for use in saloon cars to competition machines, adapted from carburettors to turbochargers, and helped pioneer industry-first technology. But above all that, despite its unexceptional cylinder count, the Alfa Twin-Cam has always maintained a healthy exoticism.
Called the Bialbero in Italy, which literally translates to twin camshafts, the Twin-Cam is also now coequally known as Alfa’ s Nord engine. Italian for North, as the Twin-Cam was built in Milan in north Italy, the Nord acquired its nickname after enthusiasts wanted help to differentiate it from the boxer four-cylinder in the Alfasud, officially named because this front-wheel drive small car was built in Naples further south.
The origins of Alfa Romeo’ s Twin-Cam started in 1952 when Orazio Satta Puliga – a designer, engineer and one of Alfa Romeo’ s directors – led a team of engineers to develop what would become the Giulietta. Giuseppe Busso – the same Busso who later created the V6 that bears his name – took the lead with the engine and came back with a 1290cc, eight-valve, all-aluminium four-cylinder. It had a wet liner design with an open deck block, with the liners made from cast iron. Of course, it had two overhead cams. These were driven by a duplex chain and it had hemispherical combustion chambers.
20 The Engine Rebuilder Issue 01