Jeremy Scott

Lot 16
1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Double Bubble Coupe
Coachwork by Carrozzeria Zagato
US$ 200,000 - 250,000
£ 150,000 - 190,000
Amended
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Quail Motorcar Auction14 Aug 2020, 11:00 PDT

Los Angeles
One of 18 Sprint Veloce Zagatos produced
Mille Miglia eligible
1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Double Bubble Coupe
Coachwork by Carrozzeria Zagato
Chassis no. 4458
Engine no. 1315 (see text)
1290cc DOHC Inline 4-Cylinder Engine
Dual Weber 40DCOE Carburetors
95bhp (est)
4-Speed Manual Transmission
Independent Front and Live Rear Axle Suspension
4-Wheel Hydraulic Drum Brakes

*One of only 18 SVZ produced and the only one originally fitted with a Double Bubble roof
*Extensive period race history including the 1960 Targa Florio
*Complete with both its FIA Passport and FIVA Identity Card
*Eligible for the world's most sought after events including the Mille Miglia and Colorado Grand

To view a YouTube walkaround of this lot please

Previewing in Greenville, South Carolina by appointment. Please contact motors.us@bonhams.com?subject=Sched...torcar Auctionfor scheduling.


THE GIULIETTA SPRINT VELOCE

Alfa Romeo returned to automobile manufacture fairly quickly after World War II, but it was not until 1950 that a new design became available. This was the 1900, a unit body sedan with a twin overhead cam 1,884cc four-cylinder engine. It was the first Alfa built on a

real production line – all previous cars had been largely hand-built –and also the first with left-hand drive. Until 1950, Alfa production had hovered around 400 units annually. With the 1900, this increased almost tenfold. A 1900C Sprint coupe was introduced with body by Carrozzeria Touring and a Spyder cabriolet by Pininfarina, both built in much smaller quantities.

In 1954 came Alfa's second new postwar design, the Giulietta. Powered by a DOHC four of 1,290cc, it came as a unibody 2+2 coupe by Bertone, called "Sprint," and was capable of 102mph in basic form. The more powerful Sprint Veloce, introduced in 1956, would do 110. Its basic design was the work of Orazio Satta, with Alfa since 1938, who was also responsible for the 1900.

In the Spring of 1955, a sedan version (Berlina) became available, and soon afterwards a Spider convertible by Pininfarina. The Berlina was most popular, particularly in Italy, with nearly 193,000 built in eleven years. Joining the standard models in 1957 were two limited-production models, the Sprint Speciale, a long-tail coupe by Bertone, and the Sprint Zagato, a short-tail version by that Milanese coachbuilder.

Carrozzeria Zagato was formed in 1920 by Ugo Zagato, who had learned his craft as an apprentice in Cologne and worked for Corrozzeria Varesina in Italy. Borrowing money to purchase tools, he opened his own shop in Milan in 1920, building first on Fiat 501

chassis. Zagato subsequently built bodies on Fiat, Bianchi, Diatto and Itala chassis, while also making aircraft parts to supplement the business. A master of aluminum, he excelled at lightweight sports bodies, and clothed the classic Alfa Romeo 6C roadsters in the late 1920s and early '30s.

When war came to Europe, Zagato built truck cabs for Isotta Fraschini until his plant was bombed in 1943. With a new factory in 1946 and the help of his eldest son, Elio, Zagato began building coupe and spider bodies for Fiat. By the mid-1950s, work for Alfa

Romeo resumed, and included a 1900 SS, and the Giulietta Sprint Zagato coupes, which followed from a rebuild effort on the Giulietta Sprint Veloce that Carlo Leto di Priolo crashed during the 1956 Mille Miglia.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

Between 16 and 18 Giulietta Sprint Veloce Coupes (SVZ) were rebodied by Zagato before a factory effort was commenced to send Sprints straight to Zagato (SZ). The ultra-lightweight aluminum body shed a significant amount of weight from the original steel-bodied Bertone designed cars and proved to be very effective on the track.

 

This Sprint Veloce Coupe was built in Portello on May 20, 1957 and purchased new by Sergio Cannara from Busseto-Parma on May 20, 1957 and registered with the Italian registration number "PR 36055". Cannara, an nearly six-and-a-half-foot tall gentleman racer,

participated in the July 6, 1957 Castel d'Acque – Vernasca event with the original Bertone coachwork before sending the car to Zagato in late 1957. Completed in 1958, the reskinned Alfa featured a Zagato's iconic 'Double Bubble' roof to accommodate Mr. Cannara's height—the only Sprint Veloce Zagato to be so equipped, plexiglass windows all around, covered headlights, and finished in white over red leather trim.

For s/n 4458's first recorded outing in its sleek new coachwork on May 24, 1959, Cannara drove the car to first place in the Castell'Arquato – Vernasca event and repeated the feat with another first place victory on June 30 in the Predappio - Rocca delle Caminate race. Cannara is known to have raced the car in two subsequent events, Trieste – Opicina on July 26 (where he placed in

the event is not recorded) and the Corsa dei Colli Torinesi hill climb event on August 30 where he finished in first place. With the season over, the car was sold on February 6, 1960 to Clelia Rossi and registered with the plate "SA 38082" with a copy of Automobile Club d'Italia registration certificate including details of the transfer.

Rossi, a racer in her own right, repainted 4458 red and continued racing the car. A picture of her looking chic as ever next to her stunning SVZ documents that Italians just do it better when it comes to style and cars. Three months into her ownership, Rossi enlisted Roberto Lippi's Scuderia Settecolli to enter the car in the 1960 running of the famous Targa Florio.

In preparation for the event, the SVZ was fitted with a new engine complete with an overbuilt water pump for improved cooling. Running as car number 32 with Fernando Natella at the helm and Pietro Flordelisi navigating, the Alfa completed all ten laps but is recorded as having been over the time limit and thus it's final place in the race was not recorded.

Two months later the Alfa entered in the Targa Vesuvio hill climb on July 3, 1960 where it placed third with Napolitano Antonio Covino at the wheel. Four days after his race, Covino purchased the car from Rossi and registered to plate "NA 173748".

Continuing its life as a race car and still plenty competitive, Covino drove his Alfa to a first-place finish in the August 28, 1960 Selva Fasano hill climb. The 1961 Four Hours of Pescara on August 15, 1961 was the last recorded race in which the car was entered. Entered by Lippi's Scuderia Settecolli and again with Fernando Natella in the hot seat, the SVZ finished 22nd overall and 9th in class.

In addition to the above races in which the car is known to have competed, it undoubtedly raced in other events as well. At some point after its known history in the early 1960s ceases the car was involved in an accident in which it was likely rolled and was subsequently retired and largely forgotten until it was rediscovered in an Italian body shop by Angelo Strada of Milan in the mid-1990s. Still showing its unrepaired body damage, broken windows, and missing Weber carburetors, Strada bought the car in 1997.

Upon acquisition, restoration work was swiftly begun to bring the car back to its original glory. Racing success does not always come without incident, and the battle worn scars on this car were evidence of just that. The body work was straightened, repaired,

and repainted in the original white paint scheme in which the car had first been delivered. Inside, pains were taken to carefully restore the thickly padded headliner, vinyl bucket seats, and plexiglass windows while the carpets were recreated down to the color, fabric type, and even stitches of the original. Pictures of the body being restored are on file.

Entering the collection of the current owner on September 8, 2007, it was subject to further restoration, this time of the mechanical type. The competition-spec double over head camshaft head was sent to Michael Besic in Illinois, the Weber 40DCOE carburetors

went to specialist Mark Dubovick of Florida, and the final assemble, restoration of the undercarriage, and road tests were completed by Gene West and Melvin McCalister, also of Florida. Again, photos of the work completed document the work done.

In 2009 the Alfa went to Daytona where it was driven on the track for a non-competitive event and did the same thing at Sebring a year later. In 2013 the Double Bubble Alfa appeared on the lawn at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.

Today the car retains its race prepared good looks. Offered with copies of photos from its early history, documentation from the Automobilismo Storico Alfa Romeo, and detailed in both Luigi Fusi compendium on the marque Alfa Romeo: Tutte le Vetture dal 1910 and Gino Giugno Giuliette Sprint Veloce Zagato, the car is further abetted by its FIA Passport and FIVA Identity card. Complete with its jack, reproduction tool kit, owner's handbook, service manual, spare parts catalog, and roadside safety triangle, the car even has both a set of steel wheels and rare, lightweight alloy Borrani competition rims.

Originally accepted for this year's Mille Miglia—an event that was delayed from May to September and that the owners are forgoing to see the car off to a new home—this Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce Zagato is a suitable and welcome entry to countless highly prized

events around the world including the Colorado Grand, California Mille, aforementioned Mille Miglia, Tour Auto, and of course the Targa Florio Classica—among many others. Few cars offer you a spot on as many events and even fewer look as good doing the events—the opportunity to acquire this SVZ is not to be missed!

Footnotes

• This vehicle is titled under the VIN AR149304458.

Saleroom notices

• Please note, additional research by Bonhams indicates that the offered lot appears to be an Alfa Romeo Sprint rebodied in the style of a Sprint Veloce Double Bubble by Zagato. The original provenance cannot be verified at this time and it should be noted that there are at least two additional cars that claim to have chassis no. 4458. Copies of the FIVA Identification Card and acceptance to the 2020 Mille Miglia are on file. The engine number is AR1315 44335. The estimate has been reduced to $200,000-250,000.

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