Autodelta SpA was the name of Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...

's competition department. Established in 1961 as Auto-Delta, the company was started by Carlo Chiti

Carlo Chiti

Carlo Chiti was an Italian racing car and engine designer. Chiti is best known for his long association with Alfa Romeo's racing department....

, a former Alfa Romeo and Ferrari engineer, and Ludovico Chizzola, an official Alfa Romeo dealer. The team was officially made a department of Alfa Romeo on March 5, 1963. The team was originally based in Feletto Umberto, Udine

Udine

Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...

, before moving closer to Alfa Romeo's facilities in Settimo Milanese

Settimo Milanese

Settimo Milanese is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 9 km west of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 17,853 and an area of 10.8 km²....

 in 1964 and officially becoming Autodelta SpA. This allowed Autodelta to use the Balocco

Balocco

Balocco is a comune in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Vercelli. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 273 and an area of 16.7 km²...

 test track for new racing cars and prototypes.

The purpose of the company was bringing Alfa Romeo back to the top level of motor racing after Alfa Romeo's success in the 1950s. The first car developed together with Alfa Romeo and Autodelta was the Giulia TZ

Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ

The Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ was a small sports car manufactured by Alfa Romeo from 1963 to 1967. It replaced the Giulietta SZ.- TZ :...

 introduced in June 1962. The TZ was updated to TZ2 in 1965, with both cars taking many wins in various championships. Alfa Romeo and Autodelta would later introduce the GTA

Alfa Romeo GTA

The GTA 1300 Junior had a 1300 cc engine that was based on the 1600 engine but with a short stroke crankshaft. The GTA Junior in stradale form did not have many of the light weight features of the 1600 GTA, such as the plastic windows, magnesium engine components and alloy wheels. At start...

 to even more success.

After success in grand tourer

Grand tourer

A grand tourer is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement....

 racing, Chiti convinced Alfa Romeo to purpose-built sportscars for the World Sportscar Championship

World Sportscar Championship

The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...

. Alfa Romeo built a new flat-12

Flat-12

A flat-12 is an internal combustion engine in a flat configuration, having 12 cylinders.The flat-12 is wider than a V12...

 engine for what would become the Tipo 33 racing car. This racing program led to Alfa Romeo winning the constructors championships in 1975

1975 World Sportscar Championship season

The 1975 World Sportscar Championship season was the 23rd season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1975 World Championship for Makes which was open to Group 5 Sports Cars and Group 4 Special GT Cars. It also included the FIA Cup for GT Cars and the FIA Cup for...

 and 1977

1977 World Sportscar Championship season

The 1977 World Sports Car Championship season was part of the 25th FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a series open-cockpit sports cars. It ran from April 17, 1977 to September 18, 1977, and comprised 8 races total.-World Championship of Makes:...

.

After winning the sportscars championships, Alfa Romeo turned to supplying engines to the Brabham Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 team and eventually returned to the sport with a factory team in 1979, run by Autodelta. The team also prepared Alfa Romeo rally cars such as the Alfetta GTVs.

Although the division was eventually phased out, Alfa Romeo used the Autodelta name again for their AutoDelta Squadra Corse team in the European Touring Car Championship

European Touring Car Championship

The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...

in the early 21st century. Since the group's original demise, the Autodelta name had come to be used by independent British Alfa Romeo tuner Jano Djelalian in 1987 and continues today.