Formed by Tony Stevens way back in 1979, with a hard core of members (many of whom are still members of The Register), the Giulietta Register has grown to well over 400 members worldwide by 2006, and can justly claim to be the pre-eminent organisation for owners, and prospective owners of these wonderful cars.

The Register's magazine, The Giuliettaletta, has been providing technical info, rare photos, details of embers around the world, and entertaining articles, for over 25 years. In 2005, the magazine picked up the The Classic & Sportscar Magazine Award for Best Club Magazine. It's yet another reason to be a member of the biggest club for 750 & 101 cars in the world!

A brief background to the events that pre-dated the Giulietta, plus the variants of the car.

The Giuliettas were the first truly mass-produced Alfa Romeos. Alfa Romeo started the immediate post-war years producing small volumes of 6C and 8C pre-war cars in a severely bomb-damaged factory. No-one disagrees that these were beautiful creations - racing thoroughbreds with a glittering competition history - but they had a price tag to match. As a result, Alfa Romeo was poorly equipped to deal with the intense competition of the immediate post-war years; nor were its products' price tags suited to the sales opportunities that the 1st signs of mass car ownership were bringing to other European car manufacturers. In the 5 years 1945-1950, Alfa Romeo produced just 1600 cars.

The 1900

In late 1948, Orazio Satta Puglia was asked to design an all-new Alfa Romeo; the first Alfa monocoque; designed to appeal to the middle classes. The 1900 series (right) arrived in 1950. As a small producer, prices were still out of the reach of the masses, nevertheless it was an instant success - production expanded to around 3500 cars per year during the period 1950-1954, giving Alfa Romeo the required springboard into mass production.

The Birth of the Giulietta

It was the Giulietta which brought the pleasure of Alfa Romeo driving to the masses. Following substantial Italian Government investment in post-war reconstruction, Alfa was lurching from one financial crisis to another. A new small car was needed to catapult the company into the big league, but the funds simply weren't there. Alfa thus embarked on a rights issue with the additional benefit of free entry for its shareholders into a lottery for 1000 early cars. The shares sold well. Unfortunately, development of the new car was not quite as straightforward, and a scandal began to brew as winners had their delivery dates postponed time after time.

Giulietta Sprint

Finally, in late 1954, the first Giulietta Sprint Coupes were awarded to their winners and the era of mass-produced Alfa Romeos was born. The Giuliettas would eventually be built in coupe; saloon/sedan; convertible; and a rare 'Speciale' Coupé.

The Giulietta was also enormously successful in motor racing; continuing the pre-war Alfa tradition. Numerous racing specials were built; including lightweight Zagato-bodied versions, such as the SZ (see below - Sz #30 in the targa Florio, photo courtesy of LAT).

SZ - Targa Florio 1963 (© LAT)

In all, more than a quarter of a million 750 and 101 series cars rolled off the production lines in the decade to 1965.The Giulietta, in 750 and 101 versions, along with its larger engined sister the 101 Giulia was made between 1954 and 1965 a time which many people now consider to be the golden age of motoring. Even today, the Giulietta has a very modern driving feel. It must have seen like something from another planet in the 1950s.

Alfa Romeo Giuliettas were built in five official variants:

• Berlina/TI (Saloon/Sedan)
• Sprint (Coupe)
• Spider (Convertible)
• Sprint Speciale (SS)
• Sprint Zagato (SZ)

Veloce specification (enhanced performance version) was available in Sprint and Spider variants, offering improved performance through twin carbs and internal engine modifications used to generate an increase in power output of around 15% versus the 'normale'.

Within each model classification, a number of variants were produced in small numbers, such as the Berline 'Promiscua' (estate/station wagon); 'Lightweight' Sprint Veloce; 'Confortevole' Sprint Veloce, Sprint Veloce Zagato (SVZ); and Spider Monoposto (750G).

Model Series Descriptions

The first generation of cars were given 750 series denotation; the second generation, from around 1960, were known as the 101 series cars. The exact dates of changeover varied by model, and as was often the case at the time, many cars were produced with a mixture of 750 bodies and 101 mechanicals. These cars are often referred to as 'transitional' chassis.

750 Series
1955-60. Total Production c. 56,500 -
28,600 Berlinas
27,900 TIs

101 Series
1959-64. Total Production c. 79,000 -
11,000 Berlinas
67,200 TI 1300s (LHD)
1,000 TI 1300s (RHD)

The Berlina/Ti accounted for some 136,000 cars - almost three quarters of 750/101 series production - yet they are now amongst the rarest. The Berlina was introduced in 1955, a year after the Sprint. Competitively-priced, the Berlina offered 4 seats; 4 doors and lively performance compared to existing family saloons. The Ti version offered uprated performance on a budget, attracting attention from not only the general public but also Government, who put large numbers to use as everything from diplomatic transport to police cars. In 1960, Alfa Romeo started producing the TI in right hand drive in South Africa. In all, almost 19,000 were built there until 1963.

(See photo left)

750 Series
1954-1959 (Veloce 1956-1959).
Total Production c. 8,000 -
6,600 Sprints (750B)
1,400 Sprint Veloces
(750E lighweight/standard type body)

101 Series Giulietta
1959-1963 (Veloce 1959-62).
Total Production c. 19,500 -

17,800 Sprints
1,700 Sprint Veloce

101 Series Giulia 1600
1962-1964. Total Production c. 8,100.

The Sprint, first shown at the 1954 Turin Motorshow, was an instant success. Eagerly awaited by winners of the 'lottery' that Alfa had devised to fund the development of its new car, production started very late in 1954. In all, 1000 of the early examples of the Sprint went to lottery winners, but by the end of 101 series production 9 years later,almost 30,000 had been built.
Designed by Franco Scaglione whilst at Bertone, the success of this new small Alfa turned the coachbuilder into a major producer, and by the late 1950s had moved to a much larger facility.

750 Series
1955-1959 (Veloce 1956-1959).

Total Production c. 7,200 -
5,950 Spider Normale (750D)
1,250 Spider Veloce (750F)

101 Series Giulietta
1959-1962 (Normale & Veloce).
Total Production c. 8,800:
7,300 Spider Normale
1,500 Spider Veloce

101 Series Giulia 1600
1962-65. Total Production c. 11,500 -
9,100 Spider Normale
1,100 Spider Veloce
400 RHD Spider Normale

In 1955, both Alfa Romeo and Bertone were still ramping up to full scale production of the Giulietta Berlina and Sprints. As Alfa looked to expand its export markets, it returned to Max Hoffman in the US who had imported some early post-war cars to become the official importer.

Hoffman liked the Sprint but highlighted the huge untapped potential of the market for accessible, open-topped sportscars. Alfa tendered the work to both Bertone and Pininfarina, who both built prototypes. Pininfarina offered a crucial advantage to Alfa Romeo that helped clinch the deal - flexible production and immediate additional capacity. In 1956, the 750 Spider was introduced. The majority of spider production would ultimately go to the United States.

101 Series Giulietta
1959-62. Total Production c. 1350
90 'low nose' (1959)
1260 'high nose'

101 Series Giulia 1600
1963-65. Total Production c. 1400

Throughout production of the 750 and 101 series cars, Giuliettas had proved popular in the field of motorsport, much to the delight of Alfa Romeo. Early on in 750 series production, Bertone had shown a concept coupe based around Giulietta mechanicals with an lightweight and ultra-aerodynamic body, destined to be the competition version.

At the same time, racing teams were taking Sprints to coachbbuilders in Italy to be clothed in lightweight bodyshells; the most successful of which was the Sprint Veloce Zagato (see below). Just 17 of these unofficial cars were made, but they proved enormously successful in cometition - so much so that Alfa Romeo abandoned their plans for a racing programme based on the SS; opting instead to place their racing fortunes in the hands of an official Zagato-bodied racer.

In the meantime, an opportunity had emerged for a premium-priced version of the Giulietta, and the SS concept proved a good start point. Thus Bertone was given the contract to produce an official Sprint Speciale to sit alongside the Sprint; Spider and TI. The car was launched in 1961 - very early variants had no bumpers and a steeply raked front end and were termed 'low nose'. Just 80 or so were built, and are highly-prized.

(See Photo Left)

Coda Tonda (SZ1 Round Tail)
1959-60. Total Production c. 180

Coda Tronca (SZ2 Kamm Tail)
1961. Total Production c. 30

The Sprint Zagato (SZ) was introduced in 1960 following Alfa's decision to abandon its SS racing project, and put its faith in Zagato to design a lightweight aluminium body to clothe the shorter SS chassis. The first cars, designated 'Coda Tonda' were launched in 1960 for the racing market; fitted with the standard veloce engine producing 100 BHP. At around 100kg lighter than the standard SS, performance was significantly improved, and SZs went on successfully to campaign in major events the world over including Le Mans and the Targa Florio.

In 1961, the SZ was redesigned to offer further aerodynamic improvements, the most obvious of which was the Kamm-tail (Coda Tronca). It also shed a few pounds, and for the 1st time an Alfa Romeo received disc brakes.