1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato ‘Coda Tronca’
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1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato ‘Coda Tronca’
Alfa Romeo was returning to motor sports when it built the 1962 Giulietta Sprint Zagato. Zagato was a prominent designer and past collaboration with Alfa Romeo had proven fruitful in the Le Mans and Formula 1 circuits. In 1957, Alfa had formed a relationship with Bertone, another famous shop, to develop the Giulietta Sprint Speciale which was a high performance version. That car would become the basis for the new venture with Zagato.
The companies decided to concern themselves with form over function while developing the new GT racer. The plan was to offer the car to customers for their own GT teams and thus it needed to be a strong and reliable performer on the track. Zagato was a master and developing aerodynamically efficient and lightweight machines and the Giulietta Sprint Speciale chassis provided the perfect jumping off point.
Perhaps the reason these cars remain so special today is their overall beauty. The design was focused around performance, but in turn the body became very well recognized and an instant classic for Alfa. Combining the low roofline with the elongated and round body made the car desirable to collectors. The rarity of the “Coda Tronca” version lends to the high selling price at the recent auction that saw chassis 0184 sell for $420,800.
Hit the jump for more details on the 1962 Alfa Romeo Coda Tronca
With only 200 examples built, the Alfa Romeo Sprint Zagato (SZ) is a very rare car indeed, particularly in “Coda Tronca” long tail form, of which only 30 cars were ever built. It has all the elements for racing competitiveness, beginning with a highly tuned 1,300-cc engine mated to a five-speed transmission and married to carefully constructed, lightweight aluminium bodywork, which in itself reportedly took Zagato 300 hours to construct. The stunning long tail “Coda Tronca,” the final development of the legendary racing Giulietta, was designed with a lower roof line as well as a Kamm tail, which made for better aerodynamics.
Chassis No.
AR10126*00184
Estimate:
260.000-300.000 euros
Est. 135 bhp, 1,300 cc DOHC inline four-cylinder engine, five-speed manual transmission, independent front suspension, live rear axle, front disc brakes. Wheelbase: 2,248 mm (88.5″)
- One of only 30 SZ “Coda Tronca” examples built
- Lightweight Zagato bodywork
- Autotecnica Conrero engine
- Known ownership beginning in Lugano, Switzerland
- Shown at Villa d’Este (2004)
- Eligible for many prestigious events
Chassis no. 0184, the outstanding example on offer, started its life in Switzerland. It was manufactured on 28 March, 1962 and quickly sold two days later to “Società per il Commercio dei Prodotti Alfa Romeo Lugano,” a well established Alfa dealership in Ticino. In 1970 the car passed to renowned local body shop owner Mr. Arno Mark of Gstaad. From there, correspondence on file suggests Michael Storer of Zurich purchased the car from Mr. Mark.
By 1989, the car was owned by Rudy Pas of The Netherlands, and it was during this ownership that the car was given a full restoration. The bodywork was done by “Autocostruzioni SD,” who retained the majority of the original aluminium panels and re-skinned the parts that were beyond repair. A mechanical rebuild was also undertaken, conducted by Conrero who built and fitted a competition engine to SZ specification. Conrero is highly acclaimed for the tuning of “Conrero 1,300 cc” Alfa engines, of which this car benefits – an excellent engine producing about 135 bhp. The suspension, brakes and clutch were also rebuilt at the same time. All told, the car is extremely well suited for road and track use.
During Mr. Pas’s ownership, the car was predominantly used as a showpiece, only being driven sparingly at prestigious events. It was seen in public on few occasions, and records show that it competed at the 2006 Bologna-Raticosa hill climb, as well as being a distinguished featured car at the ‘Celebration of Zagato’ in 2004 at Villa d’Este. Acclaimed Alfa specialist Paul Schouwenburg then purchased the car, describing it in correspondence as “a scaled down version of the Ferrari 275 GTB/C with similar feelings of exhilaration and excitement.” In an interview with a classic car magazine, Mr. Schouwenburg explained that this SZ “Coda Tronca” was one of his all-time favourite cars, second only to his Ferrari 250 GT SWB “SEFAC Hot Rod.”
In 2007 the car was exported to the United States, where the new owner Ronald Hein used the SZ on regular occasions. Two years later he had the engine professionally refreshed at a cost of more than $14,000 by Conrad Stevenson of Berkeley, California.
Only the final 30 Sprint Zagatos left the factory with Coda Tronca bodywork, making this a very rare and tremendously collectable car. Its wonderful GT shape would follow into the development program of the Alfa Romeo TZ “Tubulare Zagato.” The offering of chassis 0184 is a rare opportunity to purchase a Zagato masterpiece with outstanding heritage, racing character and the heightened prestige of being a welcome entrant for such important collector car events as the Tour Auto, Goodwood Revival and Le Mans Classic. This particular example was recently re-imported into the EU with all taxes paid and is complete with a fully documented history file.
1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato ‘Coda Tronca’ Price In Euros:260.000-300.000
1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato ‘Coda Tronca’ Price In US: $420,800
