Just over 70 years ago, on April 20, 1955, Alfa Romeo took the wraps off a car that would become a cornerstone of both the brand’s history and Italy’s post-war economic renaissance.
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Revealed at the Turin Motor Show, the Giulietta Berlina represented a renaissance for the Italian automaker, encompassing elegance, affordability, and brimming with advanced engineering. The compact saloon also played a crucial role in Alfa Romeo’s leap into an era of industrial-scale production and mass-market success.
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While Alfa’s post-war comeback began with the 1900, it was the Giulietta that truly democratised the brand’s sporty DNA, bringing it to middle-class driveways across Italy. As Roberto Giolito, head of heritage at Stellantis, puts it, the Giulietta Berlina ‘brought Alfa Romeo’s sporty DNA to the everyday lives of Italians… a symbol of progress and rebirth in post-war Italy’. The debut of this car came only five years after Giuseppe Farina and four years after Juan Manuel Fangio won with the Alfa Romeo SpA constructors team. These were the first two seasons of the modern Formula 1 format still followed today.
Continuing with the history, it wasn’t the Berlina that launched first. In a bold break from convention, Alfa Romeo revealed the Giulietta Sprint coupé a year earlier in 1954. Penned by Franco Scaglione for Bertone, the Sprint combined good looks with a high-revving engine under 1.5l. The response was electric and Alfa’s dealers were swamped with orders, prompting the company to fast-track the saloon. When it debuted in 1955, the Giulietta Berlina brought that same performance spirit to a four-door package — what Alfa proudly called ‘the family car which wins races’.
At the heart of the Giulietta was a technical tour de force: a 1.3l aluminium twin-cam engine producing 53hp (40kW), giving the featherweight 870kg saloon a top speed of 140km/h. It sounds meagre and insignificant today, but back then proved to be revolutionary because no other mass-produced compact could match its mix of lightweight construction, advanced valvetrain, and sporty dynamics. Its chassis featured independent suspension all around, a gearshift on the steering column, and drum brakes cast using Alfa’s own process. It was a saloon that didn’t drive like one, and many was the predecessor to what is regarded as the progenitor of the sport saloon segment; the Giulia.
What it did for Alfa’s production capabilities was vast since its arrival transformed Alfa Romeo’s Portello plant from a boutique operation into a modern industrial facility. Under the guidance of engineer Rudolf Hruska, the factory’s output surged from 50 to 200 cars a day.
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And Italians embraced it and it became a pop culture icon before monikers like the Mustang existed. The Giulietta starred in films alongside screen legends like Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren. It graced the first cover of Quattroruote magazine and 1965, Alfa sold nearly 178 000 Giuliettas across a range of body styles, including the Spider by Pininfarina, the Sprint Speciale, the Zagato-bodied SZ, and even a station wagon called the Promiscua.
Once the original Type 750/101 Giulietta ran its course, the second iteration with code Type 116 was spawned. It continued but only as a four-door saloon based on the Alfetta chassis, and was made from 1977 to 1985. Finally, the third Giulietta (Type 940) arrived in more recent memory as a front-wheel drive hatchback, produced from 2010 to 2020 that got a potent Quadrifoglio Verde model that rivalled the likes of the Golf GTI.
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The post Alfa Romeo Celebrates 70 Years of Giulietta Moniker appeared first on CAR Magazine.
