If you’ve never seen an Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ car before, you’re not alone, as only a total of about 200 of them were ever produced. Of that number, only 30 of the cars were the long-tailed Coda Tronca examples, so they’re even rarer and are considered top-tier contenders when it comes to the world of sought-after and collectible Afa Romeos. If you’ve got some really deep pockets and fancy the idea of owning one of these elusive Italian rarities, today’s your lucky day, as this 1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ Coda Tronca is looking for a new home. It can be seen on the Gooding & Company website with an asking price of $725,000.
Barn Finds would like to give a big thank you to reader Arkanid78, who spotted this beauty and brought it to our attention! Although this Alfa Romeo wears a complete high-quality restoration, there are a lot of details given about its past ownership and the car’s history, including factory records that indicate the car was completed on Valentine’s Day in 1962. Even though the car has exchanged hands several times since then, its ownership and whereabouts have been well documented, including one owner who acquired the Giulietta in 1969 that had it painted red and added a roll bar. The car was later restored and returned to its original Azure blue color during the process, which was all completed in the early 2000s.
The car is said to retain the correct Tipo 00120 engine, an inline 4-cylinder motor with twin Weber carbs that makes 100 horsepower at 6,500 RPM. Sometime around 1977, the car underwent its first mechanical rebuild, with the owner at that time campaigning the Alfa Romeo successfully in some vintage races. It received a second mechanical overhaul at the same time it was repainted in the early 2000s. Shifting is provided by a 5-Speed manual gearbox, and the car still retains its unusual three-shoe front disc brakes. Thrilling is the word the seller uses to express how this car drives!
Things inside are looking as good as they are on the outside, with restoration quality for this car being described as superb by the seller, who believes this is one of the finest examples of the rare Coda Tronca that can be found. The car really does present beautifully both inside and out, although all this beauty comes with a hefty price tag. What are your thoughts on this 1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ Coda Tronca? Do you or someone you know have an extra $725k laying around to make the purchase?
Nice car. Not surprised at the price considering the design and only 200 built. Just sold the identical steering wheel off a ’57 roadster for $800. Had it hanging on the office wall since ’72 with a Porsche horn button on it.Obviously the Alphas are moving up in the world of specialty cars.
Immediately thought “I got this, Brazilian Puma” ( https://www.autoevolution.com/news/this-imported-brazilian-puma-gt-is-a-rare-animal-in-the-states-169133.html ) Then I was like 🤯
Bob,
Don’t you hate it when people misspell “ALFA”?
Isn’t that cow food?
That’s alfalfa, Bob. You trolling or just… ?
Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili
Bullethead…It does tell you I didn’t make my living as a farmer.
That would be “Unusual 3 shoe drum brake setup” and they are weird and a PITA to setup, but they do work well.
Very nice looking Alfa…never saw one of these.
A couple comments on this lovely car – the body is aluminum and at least a couple of the windows are likely Perspex. Coachwork by Zagato. “SZ” stands for sprint Zagato. The long tail version also had a lower roof line and a few other differences vs. the “SZ normale”….. A couple years ago one of my restoration contacts had either an SZ or a Coda Tronca in his shop, can’t recall which, a beater, and potentially for sale, no idea where that car is now. The successor to the SZ was the TZ, which has a more serious aggressive look and is also an abundantly cool car.
I think this was Ercole Spada’s first design for Zagato. He was quite pleased that it was significantly faster than the original. I must confess I have long preferred the original, but if I were racing I would change my tune I guess.
I agree about the Z for Zagato
As in James Bond’s DB4GTZ
It’s interesting to see what the idle rich will spend their inheritance on.
I am one of you that never seen this model before.
Rear end makes me think of some Ferrari of theses years.
Very beautifull car!
Spelling Alfa as Alpha is like spelling Adolf as Adolph. The price is no problem; so let me write a check.
I remember reading about an English magazine testing the 1300 Alfa against the 1600 version of the same body shell with disk brakes and found no difference in the stopping. The brake shells are a cast aluminum with curved side to side fins all around the perimeter on the fronts and lengthwise on the rears. I have never owned one with the three shoes but I have worked on them and they are a bit of a pain in the ass but they do work very well once you get them set up and they tend to last for a very long time before needing to be replaced.
The disk brakes were lighter and less expensive to make but there is very little in these early ALFA’s that was not top notch. Even the normal ones had magnets in the oil plugs and brass manifold nuts that would not seize or rust up over time. You work on them and all the little details that come out make you realize what you had. Sadly the paint of the period was not that good and most of them rusted away which makes the ones remaining so valuable.
Fascinating cars, built on the regular Alfa chassis, so mechanical parts are no problem. Drove a friend’s short-tail 1300cc version,and it felt very nimble (aluminum body), and the 1300 was almost enough power. Still, this price seems way too high. For auction cars, BarnFinds should list actual selling prices later.
This is very cool, but not crazy over the color.