Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciale
by Patrick Dasse
1
“From the beginning of the 1957 season, it had been obvious that the production Giulietta Sprint Veloces were often at a disadvantage to the Zagato conversions. This, too, did not escape the notice of the Alfa Romeo engineers, and no doubt the company management was not happy with the fact that production cars obtained directly from Alfa Romeo were not to be found at the top of the racing results.”
2
“It may be surmised that from the first motorsports appearances of the Giulietta Sprint Speciale, Alfa Romeo officials had become uncomfortably aware that in the race results, the Zagato-modified Giulietta Sprint Veloce entries were usually listed as finishing ahead of the ‘official’ Alfa-Romeo-supplied Giulietta Sprint Speciales, whose intended purpose was, after all, motorsports competition.”
(English / German) The two excerpts above are separated by about a hundred pages, and they seem to say the same thing. They kinda do, and that’s why we chose them, to make a point: don’t let your attention wander when you read this book, and resist the urge to simply treat it as any old photo book in which you can hunt and peck and read random bits. Did you notice that those two excerpts talk about two different models? If you know your Alfa history, they are separated by several years. Which can only mean one thing: Alfa tried one solution to beat the Zagato package, found it wanting, and had to try again.
Always instructive to see what other cars in period looked like. This is from the 1961 London Motor Show.
The author rightly laments that while the SS was of significant importance in Alfa’s motorsport history, it has been forgotten and never received the recognition it deserves. In fact the model that did do well enough to be remembered is the one Alfa Romeo had not made. Why Alfa, instead of chasing the Zagato-bodied version that some privateers had commissioned, not just contracted with Zagato, with whom they already had a relationship anyway, but stuck with their go-to vendor Bertone is one of the questions this book tackles.
The name of the car is taped right to the showroom floor. But did you know that the name went through several permutations and that the SS initially was SSS and stood for Speciale Super Spinta?
If author Patrick Dasse’s name and the general topic and the look of these books are beginning to seem familiar it is because since starting in 2018 this “series” has now grown to 18 books, all basically related to the models of the Giulietta era. So, time to squeeze another 2.2″ of space out of the bookshelf . . . a nice problem to have and, let’s assume, not for the last time.
For a car that was from the outset conceived specifically for competition in the GT class this engine compartment is oddly cramped and not at all easy to reach into.
The common denominator is that the books are built around long-forgotten or rarely used archival material from Alfa’s Centro Documentazione; both the photos and the internal records are thus largely new to the published record. This particular book, given its motorsports dimension, also draws on a large trove of period racing imagery (and the accompanying research/identification) from Italian archive Actualfoto which specializes in the history of motorsport since 1950.
An unexpected gem, and something anyone who puzzles over racing regulations will find handy: a 12-year comparison of parameters stipulated by Appendix J of the FIA regs.
Another factor contributing to continuity is that layout, printing, and binding have been done by the same people/firms, only the English-language translator has changed. It is remarkable how much detail has been wrung out of old photos that were probably, in the case of Actualfoto files, not taken by professional shooters.
If you know your design history you will see in these Sprint Speciales echoes of the aerodynamically revolutionary trio of B.A.T. concept cars presented by Bertone in 1953, 54, and 55. Bertone also had, unlike Zagato, the proven capacity to produce work at the volume that Alfa Romeo required so it is no wonder that the two firms partnered again on the 1959–1966 Giulietta and Giulia SS.
Many photos show cars taking turns with an alarming list. You’ll have to read up on suspension loading and weight distribution.
It has to be remembered that these books intentionally are not big-picture “history” books. They contain minimal narrative text, with a particular focus on micro detail on the production process and specific build features. If, for instance, you took away from the introductory excerpts that Zagato must have done something specific to their cars to make them outperform the Bertones, you’ll not find exhaustive technical answers here (but there is enough to connect some dots; matters are complicated by a lack of surviving documentation). That said, some matters remain elusive no matter how deep anyone digs, such as the reason/s for the 2-year lag between the 1957 showing of the pre-production cars and Bertone not commencing series production until 1959. (The period press speculated that Bertone had overextended itself and also had moved their factory just then.)
Vol 1 covers
- development of the Giulietta Sprint Speciale Tipo 101.20/750 SS
- Giulietta Sprint Speciale Tipo 101.20
- Giulietta Sprint Speciale U.S.A. Tipo 101.17
- Pininfarina Giulietta Speciale 2 Posti Aerodinamica
- Giulia SS Tipo 101.21
- Sprint Speciale in Italian Motorsports June 1959–May 1960
- the Sprint Zagato chassis
- reproductions of ads, homologation papers (example above)
- production figures
Never lose an argument again . . . Vol 2 is full of hard data. This spread, for example, reveals that chassis numbers are not in step with production dates. Here an earlier chassis (#23, top left) has a later production date (July 8, 1959) than a later chassis, here #27 dated May 15, 1959.
Vol 2 . . . is a whole different book altogether. It is a thoroughly illustrated chassis-by-chassis registry of the first 101 Giulietta Sprint Speciale Tipo 101.20/750 SS. It additionally includes vehicles from the Tipo 101.20 and .21 series that have documented race/rally history, and also lists those select vehicles whose production books contained special notes pertaining to VIN, engine number, or production date.
For the reader with specific and specialized interests these books have no equal and the amount of work that goes into compiling and vetting the data is simply staggering.
The neat box is sealed with the Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio sticker.
This book and last year’s came out just before Christmas; consider yourselves warned . . .
Copyright 2024, Sabu Advani (Speedreaders.info)
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