1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ news, pictures, and information

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Coupe
Coachwork: Zagato
Chassis Num: 750 102

This Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ coupe model is based on the 1.6 liter twin-overhead-camshaft Giulia engine and built for GT competition. The car has chassis #750 102 and has occassionally been vintage raced.

It was constructed by Zagato and had an extremely rigid chassis with a multitubular spaceframe that weighed only 88 pounds.

The 1.6 liter engine produces 170 horsepower coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission. It has a fully independent coil-spring suspension and disc brakes. The 1,455-pound car has a top speed of 135 mph.

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Coupe
Coachwork: Zagato
Chassis Num: 750094
Engine Num: 00096

The 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1 with white, red, and green paint was offered for sale at the 2006 World Wide Group Auction on Hilton Head Island where it was expected to sell between $400,000-$450,000. It carries chassis number 750094 and engine number 00096. It was delivered on May 14th of 1965 to SOFAR, the Alfa Romeo French central distributorship. It had a white exterior and black interior. It remained in France until September of 1989 when it was sold and send to Holland. At that time it was not in running condition. It had a roll-bar and sliding windows and the paint scheme was red with brown corduroy interior.

Chassis 094 underwent a restoration in 1994; upon completion it was offered for sale. In 1999 it was traded in a multi-car deal and sent to the United States. In 2004 another restoration occurred with much attention being paid to corrective detail. It was finished in its correct livery with the addition of a central red stripe. The side windows are sliding Perspex panels and a roll-bar can be found in the interior. It is powered by a 1750cc alloy four-cylinder engine with twin-overhead camshafts, twin side draft Weber carburetors and is rated at 120 horsepower. It is mated to a five-speed close ratio gearbox. Hydraulic disc brakes can be found in both the front and rear. There is a quick fill gas cap and pressed steel perforated road wheels.

This was one of the highlights at the World Wide Group Auction at Hilton Head. At the conclusion of the auction the vehicle had been sold for $379,500.

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Coupe
Coachwork: Zagato
Chassis Num: 750 105
Engine Num: AR00511 00103

The Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ-1 is often remembered as 'the baby GTO.' Its lightweight Zagato coachwork was hand formed from the artisans that had a long history working with the Alfa Romeo marque. During the early 1950s, many privateers used Zagato-bodied variants of the Giulietta and 1900 models in competition, often being rewarded with much success. One of the more successful series of cars was the SVZ, or Sprint Veloce Zagato cars, which first appeared in 1956. This success led to the creation of the SZ, or Sprint Zagato, as a catalogued model in 1960.

The SZ rested upon a shortened standard Sprint platform, and was succeeded in 1963 by the TZ, or Tubolare Zagato. The name TZ was chosen after its new tube-framed chassis around which it was built. The new platform gave the TZ ever more stability adn was a reduction in weight over the prior SZ model.

The TZ was built in the shops of Autodelta, the Alfa factory's official race team. Power came from a DOHC 1600cc engine that offered 160 horsepower. With an overall weight of just 1455 pounds, the TZ was a very capable vehicle. At its racing debut at the Sebring 12 Hours, the TZ finished with class honors. It would continue this streak at the Targa Florio, the Nurburgring 1000 Km and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1964, as well as winning outright in the Tour de Corse and Coupe des Alps.

When the TZ-2 was introduced in 1965, the first generation of the TZ became known as the TZ-1.

This TZ-1 is chassis number 105 and was built in July of 1965 as a 'street' (stradale) model. In this guise, it had roll-down windows, leather interior, rear bumpers and a slight increase in the sound-deadening materials than the 'race' (corsa) models. Under the bonnet was the higher-tuned twin-plug engine. It is believed that this car was used in competition by its first owner, Luigi Palmieri of Milan. The car was sold in 1984 to Sig. Monzeglio of Turin, Italy, and later sold to Fritz Durnberger of the US in 1997. While in Mr. Durnberger's care, the car was given a restoration. It was then used in vintage racing events in the US, including numerous appearances in the Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca. The current owner purchased the car in 2001.

This car has a five-speed close-ratio gearbox, optional 6x16-inch Campagnola magnesium wheels and the alloy twin plug head.

In 2009, this Giulia TZ-1 was offered for sale at the Gooding & Company auction held in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was expected to sell for $550,000 - $650,000. The lot was sold for a high bid of $440,000 including buyer's premium.

Early in the 1950's Alfa Romeo had revised their production methods and had created a new line of models. These new vehicles were mid-sized with sporty, small capacity engines. The Giulietta was introduced near the close of the 1950's and was first offered with the Type 101 engine, a 1290cc unit. By now Alfa Romeo had a wide range of bodystyle configuration including the four door saloons, Sprint Coupes, Spider, station wagons, and the Sprint Speciale. The Sprint Special came in two configurations, one by Bertone and the other by Zagato. Bertone's design was first offered mid-1959. Zagatos were first available in early 1960. Both Zagato and Bertone's design were based on the Giulietta chassis and running gear but were void of bumpers. Their intentions for these vehicles were competition. Zagato's creations were constructed of a light alloy bodies and were more performance oriented. Bertone's creations outsold Zagato's by 6-to-1, and soon began outfitting the vehicles with luxurious interiors.

Most of the Zagato's were constructed with rounded front and tail treatments though near the end of the 200 produced, they experimented with a 'coda tronca' Kamm tail treatment.

Racing has always been important for most automobiles manufacturers and Alfa Romeo was beginning to realize that their engines would do well in competition since they were compact, lightweight, powerful, and durable. Though the board would not sanction a factory race program they did understand the importance of racing and how it is used to promote products.

In 1962 the Giulia range of cars, also know as the 105 series, were introduced and served as a replacement for the Giulietta. These were powered by 1570 cc engines and shared the same bodies of the Giulietta. The five speed manual gearbox was operated by a column mounted shift. The suspension was modified in the rear to improve handling but remained the same in the front.

Just like the Giulietta series, the Giulia came in multiple body-styles including the four-door berlina, spider, TZ, sprint, and Sprint Speciale.

With racing in mind, Alfa Romeo designed and built the TZ series. The TZ, meaning Tubolare Zagato, was outfitted with a light alloy body, tubular frame, disc brakes and independent suspension. The performance of the vehicle was amplified by its light body and responsive and effective handling. The large disc brakes provided excellent stopping power. Most of the parts were produced in the main factory in Portello. The building of the car, however, was entrusted to the head competitions engineer, Carlo Chiti of Autodelta based at Udine. The base 1570cc engine produced about 90 horsepower. The engine installed in the TZ competition cars produced around 170 horsepower. This boost in horsepower was made possible, in part, through twin-plug cylinder heads by Autodelta. To reduce weight and improve safety, the side glass windows were removed and replaced with Perspex.

Road cars were commonly given a single-plug cylinder head, leather interior, and retained their glass window.

In 1963 these lightweight and capable cars proved their potential by winning the FISA Cup. In nearly every competition event that these cars were entered, they provided podium finishes for their drivers. They were entered in events such as hill climbs, Sebring, the Targa Florio, Monza, Spa, Nurburgring, and LeMans.

1965 Alfa Romeo models
Alfa Romeo 105
Alfa Romeo 2600 SZ
Alfa Romeo Giulia Series 101
Alfa Romeo Giulia Series 105
Alfa Romeo Giulia Speciale
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA
Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2