What the car is and where it came from
The Giulia Sprint GT was the first Giulia sport model introduced and was built from 1963 to 1965. It was revealed at a press event at the newly opened Arese plant on 9 September 1963 and displayed at the Frankfurt Motor Show later that month. It sat on a shortened floorpan from the Giulia saloon and was the first of the 105 series coupés.
Giorgetto Giugiaro designed the body for Bertone, one of his first major projects there, and it borrowed heavily from his earlier design for the Alfa Romeo 2000 Sprint and 2600 Sprint. In its original form the body is called scalino, or step front, because the leading edge of the bonnet sat 1 cm above the nose of the car.
How it works, in terms someone would actually use
The engine was the 1570 cc version of Alfa Romeo’s all-aluminium twin cam inline four, which had debuted on the 1962 Giulia Berlina. It breathed through two twin-choke Weber 40 DCOE carburettors and produced 106 PS DIN at 6000 rpm. The gearbox was an all-synchromesh five-speed manual. The brakes were four Dunlop discs with a vacuum servo, with the rear slave cylinders mounted on the axle tubes and working the calipers through levers and cranks. The rear suspension of the 105 series coupés is a live axle with coil springs.
Inside, a padded vinyl dashboard had a concave fascia in grey anti-glare crackle paint, with four round instruments in front of the driver. The steering wheel had three aluminium spokes and a thin bakelite rim.
What it gets right
The balance of glass and metal, the way the shape of the front and rear glass influenced the cabin, and the flat grille with built-in headlamps were groundbreaking styling features for the era. Alfa Romeo claimed a top speed of over 180 km/h, and the Italian magazine Quattroruote measured 181.935 km/h in a December 1964 road test.
What it does not
Alfa Romeo first marketed it as a four-seater and soon changed the definition to a more realistic 2+2. Vinyl seats with cloth centres were standard, and leather upholstery cost extra, in five colours. The Veloce that replaced it changed the grille, bumpers and trim, and the 1750 GTV that followed dropped the stepped bonnet.
What it changed
It started a line that ran through the Giulia Sprint GT Veloce, the 1750 GTV and the 2000 GTV. Touring of Milan built the Giulia GTC convertible from it, around 1,000 examples, and the competition GTA kept its external form with aluminium panels. In total 21,902 Giulia Sprint GTs were built before the Sprint GT Veloce superseded it.
Who it is for, and who it is not
It is for readers who want the original step-front car, drawn by Giugiaro for Bertone, rather than the 1750 or 2000 GTV that followed. It is not for anyone who needs four real seats.
Is it worth your time
Yes, if you want to see where the 105 series coupés began. The later models changed the nose, the engine capacity and the trim, so the Sprint GT is the one to know for the original shape.
