Story of the Alfa Romeo Factory and Plants : Part 1 the Early Portello
Story of the Alfa Romeo factory and plants: Part 1 The early Portello Factory Patrick Italiano Special thanks go to Karl Schnelle, Indianapolis, USA, for his patient proofreading and editing of the English version of this text Over the last few years, we have had to deal with large changes in Alfa Romeo-related places and buildings, as we witnessed the destruction of the old Portello factory, step by step in the late 80s, and also the de-commissioning of the much more modern Arese plant. Sad tales and silly pictures of places and people once full of pride in manufacturing the most spirited cars in the world. As reported by historians, it has long been – and still is for few – a source of pride to belong to this “workers aristocracy” at A.L.F.A.. Places recently destroyed to make place for concrete buildings now containing commercial centres or anonymous offices, places where our beloved cars were once designed, developed and built. It’s often a mix of curiosity and thrill to have the chance to look behind the scenes and see into the sanctuary. Back in 1987, when the first part of Portello was being torn down, Ben Hendricks took us on a visit to the Portello plant in Het Klaverblaadje #40. That was, as Jos Hugense coined the title 15 years later, the “beginning of the end”. Today, one can see Alfas running on the Fiat assembly lines along with Fiat Stilos and at best Lancia Thesis. These Fiat plants are no longer the places where distinguished and passionate brains try to anticipate technical trends five years into the future, thus ensuring that the new generation of Alfas keep such high company standards, as Ing.
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