1973 Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato 1600

The Junior Zagato was based on Alfa Romeo's popular Giulia model, even sharing the same floor plan as the Giulia Spider. It debuted at the Turin Motor Show in November of 1969. Zagato's design was clean and fresh, with an emphasis on good visibility. The advanced 'wedge-shaped' styling foreshadowed many later 1970s models, and was even virtually copied by Honda for its CRX in the early 1990s. Unlike most Zagato-bodied Alfa Romeos, the Juniors were steel rather than aluminum and came in both a long and short-tailed version.

From 1973 through 1975, 402 examples were produced. One hundred six remain worldwide, while just 12 reside in North America.

Coupe
Chassis number: AR*3060332
Engine number: AR00536*S2114

Between 1972 and 1975, Alfa Romeo produced just 402 Zagato Coachbuilt examples of the 1600 Junior Z. Of those, just 121 cars are known to exist in the Zagato Register, 12 of which are known to be in the United States. Zagato based the new coupe on an Alfa Spider chassis rather than a GT chassis to utilize its lightweight and short wheelbase, along with the shorter front and rear overhands. It was given a low-drag aerodynamic fastback coupe with a very low frontal area, low roofline, and fastback profile. Zagato gave the car a lightweight aluminum hood, ultra-lightweight bumpers, unique lightweight Zagato seats and a special lightweight dashboard devoid of a glove box door.

The 1600 high-performance 'S' engine was given double twin-choke Weber carburetors and a unique Zagato 'Ram Air' induction system fed by eight openings in the front clear headlight cover. Other bespoke Zagato features included an electrically elevating rear hatch for low drag flow through ventilation and construction taking place at both Alfa Romeo and the Zagato coachworks.

The high-performance mechanical specifications and lightweight construction prohibited Alfa Romeo from originally offering the car in the United States. The Junior Z was expensive to produce resulting in just 402 examples produced.

This 1600 Junior Z has just 56,450 km on its odometer. It has its original high-performance 1600 'S' Ram Air engine, original seats, door panels, and interior trim, and even its original muffler and undercoating. In June 2015, it was comprehensively serviced.

The car is powered by a 1570cc dual overhead cam aluminum four-cylinder engine fitted with dual Weber 40DCOE 2-Barrel carburetors and offering 123 horsepower. There is a five-speed manual transmission and four-wheel disc brakes.

by Dan Vaughan

Coupe
Chassis number: AR3060228
Engine number: AR00536.S4111

The Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato was introduced in 1969 at the Torino Motor Show and wore a design courtesy of Zagato's Ercole Spada. Power was initially sourced from a 1,300cc engine with a 1,600cc version arriving for the 1972 model year, allowing the use of the entire Giulia Spider floor pan.

Attractive but expensive; the Junior Zagato was approximately 50% higher than the Giulia GT. The lengthy production began at Pininfarina's factory and then transferred to the coachbuilder Maggiora to be bodied, and then sent to Zagato. The floorpan was shortened behind the rear wheels to accommodate the short rear overhang of the Zagato coachwork.

The driver and front passenger sat in highly bolstered bucket seats with incorporated headrests. In front of the driver were two large round instruments, a tachometer, and speedometer. The same two-spoke, plastic-rimmed steering wheel was the same as the other Junior models. The 1,290cc twin-cam engine with two twin-choke carburetors produced 88 horsepower at 6,000 RPM.

This Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato is powered by a 1,570cc dual overhead camshaft four-cylinder engine breathing through a pair of Weber 40 DCOE 2 carburetors and delivering 115 horsepower at 6,500 RPM. There is a five-speed manual gearbox, four-wheel disc brakes, and an independent front suspension. In the back was a live rear axle.

The early history of this car is not known. In 1980 it was acquired by Franco Guarnera of Milan, and by 1998, it was with Giuseppe di Taranto of Napoli, Italy. During this time, the Alfa Romeo was displayed for a long period in Zagato's factory showroom, and was used as a support vehicle for Zagato's participation in the Mille Miglia Storico. By 2017, the car was owned by Mark Gessler, the president of the Historic Vehicle Association (HVA). In 2017, it was sold to Florida-based collector Leo Schigiel.

by Dan Vaughan

With only a limited 402 models ever produced, the Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato 1600 was introduced in 1972 for a brief production run that lasted until 1975. The Junior Zagato took the floorpan from the 1600 Spider so that the normal fuel tank could be left in place unaltered. Because of this the 1600 Zagato is 3.9 inches longer than the 1300 JZ and evidence of this can be seen at the rear as the sloping roofline runs further back and the back panel is lower. To house the spare tire is a bulge in the lower part of the rear bumper. Compared to the 1300 Junior Zagato the 1600 Junior features numerous differences setting them apart.

First debuted at the Turin Motor Show in November of 1969, the 1600 was designed by Carrozzeria Zagato and featured a clean and fresh design that had a strong emphasis on good visibility. The Junior Zagato 1600 exhibited plenty of unique coachwork, in typical Alfa Romeo-Zagato fashion, on the high performance variant mechanical components from standard production vehicles. The modern 'wedge-shaped' styling of the 1600 was very advanced for the time and would be the basis of many 1970's model and even the inspiration for the CRZ in the 1990s. The Juniors came in both a long and short tailed version.

Powering the 1600 was a dual Weber version of the 1600 powerplant with the 1.6-liter (1,570 cc) twin overhead cam, all-alloy, four-cylinder, hemi head engine coupled to a five-speed transmission. With a top speed of 118 mph, the 1.6-liter engine produced 109 horsepower. Weighing only 2,100 despite aluminum-only engine lid and doors, the steel bodied 1600 Junior Zagato was a good performer, thanks to its low center of gravity. The cars rakish lines made the 1600 appear much sportier than its square-rigged predecessor, the Giulia.

On the inside the attention to detail was exquisite from the wood steering wheel to the Blaupunkt radio. Under the aluminum hood was a custom interior with sleek power windows. The luggage compartment was also quite spacious. The Junior Zagato was very rarely imported into the United States.

Today the Junior Zagato 1600 is quite rare and since Alfa Romeo wasn't well known for its quality control during the period, not many have survived. In 1972 an example sold for $4,505.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_105/115_Series_Coup%C3%A9s#GT_1300_Junior_Zagato_.281969-72.29_and_GT_1600_Junior_Zagato_.281972-76.29

http://fantasyjunction.com/cars/1386-Alfa%20Romeo-GT%201600%20Jr.%20Zagato-1600%20c.c.%204-Cylinder

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C511393

http://www.carbuildindex.com/9035/1973-alfa-romeo-1600-jr-zagato-restoration/

by Jessican Donaldson