Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato SZ2 Coda Tronca
Very little use since comprehensive professional restoration
Well traced history from new
Widely eligible for various historic events

The pinnacle of the timeless Giulietta was the Sprint Zagato (SZ), a model that was produced between 1957 and 1962. With enhanced power, reduced weight and improved aerodynamics it was a force to be reckoned with in competition and often humbled many cars with far greater cubic capacities. Approximately 200 SZs were produced in total of which just 44 were of done to the enhanced ‘Coda Tronca’ (square tail) design which featured a distinctive Kamm-type tail to improve overall top speed. Despite having just 1.3 litres under the hood, they weighed less than 800kgs, had front disc brakes, handled superbly and were able to achieve top speeds in the 120 mph range.

The huge history file with the car charts a fascinating tale of this SZ2. Affectionately known now as ‘The Chilean Car’ it started life in February 1960 as a Sprint Speciale, the factory records confirm that it was sold to Eduardo Kovacs Jones of Valparaiso (a coastal town in Central Chile). Mr Kovacs was a distributor of Alfa Romeo commercial vehicles, he sold it onto a gentleman called Claudio de Toro who in turn sold it to a racing driver called Jorge Comandari of (captial city) Santiago. He commissioned Zagato to supply him with the latest SZ2 using the SS as the basis and it went onto race it until 1964 when he sold it to fellow racer, Evaristo Pena.

In 1990, German dealer Reiner Kux was alerted to the SZ2 and traveled to Chile where he purchased it directly from Mr Pena. Upon return to Europe, he visited Zagato with the car and they indeed confirmed (per the letter on file) that the car was rebuilt by them in 1962 for Mr Comandari to SZ Coda Tronca specification. After being offered at Sotheby’s Monaco sale in May 1991 the car remained in German ownership and was competed regularly until 1999 when it was acquired by the current family owners.

Amazingly the car still retained the matching-numbers engine per the build sheets which was an earlier 750 unit, it also retained the drum brakes (from the SS). In order to have the car perform to the extent of its capabilities, the decision was taken to restore and re-prepare the car. Simon Hadfield Motorsport was entrusted and worked in tandem with Bob Dove who built a fresh 101 series engine and close ratio 5-speed gearbox in addition to rebuilding the original engine and gearbox which are still retained alongside the car, the disc brake upgrade was also done at this time.

Once completed the car was shaken down but sadly not raced until 2010 when it raced at Monza, Silverstone (taking the class win) and at the Goodwood Revival. Since then it has been regularly maintained but has not been used in anger, as such it remains in superb condition throughout.

The aforementioned engine and gearbox accompany the car in addition to a spare rear axle, the drum brakes, 6 spare wheels, a host of original parts not used in the restoration plus a small running spares package. Known well to the SZ Register, the charming example is UK road registered making it ideal for a wide array of classic touring and competition events.