A rare 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale is going under the hammer later this month, at the H&H Classics sale taking place at the Duxford Imperial War Museum in the UK on June 19. The streamlined coupé has been in the same family since 1972 and in storage for three decades, plus has a mere 42,000 miles on the clock, meaning the auction house is describing it as a “sleeping beauty”. It’s estimated that the car will go for £30,000 to £40,000.
What’s more this Alfa is rare, as it is believed to be one of only 25 that the famous Ruddspeed concern was commissioned to convert to right-hand drive when new by Alfa Romeo UK. Further the import duty of the time meant that a standard Giulia Sprint Speciale had a far higher showroom price than a Jaguar E-type, meaning these right-hand drive Alfas became close to the exclusive preserve of the committed enthusiast. This charming machine is made even more collectable by that it is a matching numbers car, and has its original leather interior.
It was put into storage in 1987 due to bereavement and not to any mechanical issue and has remained unused since; indeed the car appears to be totally original and unmodified. Upon inspection it was found to have a coating of wax on the underside and in the boot floor, which explains the apparent lack of corrosion to the underside or on the body. It comes with a full history file with tax discs from 1972 until 1987 and it still wears the dealer sticker from where it was purchased in 1972. “Surely a unique opportunity to obtain an original car that obviously will require an amount of recommissioning for a return to the road,” said Roger Nowell of H&H Classics.
The Bertone-penned Giulietta Sprint Speciale was unveiled as a prototype at the 1957 Turin Salon, and entered production two years later. Homologated for competition after 101 ‘low nose’ cars had been made, the Sprint Speciale boasted a drag coefficient of 0.28 and evolved through Tipo 101.20 and Tipo 101.21 versions. The latter was introduced at the 1963 Geneva Salon, and utilizing more modern Giulia equipment it featured a 1.6 liter engine, a five-speed manual gearbox and front disc brakes. Only 1366 Giuletta SS and 1400 Giulia SS cars were built.
As Giulietta is the diminutive for Giulia in Italian, the Giulia name hints that the newer car was a grown-up version of the Giulietta. Despite the Giulia SS prototype, Alfa decided to retain the Giulietta-shaped SS in production. Its 1570cc engine was capable of up to 120mph and, fed by twin Weber 40DCOE2 carburettors and taken from the Giulia Sprint Veloce, it delivered 112bhp. Production ended in 1965, with the last single Sprint Speciale completed in 1966.
H&H Classics will also be auctioning at Duxford a rare and desirable 1973 Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF Lusso, which was among the best-handling cars of the 1960s and ’70s and has rallying credentials. This car is expected to go for £12,000 to £16,000.
Images courtesy of H&H Classics
