This Alfa Sprint's Boxer Engine Revs To 9500RPM And It Sounds Immense

Think of boxer engines in the car world, and it’s likely either Porsche or Subaru will spring to mind first.

However, while these are the only marques to have really persevered with horizontally opposed powerplants, others have dabbled. One company that had a fling with boxers is Alfa Romeo. Ranging from 1.2 to 1.7 litres, the Alfa Boxer was produced for 26 years, and though it’s not held in as high regard as the company’s Twin Spark and V6 engines, there’s clearly plenty of potential with these units.

Just take the one in this Sprint hill climb car. The 1.6-litre flat-four now produces 240bhp, which - considering the car it powers weighs just 700kg - makes for one seriously fast old Alfa. And yes, it does sound utterly wonderful as driver Michael Kuster makes the most of the near-10,000rpm redline.