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( Italian text below ) Alfa Romeo 75 S1, CBM 005, 1990 For the 1990 season, Alfa Corse decided not to directly manage its 75s in the Italian touring cars championship, the CIVT - which had presented the new Superturismo class that year - but opted for the Jolly Club - CiBiEmme Sport partnership which became the official Alfa Romeo team with two 75 S1s, white and red. The body, ultra-reinforced and lightened according to the Superturismo specifications - therefore without the IMSA enlargements - was prepared to compete against the aggressive BMW teams that put Roberto Ravaglia, Johnny Cecotto, Gabriele Tarquini and Emanuele Pirro at the wheel of the effective M3s. The team prepared two 75 Turbo Evoluzione - one of them is this model with chassis no. CBM005 - in the A1 Class, driven by Nicola Larini, Ligier driver in Formula 1, Gianni Morbidelli, Ferrari test driver, Alessandro Zamperdi fresh winner of the single-make series with the Alfa Boxer Formulas and Marco Brand, an expert Touring and GT driver. Because of his commitments in Formula 1, the official driver Larini took part in only eight of the 20 races in the 10 events of the Italian Superturismo Championship, winning five, but still managed to finish third overall and best among the Alfa Romeos. He won on his debut at Pergusa, then at Misano and Varano. In his absence, Morbidelli held high the colors of the Alfa 75 number 5, winning at Misano and finishing second at Imola. Two podiums for Marco Brand while a bit of bad luck for Zampedri, who retired. At the end of the glorious 1990 season, CiBiEmme Sport sold the two 75 Turbo Evoluzione as it would become the official team of BMW Italia in 1991 and 1992. Motor Sport Italia Srl owned by Ernesto Vita, purchased the 75 chassis CBM005: Vita, was coming from the unlucky negative ’90 season concluded with the the Formula 1 Life team. In 1991 he decided to concentrate on Touring cars, racing this Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione in the S1 Class of Superturismo with Stefano Buttiero at the wheel, taken directly from Formula 3, who distinguished himself with grit fighting at the top, often against the official cars; he concluded the season with 75 points, in sixth position with a second and a third place among the best placings. At the end of the season, the car ran an extra championship race in Misano driven by Corsini/ Raimondi . In the 1992 season, the car was maintained by Motor Sport Italia Srl, which however updated it according to IMSA specs: Giovanni Bonanno and Stefano Buttiero drove the 75 during the season, together with the same team principal Ernesto Vita, Roberto Faenza and Luigi De Luca, the latter three forming a crew at the 1992 6 Hours of Vallelunga. After few years of rest, this 75 reappeared in 2002, when it was purchased by a Dutch dealer and participated in some races of the Alfa Romeo Challenge series with a Martini livery. Sold at a Bonhams auction, the car then recently came back to Italy where it underwent a complete conservative restoration by GPS Classic, returning to the Superturismo configuration. The interior has been kept as original as possible, with the typical blue dashboard of the CiBiEmme cars, while on the outside they worked to bring the bodywork back to the Superturismo silhouette, mounting the correct rims and applying the original decals from 1990. The mechanics are preserved and works perfectly, therefore ready for revivals and meetings. The car could be seen by appointment in Parma. Above a video of the Superturismo 1990 race 1 in Misano, with Nicola Larini driving. The Alfa Romeo 75 in motorsport: Group A, IMSA and Superturismo The 75 represented, for many years, the last "real" rear-wheel drive Alfa Romeo: it joined the first Giulia GT - the one from the 60s - on the podium of the most competitive and iconic Arese’s touring cars, literally venerated by “Alfaholics”. It was 1985, the company celebrated its 75th birthday by presenting the heir to the "Nuova Giulietta" born seven years earlier: the 75. The Centro Stile Alfa Romeo directed by Ermanno Cressoni performed the magic of changing the skin of the '77 Giulietta, enhancing its mechanical setup: the aforementioned front engine with rear gearbox and transmission, mounted on the De Dion rigid axle, a bit outdated at the time. Already in 1986, once the new corporate structure “Alfa-Lancia Industriale” was defined, the company passed under the direction of Fiat and consequently had to stop its commitments in Formula 1. It was therefore possible to concentrate on Touring races, for the happiness of the Alfa fans, but had to deal with rather fierce competition: BMW in particular, with the M3, put a car designed for competition on the road, while all the others were chasing after it by doing the opposite. Teams and drivers saw a good potential in the newborn 75 and prepared it according to Group A specifications, with the V6 Busso 2500, ideal for fighting German rivals, being able to count on the homologation of larger...
