Alfa Romeo Giulietta celebrates its 70th anniversary

L’Alfa Romeo Giulietta was presented in it version coupé Sprint at the Turin Motor Show on April 21 195470 years ago.

Since its official presentation to the public at the Turin Motor Show, the Giulietta Sprint has been all the rage. Almost 2,000 orders were recorded in the first days of the show. A great figure for that time.

Two weeks before the launch, a preview is organized in the courtyard of Portello for employees and authorities: two actors in Shakespearean costumes from Romeo and Juliet descend from a helicopter.

Giulietta becomes the “lady of Italy”, the first Alfa Romeo to bear a female name.

Giulietta won the public vote, which was a sign of the growth of the Italian economy. When the 100,001st Giulietta sedan leaves the production lines at the Portello factory, Giulietta Masina, Federico Fellini’s muse, celebrates this milestone in production. It is the first model from the Milanese manufacturer to reach a six-figure sales volume.

In the early 1950s, when it had won two consecutive F1 championships with the Alfetta driven by Farina and then by Fangio in 1950 and 1951, the Milanese brand wanted to produce a model that could guarantee continuous production and attract a wider audience. without betraying the characteristics of the Italian brand: technology, performance and style.

Centro Stile Alfa Romeo begins to work and one of the proposals (of the Sprint coupe version) will be developed by Bertone, under the direction of Franco Scaglione, the designer of the near-modern “2000 Sportiva”, of Bertone more later. he oversaw the construction of the Giulietta Sprint.

The result is a low carfor minimalist sides and al’The rear is characterized by a large covering window.

The Alfa Romeo brand is entering a new competitive segment, that of high performance coupesand establish new technical standards.

The Giulietta’s engine is 1290 cc twin-cam four cylinder enginemade entirely of light alloy (an innovative solution 70 years ago for engines), which allows the car to reach a maximum speed of about 170 km / h, and performances are comparable to those of high class cars.

In its “Veloce” version, Sprint won first place in its category in the 1956 Mille Miglia.

The Sprint was then joined by several other versions: the sedan, the Spider designed by Pinin Farina for the North American market, the Sprint Speciale, also by Bertone, and the Giulietta SZ by Zagato. There will also be a real estate version, called “Promiscua”.

From 1954 to 1965, 177,690 Alfa Romeo Giuliettas were produced in all its variants.

The Giulietta is one of the pillars of Alfa Romeo brand history.

At the age of 70, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta has left its mark on Italian automotive history.