1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600

The 1960's design ethos for Alfa Romeo's was for a small car with big performance. This gorgeous little 1600 Giulia Sprint fits that description perfectly.

Supplied new on 16th April 1963 to a family believed to be of Milanese origin, she was first wearing Tornado blue paint. The second owner was Signor Pino Rigolli from Piacenza.

Signor Rigolli's family kept her for quite some time. His cousin Giovanni took her on next, and circa1974 he began to store her in his country home until he passed away and his son Claudio inherited her.

Claudio sadly continued to leave her unused in the family's home until 2008 when the Giulia found a new loving owner here in Blighty, a London based Italian and Alfa enthusiast called Salvatore.

Salvatore, himself a master panel beater (retired now) and proprietor of the now-closed Autovilla, began a complete restoration in August of 2008.

The car was completely stripped, the bare shell placed on a rotisserie and stripped of all paint inside and out. She was found to be in remarkably good condition with only slight, and very treatable, corrosion on the lower edges of both doors.

Salvatore wanted to make her peerless, and the way she presents today shows that he made no compromise in his pursuit of this. The detail he went to is immense, the sound deadening material under the bonnet for example comes from a helicopter.

A few changes were made to make her even better than when new, firstly he chose to paint her in 'Baby Blue' officially a Chrysler colour as he'd seen the colour on another car at a motor show and, rightly, thought it would fit her perfectly.

Mechanically the engine was completely rebuilt, with new liners, pistons, new valves & guides, a Veloce inlet manifold was fitted & twin Weber 40 DCOE carburettors (mega as they originally came with a single carb), a 123 electronic ignition, together with new fuel lines & an electric fuel pump. A new fabricated exhaust system and silencer were fitted etc.

The gearbox was fully refettled and fitted with new synchros, as well as new brake linings & lines, new shock absorbers, a new wiring loom and a stainless steel fuel tank were all fitted.

Later in 2011 a new 9/41 ratio rear axle replaced the 8/41 in the interest of better cruising ability as well as a new brake master cylinder.

In addition to her new paint job cosmetically she had, new seat belts with Alfa badges on the buckles, new boot mat, a delicious Nardi steering wheel with embossed spokes, new carpets all round, a heated rear window, rear view mirrors, all the brightwork and chrome was restored and the interior was completely retrimmed in leather, even the inside of the glove box is trimmed in leather and appears unused.

To look at she is so pretty and the finish of everything is remarkable, whilst to drive her with her restored twin cam engine, which sings as you go through all 5 gears ( as slick as a knife through butter by the way ) is pure joy - with luggage area behind the seats and a genuinely good boot she's practical too.

The charm of this cute little Alfa is really quite endearing, so it's quite clear that we're really smitten with this beauty and think anyone who sees her will be too