Alfa Romeo Giulietta SS Coupé Coachwork By Carrozzeria Bertone 1961, Itália

 

Alfa Romeo Giulietta SS Coupé Coachwork By Carrozzeria Bertone 1961, Itália

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With the introduction of the Giulietta, Alfa Romeo established the 'small car, big performance' formula that would characterise the Milanese marque's finest offerings from then on. First of the Giuliettas, the Bertone-styled Giulietta Sprint Coupé debuted at the Turin Motor Show in April 1954 powered by a 1.3-litre, all-alloy version of Alfa's classic twin-cam four designed by one-time Ferrari engineer Giuseppe Busso. The original Sprint Coupé was soon joined by Berlina (saloon) and Spider (open) versions.The Giulietta family's success surprised even Alfa themselves; production targets were revised upwards and to satisfy demands for increased performance, upgraded 'Veloce' versions of the Sprint coupé and Spider convertible were introduced for 1956.
In 1957 Alfa Romeo introduced the model now recognised as the ultimate Giulietta - the Sprint Speciale – which was the first of the new 101-Series cars. Built on a slightly shorter wheelbase than the standard Sprint, and again the work of Carrozzeria Bertone, the mouth-wateringly curvaceous 'SS' came with 100bhp on tap, a five-speed gearbox, and a top speed of 200km/h (125mph). Compact, aerodynamically efficient, and very powerful for its size, the SS proved highly successful in 1,300cc class racing the world over. A mere 1,366 had been produced by the time the model was superseded in 1963 by the 1,600cc Giulia version, which was the only car in the new range to retain an existing Giulietta body style. Outwardly distinguishable from the outgoing Giulietta Sprint Speciale only by identifying tail script, different sidelights, and a revised dashboard, the Giulia boasted front disc brakes and the more powerful (129bhp) Veloce-specification engine. 1,399 examples of the Bertone-bodied Giulia Sprint Speciales were built between 1963 and 1965, making the total for both types 2,765, and today both of these rare models are highly prized by Alfa Romeo connoisseurs.
The Alfa Romeo Museum's Centro Documentazione has confirmed that this Giulietta left the works on 6th March 1961 and subsequently was sold to its first owner in Lugano, Switzerland, believed to be a female member of the Bertone family. This car is believed to be the only existing example with electric windows, and it also has special larger door handles similar to the later 105 Series; features which, it is presumed, were specified by the original owner. The original colour was Amaranto (dark red), the same as it is today. Alfa Romeo has no records of the original engine's number, but the unit installed ('AR 00120 01019') is of the correct type for the car as confirmed by Alfa Romeo. The Alfa has had only four owners from new and has been completely restored in Switzerland.