1956 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Alleggerita
The Giulietta Sprint of 1954 marked Alfa Romeo’s entrance into medium sized car market and it made an ideal basis for a small displacement race car. By 1956, Alfa recognized this fact and released the Giulietta Sprint Veloce. The most potent of these was the Alleggerita version which was stripped down for events like the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio.
The underlining theme for the Giulietta Sprint Veloce was less weight which gave the car its Alleggerita name. The original production car was styled at Bertone who also stripped out the Veloce version for racing. Included were Plexiglas side and rear windows, lightweight bucket seats, rear seat delete, lack of sound deadening, aluminum doors and an aluminum hood.
With a stripped out interior and lightweight components, the car was ready for events like the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio. It also notched up successes in the Coupe des Alpes, the Daytona 3 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours, collecting nearly 500 wins along the way.
Since the concept of the Alleggerita was quite simple, many cars were transformed by specialist design houses such as Zagato which was the premier coachbuilder for light weight racing cars. These models, known as Sprint Veloce Zagato (SVZ) were a precursor to the dedicated SV model launched in 1961.
It is estimated that Bertone produced from 100 to 200 lightweight Alleggerita models. All start with the serial number 77xxx. Afterwards, as extra supplies of the aluminum components were available, some standard Confortevole models were outfitted with competition parts. Since all these cars were handbuilt, they vary with regard to specification and weight.
Our feature car, finished in dark French blue, finished 11th overall at the 1956 Mille Miglia for Scuderia Ambrosiana. Like many of the cars, the 1300cc engine was tuned by Conrero to produce 130 bhp. This combined with a low weight made an ideal race car. This particular example was restored and debuted at the 2005 Pebble Beach Concours to coincide with the tribute to Alfa Romeo.
Story by Richard Owen for Supercars.net
In Detail
submitted by | Richard Owen |
engine | Conrero-Tuned Inline-4 |
position | Front Longitudinal |
aspiration | Natural |
valvetrain | DOHC 2 Valves per Cyl |
displacement | 1290 cc / 78.7 in³ |
bore | 73.91 mm / 2.91 in |
stroke | 74.9 mm / 2.95 in |
compression | 9.5:1 |
power | 59.7 kw / 130 bhp @ 7700 rpm |
specific output | 100.78 bhp per litre |
bhp/weight | 154.03 bhp per tonne |
body / frame | Unit Steel w/Aluminum Hood & Doors |
driven wheels | RWD |
f brake size | mm / in |
r brake size | mm / in |
curb weight | 844 kg / 1861 lbs |
wheelbase | 2210 mm / 87.0 in |
front track | 1270 mm / 50.0 in |
rear track | 1270 mm / 50.0 in |
transmission | 4-Speed Manual |
gear ratios | :1 |
Auction Sales History
1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Alleggerita 149303798 – sold for $253,000
This Sprint Veloce Alleggerita is reported to have been first delivered on March 23, 1957, to Mr. Ranuzio Scirilani, of Rome, Italy. Its early history is not documented, but, by 2001, it had been purchased in Germany by an American collector and was brought to California. Since then, it has been owned by experienced Alfa collectors, with maintenance carried out by Laurence Anderson and Conrad Stevenson, highly-regarded specialists in the Bay Area.
Auction Source: 2013 Monterey Auction by RM Auctions