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Highlights
Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Zagato (SZ) Prototype (only one built in 1959)
#001 of 213 special production run of race cars by Carrozzeria Zagato
Displayed at 1960 Geneva International Motor Show
Impressive Racing History including the 1960 Targa Florio and Winner of Italian Grand Prix, Naples.
First Owned by Scuderia Sant' Ambroeus SRL of Milano
Joined the Alfa Farm in February 2022
Overview
Overview
Firewall stamping of AR10126*00001 shows this car is the first of a series. In all, 213 Giulietta Sprint Zagato SZ cars were built. 169 Coda Tonda (round tail) cars were built, followed by 44 Coda Tronca (kamm tail) cars.
The original Facetti prepared 1300cc twin cam engine is mated to a syncomesh 5 speed gearbox with lightened gears and flywheel.
The engine number stamping of AR 00120*00167 confirmed by Museo Storico Alfa Romeo shows that this is the original engine.
Prototype Differences
Prototype Differences
This Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato #00001 was the prototype car of this series. There are several notable differences between this car and later numbered cars. It has its original engine which is a 101 series block with the original number of AR00120*00167, but with a 750 series cylinder head. I was told by Giulietta expert Bill Gillham that this was a trick used back in day by engine tuners such as Conrerro and Facetti to gain the benefits of a preferred valve angle. The transmission is a split case 5 speed. I discovered that the brakes were the later three shoe drums in front with the front big drum two shoe brakes moved to the back. The two shoe brakes were standard on the first several cars and this would have been a fairly easy upgrade method for racers to gain an advantage. Being a prototype, there are some things that were different from later cars in the production run. The most notable are the door handles which are very different and appear quite crude upon close inspection. It seems that they were welded on, which couldn't have been easy to do on that aluminum alloy. The glove box has a lid and the door panels have extra wing pads on either side of the storage flap. The seats have big wide vents on the bottoms which is the same as the earlier SVZ cars. The tail lights are mounted upside down and the early press photos of my car confirm the inverted taillights from new. The nose was originally somewhat longer and more narrow and having perspex (clear plastic) headlight covers, but research indicates that somewhere during the months of May and June of 1961, the nose was replaced with the standard later SZ nose probably because of racing damage at the Coppa Ascari race in Monza where Luciano Conti (the owner) and co-driver Giancarlo “Peter Pan” Venturi placed 8th in class and 10th overall, or at some other undocumented competition. SZ 00001’s new style nose is shown in the photo from the Bolzano Mendola race of July 2, 1961, #138, driven by Giuseppe Borga who later owned the car in 1962. Maybe it was an early case of “if you break, you buy it”. Some commenters in the BaT auction suggested restoring the nose to its original prototype shape, however, this change happened very early in the car’s life and is now part of it’s history as documented by period racing photos, so I think it would be an injustice to history to change it back. (See the two racing photos below.)
This is the only SZ with these unusual door handles. All other cars were fitted with an aluminum pull ring in front of the button.
The tail lights are mounted upside down and the early press photos of my car confirm the inverted taillights from new.
Door panels have extra wing pads on either side of the storage flap.
Black tube-frame seats with buttress-style side bolsters feature slotted backrests and cushions, with the latter a carryover from the previous Sprint Veloce Zagato (SVZ) custom run of cars which were the precursors of the factory sponsored run of SZ cars.
Copa Ascari - Monza race of May 7,1961. This is the last known photo with original series 1 nose.
Bolzano Mendola race of July 2, 1961. This is the replaced series 2 nose.
This Car in Press Photos from 1960
Notice that the tail lights are also inverted in this early press photo of #00001.
Zagato factory construction photos of the Giulietta SZ cars show the hand formed aluminium bodies undergoing fitment to chassis which were provided by Alfa Romeo. These chassis were the same as the Sprint Speciale cars and the engines were "veloce" spec. Most went on to be tuned by local specialists like Virgilio Conrero and Carlo Facetti. More than 100Hp was squeezed from the tiny 1.3 liter engines. Total weight of the SZ was about 750kg.
For braking, the car was set up with drums all around. At the front, the massive three shoe brakes working against the over-sized finned aluminum drums make for some impressive braking. The suspension comprises double wishbones up front, a solid axle setup at the rear, and coil springs with tubular shock absorbers all around.
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