Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

| 24 Jan 2025
Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

“I give you a family saloon that will seat six, thanks to the steering-column change,” announced Alfa Romeo’s engineering saviour dottore Orazio Satta Puliga to a bemused group of journalists at Monza Autodrome on 27 June 1962, at the launch of the Giulia TI.

“With the right engine, this is the shape that will provide effortless cruising and a fair turn of speed.

“You will have to learn to like the looks.

“This is the touring car for the family, its appeal is international – turismo internazionale.”

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

There’s limited grip from the Alfa Romeo Giulia TI saloonʼs tall 15in wheels, but the handling balance is sweet

Few in the audience on that day could have appreciated the impact of this three-box saloon on the future of the great Milanese marque.

Over the following 15 years, 572,646 Giulia saloons would roll out of Alfa Romeoʼs new factory at Arese, and, although overshadowed today by the 105 familyʼs more glamorous GTs, curvaceous Spiders, cool cabriolets and exotic prototypes, Sattaʼs Giulia trendsetter deserves to lead our celebratory parade.

At the heart of the square-rigged saloon was the wonderfully robust 1570cc all-alloy twin-cam engine, advanced five-speed gearbox and impressive brakes, but Sattaʼs formula went beyond sporty appeal. 

Not only was the berlina simpler to produce, with fewer panel pressings and less finishing, but it also provided more space in a brilliantly efficient, aerodynamic shape.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Giulia TI’s single-carburettor, twin-cam engine gives a 103mph top speed

Satta trained as an aeronautical engineer and, with a combination of fluting, subtle curves, indentations and Kamm tail, the boxy saloon recorded a drag coefficient of 0.34Cd.

Consider that Jaguarʼs sleek E-type was rated at 0.44Cd, and you can appreciate the designʼs discreet innovation.

Combine that efficient airflow with the Alfa Romeoʼs lively specification, and itʼs easy to imagine that initial scepticism turning to celebration as journalists stepped out of the new car after a few trial laps.

With a 92bhp peak from a single carburettor and a top speed of 103mph, the Giuliaʼs performance had the Italian press waxing lyrical.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

‘Our’ Alfa Romeo Giulia TI’s highly original and spacious interior, with 8-Track tapes and the factory manual

It could cruise all day at 80mph and upstage many a British sports car down a demanding road thanks to its balanced and forgiving handling.

Matched against its more desirable siblings today, the saloon still sparkles.

Its spacious interior has panoramic vision, and the family option is entertainingly chuckable and demands to be driven hard.

The body roll induces long laughs, but the handling is hugely capable, even on skinny 15in wheels.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

Stylised dashboard script in the Alfa Romeo Giulia TI saloon

ʻA remarkable achievement,ʼ stated John Bolster in Autosport, while the American title Sports Car Graphic called the Giulia: ʻThe best all-around production car Alfa has produced. Its road will be one towards success.ʼ

Unsurprisingly, Milan couldnʼt resist proving the Giuliaʼs mettle in racing, with the launch of the 115mph TI Super in 1963.

Nicknamed the ʻQuadrofoglioʼ, it proved worthy of the marqueʼs illustrious four-leaf-clover crest with success in races and rallies including a superb fourth on the ʼ63 Tour de France behind a trio of Ferraris.

Various engines, a floor-gearchange option and body revisions ran through to the Nuova Super that stayed in production until 1977.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The practical, three-box Alfa Romeo Giulia TI saloon kick-started the model’s sparkling career

Fully conscious that it must also maintain its tradition for stylish performance, the Giulia family needed a GT stablemate to match the practical but pedestrian-looking berlina.

Initially, the old Giulietta fastback was given a 1570cc engine with single Solex carb and five-speed gearbox and offered as the Giulia Sprint, but behind the scenes a young Giorgetto Giugiaro was working hard at Bertone to create a successor for the new 105 series.

In profile, the coupé moved away from the sporty Giulietta towards the style of the sharper, more refined 2000 Sprint, with spindly pillars and generous glazing.

The compact 2+2 looked self-assured but appeared dumpy from certain angles, with a high swage line, longer roof and short boot.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA’s more aggressive front has a mesh grille

With a specification including twin Webers and four-wheel Dunlop disc brakes, it had spirit and character to match other Latin exotics because its rewarding drivability transcended pure power.

Launched in September 1963, and first exhibited at the Frankfurt motor show, the coupé developed into a maze of different models, from 1300 Juniors to the last-of-the-line 2000 GTV produced from 1971-ʼ76.

Alfa Romeoʼs new GT was swiftly developed into a competition successor to the outclassed TI Super.

Satta and Giuseppe Busso transformed Bertoneʼs stylish coupé into an aggressive-looking racer and, with lightweight aluminium panels and a 145bhp eight-plug engine, the GTA is now the most prized production-based Giulia, particularly the FIA cars, if you can find an unmolested one.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA’s purposeful cabin has supportive bucket seats and a racy, three-spoke, wood-rim steering wheel

Homologation required production of 1000 for Group 2, but only 447 were built, the majority developed into corsa (race) cars.

Lighter by 500lb, with quicker steering, a close-ratio ʼbox and slimmer gears, plus revised suspension and sportier trim, the GTA is refined enough for the road but in its element hustling Lotus Cortinas on the track.

All Alfa Romeo Giulias are good to drive, but the GTAʼs superior balance and precision put it in another league.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA’s hot twin-plug engine makes 145bhp

Weʼre piggybacking specialist Alfaholicsʼ annual track day and around Castle Combeʼs faster corners you have to commit to get the best out of the car.

Lifting off produces disappointing understeer, but set it up in a tidy four-wheel drift and the GTA feels wonderful, particularly through Camp and Quarry.

What it loses down the straight to more powerful rivals, the GTA compensates for with outstanding cornering pace – provided you are smooth and precise.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA racing cars traded paint with Lotus Cortinas in period

The light (750kg), compact design makes it nimble, which helps that fluid feel, and the twin-plug motor really sings when stretched to 6000rpm.

Only the overservoed brakes can be criticised. Add in the sharper steering and quicker gearchange, and it is confirmed as the class act of this group.

With Perspex windows and minimal insulation to keep weight down, the snorting engine delivers a soundtrack to inspire fantasies of GTA heroes Jochen Rindt, Rob Slotemaker and Andrea de Adamich.

Even owner Richard Banks returns rejuvenated after a few laps in his treasured car but, at £1000 more than the Sprint GT, youʼd have expected something very special in 1968.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

‘With lightweight aluminium panels and a 145bhp eight-plug engine, the GTA is now the most prized production-based Giulia’

To replace the ageing Giulietta-based Spider, Alfa Romeo again turned to Carrozzeria Pininfarina.

The bold new sports car it created evolved from a series of ʻSuperflowʼ show cars based on the 6C-3500, but was directly descended from a Giulietta Spider Speciale Aerodinamica that made its debut at the 1961 Turin show with radical convex body, slim bumpers and cowled headlights.

Sadly, that innovative prototype was broken up, but its novel styling lived on through the production Spider when launched.

The design was the last signed off by Battista ʻPininʼ Farina before his death in 1966, just days after its unveiling at Geneva where a poll was launched to christen the new sports car.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

Enjoying the Alfa Romeo Spider 1750’s fine balance on Castle Combe circuit

The lucky winner was Guidobaldo Trionfi, who was handed the keys to the car he had named ʻDuettoʼ – although the tag was never officially used by Alfa because it was already familiar as a type of biscuit by confectioner Pavasi.

Further promotions included an event on the transatlantic cruise ship Raffaello, which featured on-deck demonstrations by racer Johnny Lurani and test driver Consalvo Sanesi.

The sweet-revving, longer-stroke 1750cc version followed at the 1968 Brussels motor show, one of various engine sizes offered, including a 1300 Junior that was instantly recognisable for its lack of Perspex headlight covers, black-painted lower front bumpers and two-spoke steering wheel.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Spider 1750’s cabin with painted dashboard is unique to the ‘Duetto’

More competitively priced in the key US market, the Spider was too expensive in the UK, where a Jaguar E-type would have cost you just £73 more.

Three and a half years after the carʼs debut, Alfa Romeo asked Pininfarina to refine the styling, and Filippo Sapino cleverly repackaged it with a more modern Kamm tail – or coda tronca.

A plusher cabin had sexy instrument nacelles, and there were more practical bumpers and an improved hood.

All helped to boost sales. The design remained in production until the 1994 arrival of the new front-drive Spider.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

This Alfa Romeo Spider is the 1750cc version, unveiled at the 1968 Brussels motor show

Compared with the old Giulietta, the 105-series Spider was a revelation.

Sublime steering, a slick gearbox and fade-free disc brakes gave it fine dynamics, even if the original 1600ʼs top speed was only 110mph.

The body featured a spacious boot, austere but practical rubber mats and the fastest convertible top of any sports car – as Dustin Hoffman famously demonstrated in iconic film The Graduate by raising it with one hand while on the move.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Spider 1750’s tail-lights neatly follow the car’s body profile

Bertoneʼs reaction to Touring getting the contract to produce a convertible version of the Sprint GT in 1964 isnʼt recorded, but the illustrious Milanese carrozzeria was having a tough time, with receivership just around the corner, and needed the work.

The chop looked similar to a prototype Bertone spider that predated both the Duetto and the cabriolet, but which Alfa management judged as too close to the production Sprint.

Just 1000 tourers – Alfaʼs last open four-seater – were produced, of which 99 were right-hand drive.

At a heady £1937, itʼs no surprise that so few were imported, and that rarity has inflated the value of concours cars today.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTC’s clean top-down design is ideal for the Riviera

The GTC name harked back to Touringʼs concours-winning 6C-1750 cabriolet design from 1932, and was available in a wide range of special hues including metallics and a gorgeous bluette.

The car appeared as a prototype on Bertoneʼs stand at the 1963 Frankfurt motor show, but was officially launched at Geneva in 1965 on the Touring display.

Unlike the finger-pinching frames of British contemporaries, Alfa hoods are easy to operate and the GTC is no exception.

The boot space is compromised by an extra box-section for the folded top, and the rear is only practical for small children; Alfa Romeo must have pushed the front seats to their stops to accommodate adults for promotional photos.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTC’s flush doorhandle

Vision from the back is excellent, however, because the design incorporates wind-down rear windows, while the hood stows neatly below the bodyline.

“Itʼs fiddly around the windows, but there are only two clips to secure it to the ʼscreen,” says long-term GTC enthusiast Richard. “I think it looks better than the Spider, too.”

The interior was little changed, retaining the Sprint GTʼs dash, but the GTCʼs dials are almost unreadable when the top is down due to the bright reflections.

The roof conversion required extensive strengthening of the floorpan, including double-skinned sills and reinforcement under the rear seat, while fortified A-posts reduced space in the footwells.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTC’s classic grille is shared with the Sprint GT

Over rougher roads the car suffers slight scuttle shake, but itʼs nothing compared with the judder of more modern Alfa Romeo Spiders.

Weighing about the same as the GT, the short-lived 1570cc GTC would embarrass sportier machines despite its conservative cabriolet style.

The engine isnʼt the torquiest, yet it is remarkably flexible and sparkles when stirred by that sweet five-speed gearbox.

“Iʼve always been a 1600 fan,” enthuses Richard. “If properly tuned they go as well as a 1750, and I love the twin-headlight ʻstep-frontʼ look. John Surtees had one as a road car when at Ferrari.”

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA-style steering wheel in the convertible GTC

The Giulia range upheld Alfa Romeoʼs long association with the great coachbuilders.

Most exotic of the family are the TZ and TZ2 racers by Zagato, so when the marketing team decided the range needed a dose of youth appeal in the late ʼ60s, they turned to the famous family firm.

At Turin in 1967, Alfa CEO Giovanni Luraghi visited the Zagato stand to discuss with Gianni and Elio the brief for a compact, lightweight coupé to stand apart from the Duetto and GT.

Early renderings of a long nose and clipped tail that followed the TZ racers were close to the finished design, and in early 1968 a Spider platform – chosen because it had the shortest Giulia wheelbase, at 225cm – was delivered to the Via Giorgini works.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The quirky Zagato-styled Alfa Romeo Junior Z with aerodynamic Kamm tail

Signature features of this taut, aerodynamic machine are the Perspex-covered headlights, slim bumpers and minimal chrome.

The prototype was delivered to Alfa Romeo in July and, after punishing testing at Balocco, the Junior Z went into production at Maggiora ahead of its public debut at the 1969 Turin motor show.

The complicated assembly process across three factories pushed up the price, making it the third costliest model in the range behind the 105-based Montreal and GTA.

The Lire3,000,000 tag was equivalent to Jaguar XJ6 money in the UK.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Junior Z’s driving position is the best of the Giulia family

That exclusive image was boosted by the use of a Junior Z in Yves Saint Laurent advertising, yet, other than a few privateer rally outings, its competition career was limited.

The bold styling was too progressive for the market, but clearly influenced later generations including the Honda CR-X.

Just 1108 Junior Zs were built, the oddball never really embraced by factory marketeers – although it was boosted by the launch of the 1600Z in November ʼ72.

Still based on the Duetto floorpan, just 402 were built before Alfa called a halt in 1975.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Junior Z’s vulnerable nose with slender bumpers and Perspex covers

An absence of rust protection meant that the steel body was prone to corrosion, and the limited supply of unique body and glass parts led to the Zagato suffering a poor reputation.

But, thanks to the dedication of enthusiasts such as Chris Adams, today they provide a welcome diversion among the ranks of GTs and Duettos at Alfa Romeo events.

Acquired in 2002, Chrisʼ car had been laid up since 1988 and was a challenge to restore.

“Iʼve fitted a 2-litre engine but kept the original 1300,” he says, “and upgraded the suspension with adjustable Konis. It took seven years, but has been well worth it.”

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The Alfa Romeo Junior Z has a remote-release tailgate

“Iʼve had other Giulias including a 1750 GTV, but this is the best-handling,” he adds. “Itʼs lighter than a Duetto and the driving position is much better.”

The Junior Z is like no other production Alfa Romeo Giulia to drive.

Slip into the low seat, with legs and arms outstretched, and that MFI-style centre console makes it feel more like a product of Hethel than Arese.

The steering is heavy at low speeds but soon lightens, plus the lower weight and shorter wheelbase give the Junior a more nervous feel, the back end hopping about on bumpy surfaces.

Classic & Sports Car – Alfa Romeo Giulia: celebrating the superb 105 series

The brilliant 105-series Alfa Romeo Giulia family stands comparison with far costlier machinery

But around Castle Combe it feels superbly balanced, the uprated 2-litre giving impressive punch out of corners.

After years in the shadows, the Junior Zʼs time is long overdue – particularly because its bold style now appeals to younger enthusiasts, just as the management had hoped back in 1968.

Alfa was purely Milanese during the Giuliaʼs genesis, but ironically its inspired direction came from a Turin-born engineer.

While the Giulietta brought the firm into the modern production age, the 105 family was the peak of Sattaʼs legacy.

No other era produced such a cohesive, attractive, great-driving range of cars with colourful competition pedigree, and it also embraced the swansong of the independent Italian coachbuilder.

For many enthusiasts, the Giulia is the root of their Alfa Romeo passion. Be warned: drive one, and your classic car aspirations could change for ever.

Images: Tony Baker

This was first in our August 2012 magazine; all information was correct at the date of original publication


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