Italy

Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1955, Alfa Romeo Museum, Arese, Lombardy, Italy, Europe

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• published: 22 Jul 2016
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The Alfa Romeo Giulietta (series 750 and 101) was a family car made by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1954 to 1965. It was Alfa Romeo's first, successful, foray into the 1.3-litre class. From 1954 to 1965 a total of 177,690 Giuliettas were made, the great majority in Berlina saloon, Sprint coupé or Spider roadster body styles, but also as Sprint Speciale and Sprint Zagato coupés, and Promiscua estate. he first Giulietta to be introduced was the Giulietta Sprint 2+2 coupé, at the 1954 Turin Motor Show. The Sprint had been designed by Franco Scaglione at Bertone, and it was produced at the coachbuilder's Grugliasco plant, near Turin. A year later, at the Turin Motor Show in April 1955, the Sprint was joined by the 4-door saloon Berlina.In mid 1955, the open two-seat Giulietta Spider, featuring convertible bodywork by Pininfarina. In 1957 more powerful Berlina version, called Giulietta T.I. (Turismo Internazionale) was presented with minor cosmetic changes to the hood, the dial lights and rear lamps. Carrozzeria Colli also made the Giulietta station wagon variant called Giulietta Promiscua. Ninety-one examples of this version were built. Carrozzeria Boneschi also made a few station wagon examples called Weekendina. A new version of the Giulietta Berlina debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1959.[8] Mechanical changes were limited to shifting the fuel pump from the cylinder head to a lower position below the distributor, and moving the previously exposed fuel filler cap from the tail to the right rear wing, under a flap. The bodywork showed a revised front end, with more rounded wings, recessed head lights, and new grilles with chrome frames and two horizontal bars. The rear also showed changes, with new larger tail lights on vestigial fins, which replaced the earlier rounded rear wings. The interior was much more organized and upholstered in new cloth material; the redesigned dashboard included a strip speedometer flanked by two round bezels, that on the T.I. housed a tachometer and oil and water temperature gauges. The T.I. also received a front side repeater mounted in a small spear, unlike the Normale which kept the earlier small round lamp with no decorations. During 1959 the type designation for all models was changed from 750 and 753 to 101. In February 1961 the 100,001st Giulietta rolled off the Portello factory, with a celebration sponsored by Italian actress Giulietta Masina. In Autumn 1961 the Giulietta was updated a second time. Both Normale and T.I. had revised engines and new exhaust systems; output rose to 62 PS (46 kW; 61 bhp) and 74 PS (54 kW; 73 bhp). With this new engine the car could reach a speed of almost 160 km/h (99 mph). At the front of the car square mesh side grilles were now pieced together with the centre shield, and at the rear there were larger tail lights. Inside the T.I. had individual instead of bench seats, with storage nets on the seatbacks. June 1962 saw the introduction of the Alfa Romeo Giulia, which would eventually replace the Giulietta. As until 1964 the Giulia only had a larger 1.6-litre engine, production of the standard Berlina ended with 1963, whilst the T.I. continued for a full year more. A last T.I. was completed in 1965. The Giulietta sport models had a different fate: Sprint, Sprint Speciale and Spider were fitted with the new 1.6-litre engine, received some updates and continued to be sold under the Giulia name until they were replaced by all-new Giulia-based models during 1965. The Alfa Romeo Giulietta used unibody construction and a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. Front suspension was by control arms, with coaxial coil springs and hydraulic dampers. At the rear there was a solid axle on coil springs and hydraulic dampers. The axle was located by a longitudinal link on each side, and by a wishbone-shaped arm linking the top of the aluminium differential housing to the chassis. All Giuliettas (save for the last SZ examples) had hydraulic drum brakes on all four corners. When leaving the Portello factory it originally fitted Pirelli Cinturato 155 HR15 tyres (CA67). The Giulietta used an Alfa Romeo Twin Cam straight-four of 1290 cc, with an aluminium alloy engine block and cast iron inserted sleeves. Bore and stroke measured 74.0 mm (2.91 in) and 75.0 mm (2.95 in). The aluminium alloy cylinder head was of a crossflow design and featured hemispherical combustion chambers. The double overhead camshafts were driven by two timing chains, and acted on two valves per cylinder, angled 80°. The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale (also called as Giulietta SS, officially called Tipo 101.20, Italian for "Type 101.20") was an aerodynamic 2-door, 2-seat coupé designed by Franco Scaglione at Bertone. 1.366 were made from 1957 to 1962. The car had a steel body, and was based on a short-wheelbase Giulietta chassis.