It's not often an automaker creates such divisive opinions as Alfa Romeo has, while still remaining one of the most successful marques in motorsport history. Because those familiar with Alfa, usually have a visceral experience — whether positive or not. On one hand, Alfa has the capability to build extremely competitive cars for circuit racing, yet on the other hand, carries around the stigma of building poor production vehicles.

However, that wasn't always the case for Alfa. For the first 60 years of its existence, Alfa lived by the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday'' moniker popular in the automotive industry at the time. As one of Italy's oldest and most respected car builders, Alfa's downfall had not begun until the '70s. After striking a deal with Soviet Russia to use Russian produced steel, build quality took a steep decline. Not only was the B-grad level steel hard to work with, but it would also rust a few years after rolling out of the factory.

So how was it that Alfa's best-selling car still managed to contribute to the downfall? Well for that answer, you have to ask the Alfasud, and the Number 27 as the YouTuber tries to decipher how Alfa still managed to run the company into the ground. Even after building one of the most successful hatchbacks of the '70s.

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Italian Production, Russian Steel — What Could Go Wrong?

Arriving in 1972, the 85 horsepower "Alfasud'' became the best-selling Alfa of all-time, selling over a million examples. However, problems were set in motion before the first car was ever built. Managed by the Italian government at the time, Alfa received £2 billion of taxpayer money to fund the project, with one major caveat — Alfa had to produce the car in Southern Italy.

Largely undeveloped at the time, Southern Italy struggled to maintain the same economic growth as its Northern peers. In an effort to jumpstart the economy, the Italian government allocated the funds to Alfa. Already possessing a small factory in the municipality of Pomigliano, the stipulation ended up being inconsequential — or so Alfa thought.

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Poor Build Quality, Great Driving Experience

Alfa Romeo Alfasud
Via: Number27/YouTube

The Alfasud, or "Alfa South" as it's loosely translated, achieved numerous milestones for Alfa as an automaker, and the industry as a whole. Which makes the story of their downfall that much more peculiar. One of the first production cars to boast four-wheel disc brakes, the Alfasud is still praised to this day for its ultra-responsive handling.

Despite remaining the best selling Alfa of all time, the Alfasud seemed bleak from the start. As a result of production moving to the Southern region of the country, workers were largely unskilled in manufacturing cars. As quality began suffering, rumors of transporting bare shell cars in the rain, storing inferior Russian metal outside, and countless worker strikes ultimately stunted the growth of the car and delayed sales for a full year.

Remaining in production until 1989, the Alfasud is still considered to be a fantastic car on paper. It was roomy, had just enough power, and was an all-star in the twisties. However, the Alfasud — and Alfa Romeo as a whole — couldn’t shake the stigma of poor build quality and the Italian government sold the company to Fiat in 1986, where its unfortunate legacy continues today.