Description
Without the arrival of the Giulietta it would be safe to say that Alfa Romeo might not have survived the 50s. Some people may think that statement a little dramatic but there is a large grain of truth in it. The 1900 saloon had established the template that would be used by Alfa right through until the Alfettas of the 70s. As good as the 1900 was, the key people at the company knew that what was required was a smaller range using the same mechanical layout. The result of these studies was the design and development of a completely new DOHC 1.3 litre engine that would drive the rear wheels through a four-speed (later upgraded to a five-speed) gearbox. The first of the new Giulietta range that was announced in 1954 was the coupe, followed by the spider and saloon a year later.
Because Alfa did not have the production capacity, a contract was let to Bertone for the coupe and to Farina for the spider. As an added incentive to the people, a special lottery was arranged with Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint coupes being offered as prizes. Only the Italians would do something like that! Bertone tooled to build around 400 units using soft tooling and a lot of hand finishing. Such was the response by the public to the pretty Sprint coupe that orders flooded in. New arrangements had to be made, and quickly. Soon, Carrozzeria Bertone had enlarged its premises and a proper assembly line installed. By the time production ended more than 40,000 had been built and sold!All models in the Giulietta range were powered by the 1.3 litre DOHC engine that at first developed 65bhp, but this was soon raised to 90bhp and in the later Giulia 1.6 litre versions to 115bhp. For its time, the Giulietta
Experts from four continents pass judgment on one of the most charismatic cars ever built, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta & the early Giulia range of cars. Included are road & comparison tests, owners reports plus advice on acquiring & restoring a Giulietta.
With a total of 176 fully illustrated pages. SB.
