Lot 83: 1960 ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA SZ COUPÉ

Chassis Number: AR 10126*00171
Engine Number: AR 00106 00590 (see text)
Red with black and red vinyl interior

Engine: four cylinder, twin overhead camshaft, Weber 40DCOE28 carburetors, 1,570cc, 112bhp at 6,500rpm; Gearbox: five speed manual; Brakes four wheel hydraulic drums; Suspension: front, double wishbones, independent, anti-roll bar, rear, radius arms, A-bracket, coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers all round. Left hand drive.

The tiny Giulietta SZ looked every inch the highly successful competition car it certainly was, the pugnacious Zagato bodyshell an object lesson in paring away unnecessary kilos and frontal area. Creature comforts were sparse but all the essentials were provided and there was performance in plenty. Under the bonnet the chunky little engine seemed little different from the basis Veloce unit, but camshafs and valve timing changes gave an extra 16 bhp and with the 4.55:1 rear axle a rather astonishing 120 mph was possible. But there was more to come. Factory approved racing tuners such as the legendary Conrero used still fiercer camshafts, modified carburettors and lightweights to boost power as high as 127bhp at 7,500rpm with reliability.

In a car that weighed merely 771kg, the result was awe-inspiring. Although primarily intended for the dedicated competition driver, the SZ also found favour with those who appreciated its typically Alfa delicacy of control, the precision of its gearchange and its leechlike road clinging qualities on Campagnolo magnesium light alloy wheels. It was the final brilliant flowering of the basic Giulietta concept. Factory records show that altogether 200 of them were built between 1957 and 1962.

Christie's understand from information supplied by the former owner that this car was originally supplied to Magioli in Italy. According to the records published in Luigi Fusi's Alfa Romeo - All the cars from 1910, it sits within the SZ chassis number band for 1960, being 101.26.00127-00187, but its engine would have originally been fitted to a Giulietta Spider veloce, that series for the same year being 00106.00001-01742. The subject of an extensive restoration in the 1990s by ex-Alfa Romeo employee, Ciapellini, it is expected that the Spider engine was fitted at this time.

Upon completion of its restoration, the car was campaigned on the 1997 Tour Auto and by then owner Corrado Cuppellini on the Louis Vuitton Classic Run to Peking in 1998, for which it carried Italian and Chinese documentation, and was sold by Christie's in March 1999 to the current vendor.

From current inspection, the bodywork is in very good condition and has clearly been substantially refurbished, notably the hood is almost certainly new. The dashboard has been completely renewed, but is fitted with period instrumentation, and has a Momo Prototipo steering wheel, while the interior seats have been re-trimmed in black vinyl and the interior trimmed in the same material. Sabelt seat belts are fitted and the car comes with a jack.