The Alfa Romeo Tipo 162 was designed in 1939 by the Spanish engineer Wifredo Ricart as a replacement for the 60° V16 engined tipo 316. The Tipo 162 had an unusual 135° V16 engine and highly streamlined bodywork.
The engine was designed in Britain by Harry Ricardo, who had a good reputation for designing high-performance engines. The choice of Harry Ricardo was due not only to his reputation but to the fact that the Portello factory was busy producing engines for trucks and airplanes. The result was a square engine with 62mm bore and stroke, 2995cc displacement with 2x 2-stage compressors and 2x triple inverted carburetors.[1] The engine was tested on a test bench in the spring of 1940 and delivered 490hp at 7,800 rpm.
The car had three fuel tanks, one behind the driver and one on each side of the driver, with a total capacity of 260L.
Components were manufactured for a total of six cars, but when, on 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France and Britain, only one car had been completed, that never participated in racing.
In 1941 Wifredo Ricart designed the Alfa Romeo 163, a dual-seat sports saloon prototype that employed technology such as further streamlining, a mid-mounted engine and lightened bodywork. The car in total weighed only 8800NaN0, and it had a very low center of gravity. The engine was derived from the Alfa Romeo 162, but fuel was fed without superchargers. The revised engine delivered 190hp at 7,400 rpm. Production of this car was also curtailed by the war.[2]
| ----- bgcolor="#DDDDDD" ! width="35%" | Technical data ! width="65%" | Tipo 162 | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Engine: | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | displacement
| 2995 cm³ | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Bore x stroke: | 62 x 62 mm | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Max power: | 490 hp at 7 800 rpm | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Valve control: | 2 overhead camshafts per cylinder row, 4 valves per cylinder | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Upload
| under pressure, 2 two-stage Roots compressor and 2 inverted triple-barrel carburetors | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Gearbox
| 4 gears + reverse | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Chassis
| Trusssram | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | suspension front: | Double cross links, longitudinal torsion bars | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | suspension rear: | De Dion shaft, Watt link, longitudinal torsion bars | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Brakes: | Hydraulic drum brakes | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Wheelbase
| 2625 cm | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Dry weight
| 880 kg | ----- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" |