The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale (''Tipo 750 SS/101.20'', Italian for "Type 750 SS/101.20") and Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale (''Tipo 101.21''), also known as Giulietta SS and Giulia SS, are small

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

s manufactured by

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

from 1959 to 1966.

Giulietta Sprint Speciale

''Tipo 750 SS''

The first prototype of the Giulietta SS was presented in 1957 at the

Turin Motor Show The Turin Motor Show ( it, Salone dell'Automobile di Torino) was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1 ...

. After two more prototypes were presented in car shows, the official presentation of the production version for the press was on 24 June 1959 on the Monza race track. The first 101 cars produced had "low nose" and 750 SS designation. 100 cars minimum were needed to

homologate Homologation (Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work fr ...

a car in FIA regulations. While there were some all-aluminium cars produced, the majority of these cars had steel bodies with aluminium doors, engine bonnet and boot lid. Also first cars were equipped with

Weber Weber (, or ; German: ) is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning " weaver". In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it has been anglicised to the English surname 'Webber' or even 'Weaver'. Notable pe ...

40 DCO3

carburettors A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...

, later changed to 40 DCOE2. The

drag coefficient In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: c_\mathrm, c_x or c_) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water. It is used in the drag equ ...

of the Sprint Speciale is 0.28, the same as a

Chevrolet Corvette (C6) The Chevrolet Corvette (C6) is the sixth generation of the Corvette sports car that was produced by Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 2005 to 2013 model years. It is the first Corvette with exposed headlamps since the 1962 model. Pro ...

, and was not surpassed for more than twenty years. Cars used the 1,290 cc

Alfa Romeo Twin Cam engine The Alfa Romeo Twin Cam engine is an all-alloy inline-four engine series produced by Alfa Romeo from 1954 to 1994. In Italian it is known as the "bialbero" ("twin-shaft"), and has also been nicknamed the "Nord" (North) engine in reference to its be ...

, a design with hemispheric combustion chambers and valves controlled directly by twin overhead camshafts.

''Tipo 101.20''

1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale dash

Small changes to a production version included steel doors, Weber 40 DCOE2 carburetors, higher front nose, removal of plexiglas windows. Bumpers were fitted front and rear, also cars had some minimal sound-proofing. With the 1290 cc engine and of power the maximum speed was around . The 1.3 litre engine and gearbox was the same as used in race-oriented Giulietta Sprint Zagato. All Giuliettas SS had three-shoe drum brakes at front wheels and drum brakes at the rear. Export versions had 101.17 designation. Side badges had "Giulietta Sprint Speciale" script.

Giulia Sprint Speciale

Giulia Sprint Speciale Bertone Prototipo

There was a prototype by Bertone of a replacement for Giulietta SS, named "Giulia SS Bertone Prototipo", but the new shape did not enter production and the next generation Giulia SS carried over an unchanged Giulietta SS body. The car was designed in 1965 by

Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...

during the end of his stay at

Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include: * Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon * Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon r ...

. File:Alfa Romeo Giulia SS Bertone prototype (7872528248).jpg, File:Alfa Romeo Giulia SS Bertone prototype (7872533524).jpg, File:Alfa Romeo Giulia SS Bertone prototype (7872538770).jpg,

''Tipo 101.21''

The bigger engine 1.6 L Giulia series replaced the Giulietta and was introduced at the March 1963 Geneva Motor Show. As Giulietta is the

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

for Giulia in Italian, the new Giulia name was a wordplay hinting that the new car was a grown-up version of the Giulietta. In spite of a Giulia SS prototype, Alfa Romeo decided to retain the Giulietta-shaped SS in production. The 1,570cc engine made up to possible. The 1,570cc engine with Weber 40 DCOE2 carburetors was taken from Giulia Sprint Veloce and delivered of power. Most Giulia SS had disc brakes at front wheels. An easy way to distinguish the Giulia SS from the Giulietta SS is by the dashboard. The Giulia has a leather underside with the glovebox at a different angle than the main fascia. The dashboard in the Giulietta is sloping and painted in one colour without a leather underside. Side badges carried "Giulia SS" scripts. Production ended in 1965, with a last single Sprint Speciale completed in 1966. 1,366 Giulietta Sprint Speciale and 1,400 Giulia Sprint Speciale were produced. 25 cars were converted to right hand drive by RuddSpeed.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Sprint Speciale Register
{{Alfa Romeo Post War Giulietta Sprint Speciale 1960s cars Cars introduced in 1959 Coupés Rear-wheel-drive vehicles