the alfa 2300 project was born in italy as project 102/12. the model was ready in 1971, and was sent to brazil for tests in 1972. it was engineered entirely in italy, specifically for the brazilian market, and sold under the slogan "o importado fabricado no brasil". at the time the adoption of 4 and 6-cylinder inline and v6 engines were studied, having some models tested with those engines, but due to the oil crisis in the 70s and the brazilian military government, import difficulties forced the factory adopt the 4-cylinder engine, from the alfa 1900, readjusted to 2310 cc, coupled to a five-speed transmission from the 105 series.