Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ Coda Tronca

A4 paper, pencil, about 9 hours of work

When Alfa Romeo contemplated a return to motorsport, Zagato was an obvious partner. In the past the combination had been successful at Le Mans and in Formula 1. There were no plans to return as a works team, but rather offer a customer GT racer. In 1957 Alfa Romeo in collaboration with Bertone had already launched the 'Sprint Speciale' high performance version of the Giulietta. Although it was not designed for track use, but its shortened chassis would form the perfect base for a new racer.

On the Sprint Speciale chassis Zagato fitted an alloy body that was considerably rounder than the Bertone design and more importantly much lighter. Around 100 kg was shaved off the Giulietta's weight, bringing it down to 854 kg. Mechanically the Giulietta SZ of 1960 was very similar to the SS, and shared its high compression 97 bhp engine. In 1961 a second generation version with a cut off Kamm tail and wrap around rear window was introduced. It was lower, slimmer, lighter and featured discs brakes on the front wheels.

Production ceased in 1962, when it was replaced by the Giulia TZ. Each car took around 300 hours to assemble, which explains its high price compared to the other Giulietta models. Between 210 and 217 examples were produced, of which just 30 were of the second 'Coda Tronca'generation. The small Giuliettas were campaigned with a lot of success in the first half of the 1960s and signalled Alfa Romeo's return to motorsport success.

Love the old models of the AR they makes a very strong impression.