Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale (1964)
The Alfa Romeo Guilia Sprint Speciale is surely one of the most beautiful of Bertone’s post war styled cars. Alfa Romeo's highly successful 'small car, big performance' formula began with the 1.3-litre Giulietta in 1954. The Giulietta range's ultimate incarnation - the Sprint Speciale - arrived in 1957. Built on a slightly shorter wheelbase than the standard Sprint coupé, the mouth-wateringly curvaceous SS came with 100bhp and a five-speed gearbox, while the wind tunnel-developed shape made for an impressive top speed of 125mph and an almost unheard of drag coefficient of 0.28. A masterpiece of automotive styling, the SS's extraordinary body was the work of Franco Scaglione, Bertone's chief designer and the man responsible for the amazing BAT series of concept cars, based on the Alfa Romeo 1900.
Giulia's introduction came in 1962, with it an updated SS which boasted front disc brakes, a more powerful (112bhp) and much less fussy 1,570cc version of Alfa's classic twin-cam four and a kerb weight of only 950 kg. Other notable improvements included a redesigned dashboard with additional instrumentation. Only 1,399 of the Carrozzeria Bertone-bodied Giulia Sprint Speciales were built up to 1965. This official UK-market car is one of only 25 RHD cars, making it one of the rarest and most desirable of post-war Alfa Romeos.
The history file contains email correspondence from Marco Fazio of Automobilismo Storico Alfa Romeo confirming the car's early provenance as well as the original 1965 logbook. Also included are 17 old MoT certificates dating back to August 1990. The car has covered only some 9,000 miles in the last 30 years.
This Giulia SS was manufactured on 8th January 1964 and sold new to Alfa Romeo UK in London on 29th May '64. The Alfa was first registered on 29th January 1965 to Ian Pelling of Farnham, Surrey and still retains its original registration. In 1997 'FBH 276C' caught the attention of marque specialist Nick Nicholas of Lombarda Sport in Notting Hill, who had the opportunity to purchase the car in 2000. Lovingly cared for, the Giulia remained with the family until its sale in July 2015, where the car was primarily stored by the previous vendor as part of the Chester Collection and repainted black (from red).
Drawn in by its unique styling and beautiful lines, the car was purchased by its current owner in 2020 who immediately took the car to restoration specialists Barkaways to inspect the car and discuss what was required. It was later decided to carry out a full, comprehensive restoration on the car, taking it back to bare metal to restore the shell and carry out the bodywork required to bring the beautiful SS body back to absolute perfection. Originally painted in 'Bluette' from new, an alternative period blue was researched to better compliment the design. Following repainting, the car was then carefully rebuilt with newly sourced or refurbished components throughout, including overhauling the suspension and a full engine and gearbox rebuild. The delighted owner unveiled the completed two year restoration of the 1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale Coupé at the 2022 Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance.
