In the rear-view mirror: an icon celebrates its birthday

For many classic car enthusiasts, it is considered one of the most beautiful production coupés: the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint is celebrating its 70th birthday. The world premiere caused a sensation at the Turin Motor Show in April 1954. Alfa Romeo recorded around 2000 orders in the first few days of the show - an enormous number for the time.

Another spectacular event took place shortly before the market launch: two actors jumped out of a helicopter above the Alfa Romeo plant in the Portello district of Milan, where the "little Juliet" (Giulietta) was produced, in front of a large audience. They were dressed as Romeo and Juliet from William Shakespeare's play of the same name.

The Giulietta was the first vehicle model from Alfa Romeo to bear a female name. As the "Fidanzata d'Italia" (Italy's sweetheart), it took the hearts of car fans by storm and became a symbol of the economic upturn. Unit sales finally reached six figures for the first time in Alfa Romeo's history. When the 100,000th Giulietta rolled off the production line at the Portello plant, Giulietta Masina, the muse of star director Federico Fellini, celebrated this historic moment with the workers and company management.

The Centro Stile Alfa Romeo is presenting its own logo to mark the 70th anniversary of the iconic coupé. On Sunday, June 2, 2024, the Alfa Romeo Museum also invites all fans of the brand to the official birthday celebration. Part of the event will be the opening of the special exhibition "Giulietta, Fidanzata d'Italia", realized together with the Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo.

As part of the birthday celebrations at the museum, there will be a parade at 10:30 a.m. featuring only Alfa Romeo Giulietta models from the first series (Type 750/101, 1954 - 1965). This will be followed at 11 a.m. by a backstage talk organized by the museum on the history of the Giulietta. At 12.30 pm, Alfa Romeo Giulietta of the second (Type 116, 1977 - 1985) and third series (Type 940, 2010 - 2020) will also have the opportunity to parade. Further information on the event can be found on the official website of the Alfa Romeo Museum: https://www.museoalfaromeo.com/en-us/news/Pages/giulietta-compie-70-anni.aspx.

Alfa Romeo had won the first two Formula 1 World Championships ever organized with drivers Nino Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1950 and 1951. This sporting success was to rub off on a new series model, with which Alfa Romeo wanted to herald the change from a manufacturer of exclusive sports cars to a mass-produced manufacturer. The Centro Stile Alfa Romeo designed several proposals for a model with the name Giulietta.

The coupé, traditionally called the Sprint at Alfa Romeo, was developed to series maturity by the later star designer Franco Scaglione for Bertone. The result was a sleek, streamlined automobile with a minimalist silhouette and a strongly inclined, wraparound rear window. Carrozzeria Bertone also took over the production of the bodywork for the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint.

The 1.3-liter engine was made almost entirely of light alloy, with two overhead camshafts controlling the valves. With a top speed of 170 km/h, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint was also well ahead of its competitors in the segment. The performance-enhanced Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce won its class at the 1956 Mille Miglia - at that time still a non-stop road race from Brescia to Rome and back.

The coupé was soon joined by other body versions: the saloon called Berlina, the Spider designed by Pinin Farina with an eye on the cabriolet-loving American market, the radical coupé Sprint Speciale with a futuristic design by Bertone and the Giulietta SZ by Zagato, which was intended for racing. The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Promiscua brought the driving performance of a sports car to the estate car segment for the first time.

From 1954 to 1965, 177,690 Alfa Romeo Giulietta were produced in all model variants. The highest production figures to date for a model of the traditional brand underlined the great appeal of the "little Juliet". (aum)