60 years light and streamlined
It was exactly 60 years ago that the Alfa Romeo Giulia Tubolare Zagato was presented at the Turin Motor Show on October 31, 1962. Apparently, at the time, no one wanted to decide whether the model should be called Giulia or Giulietta. But H.U. Wieselmann, who reported from Turin for "auto motor und sport", must have been impressed:
"... But much more exciting is the Zagato Coupé GTZ for the Giulia and Giulietta, which is only 1130 mm high and about whose engine performance nothing is said apart from the bare hint that it should be 225 km/h in the 1300 cc version and 245 km/h in the 1600 cc version. The aerodynamically particularly favorably profiled body sits on a lightweight tubular frame chassis, with wheel suspension at the front on double wishbones and at the rear (for the first time on an Alfa Romeo!) on a lower wishbone and a sloping strut, with double cardan shafts for the drive. Disc brakes front and rear, the rear brakes combined on the differential housing. The dry weight is given as 640 kg. If Alfa Romeo wants to take on the Porsche Carrera with the Giulia 1600 GTZ, there seems to be every prospect of success. How the 1300 Giulia GTZ is to succeed in fending off the Abarth Simcas, however, is still not quite clear ."
Congratulations on the 60th birthday and of course we would like to refer you to our article on the Giulia TZ that we published nine years ago.
Incidentally, it is interesting to note that the car presented in Turin was not the final version; the front and rear were subsequently redesigned. Definitely for the better!
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