Lot 125: Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale

Alfa Romeo, Italy's oldest sporting marque, has been building cars since 1910. They produced some of the greatest machinery ever to be seen in the pre-war period, such as the beautiful 1750 Zagato roadsters, the magnificent Monzas and the mighty P3 Grand Prix cars. With the advent of the 1950s, Alfa Romeo was forced to rationalise its production in order to survive financially. Unable to resist the occasional indulgence however, they still built some exceptional competition and 'limited edition' high performance models. One such car was the Sprint Speciale series. Appearing first in 1957 with the 1,290cc Giulietta engine and then in 1963 with the more powerful 1,570cc Giulia unit. The streamlined bodywork bore a marked resemblance to some of the marque's earlier competition designs, particularly the famous Disco Volante sports-racer, not to mention the BAT 9 show car. With an all-up weight of under 950kgs, a five-speed gearbox and an output of ll2bhp (in Giulia form) they made excellent road cars and were equally useful in competition. Only 1,366 examples of the Sprint Speciale were built before production stopped in 1965. A delightful example of the BAT inspired Sprint Speciale, Chassis AR 380642 is an increasingly rare stradale version as many of this stunning coupes have been transformed to race cars. Described by its owner as in good to excellent condition, this classic Bertone-designed Alfa's bodywork was reportedly restored some 15 years ago whereas the engine received a professional overhaul some four years ago. Most attractively finished in dark red with the correct type beige and red cloth interior, it comes with Italian registration documents as well as its Italian Alfa Romeo Register (RIAR) pass. Un delizioso esemplare di Sprint Speciale ispirata alla BAT, il telaio AR 380642 � una versione da strada ad oggi sempre pi� rara poich� molte di queste sensazionali coup� sono state trasformate in vetture da gara. Descritta dal proprietario come in condizioni da buone a eccellenti, questa classica Alfa carrozzata da Bertone ci dicono sia stata restaurata all'incirca 15 anni fa mentre il motore ha ricevuto una revisione professionale quattro anni fa. Meravigliosamente rifinita in rosso scuro con gli appropriati interni in beige e rosso, � registrata in Italia e dotata del passaporto RIAR.