Resto: Alfa Romeo Giulia SS resurrected

Mention BAT to the casual car fan, and the word ‘mobile’ is an almost sub-conscious response, a legacy of the legendary Batman movie empire.

In classic car circles, BAT refers to something equally outlandish, but with a more real-world influence.

‘Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica’ was a joint project between Alfa Romeo and Bertone, formed to push aerodynamic boundaries in the mid-1950s.

The result was three futuristic concepts – BAT 5, BAT 7 and BAT 9, the second of which produced a drag co-efficient of only 0.19Cd.

Based on an Alfa 1900 Sprint chassis (incidentally the Milanese brand’s first mass-produced car) it was BAT 5 that stole the Turin motor show spotlight in 1953.

Its successors stunned in 1954 and 1955 respectively, with BAT 9 toning down the outlandish in favour of something that might be adapted for production and bearing the most resemblance to the production SS.

Alfa’s next small saloon, the Giulietta, was heavily delayed due to financial and tooling constraints. Originally aimed for a 1953 debut, the 750-Series Giulietta nameplate was finally introduced at the 1954 Turin show (along with BAT 7)… but it was in coupe form.

The story goes that to raise funds, the government-backed Alfa Romeo sold company securities and held an investor lottery, the winner being given a new Giulietta as a prize. It all went swimmingly, until the winner was announced… but the cars were still in component form.

Thankfully small-scale (at the time) coachbuilder Bertone stepped up to build a seductive coupe body over existing Giulietta componentry.

Seven hundred orders for the gorgeous Giulietta Sprint coupe later, and Alfa was out of the financial dungeon, safely avoiding press ridicule for failing the lottery winner in the process.

As the nameplate became established, Alfa Romeo looked to expand the Giulietta into sporting circles with 1956’s Sprint Veloce. Output hit 67kW from 1290cc and a small run of Alleggerita aluminium-panelled, Perspex-windowed examples dominated 1300cc class racing. It was even an outright threat, as Jo Bonnier proved by taking the 1957 Tour de Corse.

Faster still was the unsanctioned (at the time) Sprint Veloce Zagato, rebodied by Bertone rival Zagato to be even lighter and slipperier to boot… but that’s a story for another day.

Franco Scaglione, then in charge of design at Bertone, was tasked to clothe what would become the ultimate 750-Series factory Giulietta, the Sprint Speciale.

Clothed over a 130mm-shorter Giulietta platform, the resultant prototype was first shown in Turin in late-1957 and was decidedly BAT in appearance and function, with a 0.28Cd drag co-efficient.

Two further prototypes were built, each edging closer to production reality, before its production debut at the incomparable Monza circuit in June 1959. The launch location may give you a hint as to Alfa’s Sprint Speciale expectations…

With shorter overhangs than the original prototype, but retaining many aluminium panels and plexiglass windows, 101 of these initial Giulietta SS were built to satisfy FIA homologation requirements.

While the space-age looks suggested speed, in practice the SS was a race track failure, as more and more of those pesky Zagato SVZ interlopers were produced.

Alfa Romeo used the Giulietta 101-Series step-change to alter the SS’s aim from road racer to hand-built luxury. Aiding this decision was the move to support the Zagato program in-house with the Giulietta Sprint Zagato.

The 101-Series lost its aluminium doors and plexi windows, the nose section was raised and bumpers were installed. Some sound deadening was added and the thoroughly updated 1290cc engine housed larger main bearings and new Weber carburettors.

As the 101-Series was slowly phased out by the transition to the 105-Series Giulia range, the SS stuck fast to the model line-up until 1966, the last 101 on sale.

It did gain the larger 1570cc engine and Giulia nameplate upon its debut at the Geneva show in early 1963. Early production retained drum brakes all-round, before front discs were adopted and a five-speed manual transmission became available.

The interior was also refined with additional dash padding, a console-mounted ashtray and a dashboard grab handle on the passenger side among the highlights.

HVR’s Star
Alfa Romeos run in Paul Chaleyer’s blood, thanks to his mum’s purchase of a new 105-Series.

“They’ve always been nice cars to drive and – with a few exceptions – relatively affordable.”

Translating a life-long passion for preserving classic cars into a business, Chaleyer has now been at the helm of Historic & Vintage Restorations (HVR) for 10 years.

The company name gives its initial focus away, Chaleyer dedicating its formative years to 1920s and 1930s machinery for the most part.

While this initial workshop visit reveals some stunning pre-WW2 machinery, it’s the 105-Series Alfas mixing with a DB4 Aston Martin that demonstrates where the business currently sits.

“If you’d have come in 10 years ago it would have all been ‘Vintage’,” says Paul. “The younger generation that is coming through has a leaning towards 1950s and 1960s sports cars, while the older clients also like them for their ‘mod-cons’, such as a heater!”

HVR is home to a small group of artisans who operate in the leafy Melbourne suburb of Blackburn.

“We don’t paint, we don’t chrome plate and we don’t do upholstery, but we do everything else,” explains Chaleyer, as an MG is revved for a tune on the chassis dyno.

“We like to have control over the projects. We have our own panel shop and machining facilities, and outsource expertise to those we know and trust to do a high quality job.”

Paul’s daughter Dominique, who’s been heavily involved with the business for the last couple of years, guides us past a partially-dismantled Maserati V8 and her own 105-Series Alfa race car to the hoist, where the impossibly-futuristic 1963 Giulia SS awaits Rene’s photographic focus.

“These were only produced in left-hand drive from the factory,” explains Chaleyer. “However, Ruddspeed in the United Kingdom converted 25 Giulia SS to RHD so they could be registered – at the time – in the UK. They’ve done a nice job, given the period.”

Amazingly, this Giulia SS, one of only ‘four or five’ in Australia, according to Chaleyer, was recently rediscovered after lying dormant since 1980.

“We believe it was sold as a new car to New South Wales, post-conversion. It was restored then sat in a shed. Extraordinary,” he says.

“The specification of this car is also special. I call it the ‘burger with the lot’,” he continues, pointing out the disc front brakes (as distinct from the first 200 Giulia SS built) and five-speed gearbox to go with the later 1.6-litre engine.

Currently in red with a black interior (the latter organised into an office space above HVR’s main factory – “There’s one office per car, that’s our filing system!” laughs Dominique) the owner has commissioned a return to its original scheme of white over dark blue.

HVR, as well as the generous owner, has welcomed us to follow the resurrection of this stylistic icon, tracking the challenges and unravelling its extraordinary history as its future is preserved.