1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 Sprint Speciale

In 1962 the first generation of the Giulia, also known as the 105 series, was introduced at the Monza Autodrome. The vehicles shared the same bodies as the vehicles they were replacing, the Giulietta. Power came from 1570 cc 4-cylinder engines using hemispheric combustion chambers and producing over 90 horsepower. 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.

In 1963 the Giulia TI Super was introduced as a low production specialty model. With only 500 examples produced, its exclusivity is secure. Outfitted with a 112 horsepower engine, large disc brakes, and floor-mounted shift, this vehicle was a performance machine.

In 1963 all models received disc brakes standard on all four wheels. Power was increased in 1965 with the introduction of the 98 horsepower Giulia Super. Externally and internally, the design was slightly modified throughout the years.

The Giulia is credited with expanding international sales of the Alfa Romeo product. Like its predecessor the Giulietta, the vehicle was available in multiple body styles and configurations. Part of its success was the economical aspects, versatility, and styling.

by Dan Vaughan

Coupe

ALFA is short for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili and was founded in 1910 in Milan Italy. Acquired in 1915 by Nicola Romeo, the name was changed to ALFA Romeo in 1920. Under Enzo Ferrari, Alfa was a major force in racing between the two World Wars. ALFA road cars were noted for their styling and technology.

The Giulia SS, with coachwork by Bertone, was the only style carried over from the Giulietta Series with its aerodynamic styling, large engine, and disc brakes. It became an impressive performer. The Sprint Special has a 1600cc displacement, overhead valve, 129 horsepower, inline four-cylinder engine.

Coupe
Chassis number: AR 381257
Engine number: AR 00121 02188

When Alfa Romeo first offered their Sprint Speciale, the brochure proudly stated: 'Hand-built and decidedly expensive.' The very sleek body design was first executed in the late 1950s, borrowing heavily from the Bertone amazing series of B.A.T. cars.

Originally, the Sprint Speciale was to be a racing car but cost considerations dictated otherwise and these rare units were built in limited numbers.

The car is powered by a 1600cc (78.7 cubic-inch) dual overhead cam, 4-cylinder engine, developing 112 horsepower, coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission. It is capable of 0-60 mph in 12.3 seconds and has a top speed of 124 miles-per-hour.

This car has been in the same ownership for 33 years.

Coupe

This is a 1964 Alfa Romeo 1600 Sprint Speciale with coachwork by Bertone. The design is a combination of inspiration from Carrozzeria Touring's 'Disco Volante' racing cars and Bertone's own Berlina Aerodinamic Tecnica (or B.A.T.) experimental show cars.

The Giulia 1600 replaced the earlier Giulietta's 1290 cubic-centimeter engine and was introduced in 1963. This car features an unusual, but correct dark blue exterior and red interior. It is powered by a 1570cc twin overhead camshaft four-cylinder engine with Weber DCOE carburetors, a five speed manual gearbox, independent front suspension and four wheel disc brakes.

The car was originally delivered in Phoenix, Arizona and subsequently sold to an owner in the northeast. He kept the car for 30 years, using it sparingly, to-date, the car has traveled only 51,000 miles.

Coupe
Chassis number: AR381013

This Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale was completed at the factory in May of 1964, finished in red paint. A month later, it was sold by Rezzaghi Motors in San Francisco to Dunstan Gross. Peter Sarar of Lompoc, California acquired it in November of 1969. It was sold in 1984 to Guy Webster of nearby Ojai and then in 1985 it was purchased by Harry Borde of Placerville, California. While in Mr. Borde's care, it was lightly restored over the following four years. Dwight Ridgley of Decatur, Illinois acquired it in July of 1991, and continued its freshening. James K. Dobbs III purchased it in April of 1999 and had it repainted in 2008.

The car is powered by a 1,570cc dual overhead-cam four-cylinder engine offering 115 horsepower. There is a five-speed manual gearbox, front disc brakes, and rear drums.

by Dan Vaughan

Coupe

The previous owner of this car was Nick Brittan who owned and raced the car in England and Scotland. Nick was a Formula Vee champion race car driver, author of several motor sports books and magazine articles, as well as a global rally race promoter. This Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale is a right-hand drive, one of only 25 made by Alfa Romeo and converted by Ruddspeed in the U.K., for sale in the British market. It was imported to the United States in 2023 and is the only known right-hand drive existing in North America. The car was repainted in its original Bluette color several decades ago. It is otherwise unrestored and in the condition left by Brittan when he sold the car in 2003. Brittan passed away in 2006, and his FIVA card has accompanied the car to the United States, along with a note from him to the new owner. This car was featured on the Alfa Romeo stand at the Earl's Court Motor Show in 1965 and has been featured in several magazines showing the British license plate BYY 6B which stayed with the car until it was registered in California.

A delightfully charismatic car that proved a highly successful seller, the Alfa Romeo Giulia replaced the outgoing Giulietta beginning in 1962. Alfa Romeo produced the Giulia in myriad configurations, some drastically different from other models in the series but all with a unifying thread of polished driving fun.

The name 'Giulietta' means 'little Giulia' in Italian, so the Alfa Giulia title was a play on words identifying the new car as a grown-up version of the Giulietta. The wittiness of Alfa's naming strategy was representative of the Giulia's personality as a whole. The car bristled with clever touches, and was a superb example of world-leading engineering packed into a small and stylish automobile.

The first Giulia sedan, or Berlina, models were introduced in June of 1962 and belonged to the 105 series of Alfa cars. The Berlinas were boxy and fairly conservative in appearance, but their design was nevertheless attractive, modern, and, surprisingly, quite aerodynamic with a coefficient of drag of just 0.33.

Initially, Alfa Romeo offered only the Giulia TI (or Turismo Internationale) to buyers looking to purchase a new Berlina. This model used a 1,570cc version of Alfa's respected twin-cam four, which proved far more tractable than the 1,290cc unit used in the prior Giulietta. The Giulia TI had a 5-speed transmission, albeit with column-mounted shifter, and most were equipped with power disc brakes all around (though the earliest models still used Alfin drums). The TI was an entertaining car to drive with fine handling and a sophisticated demeanor, but details like its drab steering wheel, functional but mundane instruments, and column-mounted shifter did little to inspire owners to wring out the potential of the chassis. Alfa Romeo provided buyers with a Giulia Berlina of more obviously sporting intent by introducing the Giulia Super.

The Super, introduced in 1965, featured twin Weber carburetors to replace the TI's single Solex, and it had a lovely dash with big dials for the speedometer and tachometer. The column shift was replaced by a floor shift, and power was up slightly compared with the TI. Not to be confused with the Super, a truly racy Giulia Berlina derivative called the TI Super was offered for homologation purposes in 1963. With just 501 produced, it was substantially lighter and more powerful than the initial Berlinas.

The last Giulia Berlinas brought to the U.S. came over in 1967, but the charming sedans continued in production throughout other parts of the world. Though Americans were only offered the 1.6-liter engined TI and Super, other countries could also order Giulia Berlinas with 1.3-liter versions of the all-aluminum four. A minor restyling in 1974 saw a name change to Giulia Nuova (or new in English), and there was even a diesel version introduced to some markets for 1976. In the U.S., where the Giulia name disappeared from the market after just a few years, enthusiasts could still purchase what was essentially a Giulia Berlina with larger engine by buying a later 1750 Berlina or 2000 Berlina.

The Giulia Berlina proved that Alfa Romeo could follow up its successful Giulietta Berlina with a worthy replacement that continued to define the term sports sedan as it battled with BMW. The more famous automobiles of the Giulia series, though, were not sedans at all.

Like the Giulietta before it, the Giulia was offered in Sprint (coupe) and Spider (convertible) configurations in addition to the bread-and-butter Berlina models. While the 105-series Giulia sedans offered an all-new car for 1962, the transition from Giulietta Sprint and Spider to Giulia Sprint and Spider was gentler.

The later Giuliettas belonged to the 101-series of Alfa Romeos, and the earliest Giulia Sprints and Spiders also belonged to this series before the coupe and convertible versions of the 105 body were finalized. The transitional 101-series Giulias were essentially Giuliettas with 1,570cc engines installed. The 101 Giulia Sprint looked identical to the 101 Giulietta Sprint, while the 101 Giulia Spider could be distinguished by the raised area of its hood (disguised as a fake hood scoop) needed to clear the slightly taller engine.

In 1963, the 105-series Giulia coupe arrived, named Sprint GT and styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro during his time at Bertone. The primary features of the chassis, including its disc brakes, front A-arm suspension, and live rear axle, were all shared with the 105 Berlina models as well as the Spider models that were still a few years away. Much like the Berlina, Alfa Romeo sold the Sprint GT in many different trim levels, with both 1.3-liter and 1.6-liter engines, though all U.S. cars used the 1.6-liter engines. Also like the Berlina, production of what was essentially still the Giulia Sprint continued even after the Giulia title was dropped.

In the United States, the Sprint GT became the Sprint GTV in 1967. Alfa Romeo did not import cars to the U.S. for 1968, but in 1969 the importation of a lightly restyled Giulia coupe continued as the 1750 GTV and later 2000 GTV.

In addition to the regular production versions of the Giulia Sprint, several specialty models were produced. About 1,000 examples of a Sprint-based cabriolet with four seats, called the Giulia GTC, were produced by Touring beginning in 1965 before the two-seat 105 Spider was introduced. For the track, Zagato created highly successful racing cars with the 105-series platform by building the tube-framed TZ (Tubolare Zagato) and later TZ2 with its fiberglass body.

The TZ and TZ2 were excellent racers with stunning and low-slung bodies, but perhaps even more remarkable than these purpose-built racing machines was the GTA, which was almost identical in appearance to the Sprint GT yet proved itself as one of the most successful sports cars raced during its time. The GTA used lightweight aluminum body panels, twin sparkplugs per cylinder, a higher compression ratio, and bigger Weber carburetors to create a supremely capable vehicle. The Giulia GTA won the European Touring Car Championship in 1966, 1967, and 1968. Variations of the GTA included a smaller-engined 1300 GTA and the later GTAm, which had a downright frightening appearance thanks to its menacing fender flares and fat tires.

The Spider version of the 105-chassis finally arrived in 1966, with somewhat controversial styling by Pininfarina. Never officially labeled a Giulia, the Spider was the longest-running model of the 105-series despite its late start. Incredibly, Spider production didn't end until 1993.

It can be difficult to keep track of all of the different Giulia models and 105-series derivations. Open and closed cars, two-doors and four-doors, bodies made of steel, aluminum, and even fiberglass, designs from Bertone, Pininfarina, Touring, Zagato, and Alfa Romeo itself—clearly, the Giulia's history was rich and complicated, full of superb family sedans and successful racing cars. All of these disparate models had something in common, though: they were pure, honest, unfettered Alfa Romeos. And they were some of the finest and most successful postwar cars, both on track and in the showroom, that the company ever produced.

Sources:

'Alfa Romeo models.' CarsfromItaly.net n. pag. Web. 21 Dec 2010. http://carsfromitaly.net/fiat/index.html.

Benson, Joe. Illustrated Alfa Romeo Buyer's Guide . 2nd. Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing Company, 1992. Print.

Braden, Pat. Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible. Cambridge, MA: Bentley Publishers, 1994. Print.

by Evan Acuña

The first generation of the Giulia, also known as the 105 series, was introduced at the Monaz Autodrome in the early 1960s. The vehicles shared the same bodies as the vehicles they were replacing, the Giulietta. Power came from 1570 cc 4-cylinder engines using hemispheric combustion chambers and producing over 90 horsepower. 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.

by Dan Vaughan