1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale

• Very rare (1/1,366) 1300cc Giulietta Sprint Speciale with great provenance
• 100bhp/120mph from the 1290cc double overhead cam, alloy block, straight-four. Remarkable
• Correct 5-speed box, rare alloy wheels, upgraded front brakes and an oil cooler
• Until recently part of a large UK private collection and maintained by their in-house mechanic
• Eligible to race in a plethora of prestigious 'Blue Riband' events
• 2015 FIA/MSA Historic Technical Passport (Period E 1947-61 Class GTS4) valid until 2025
• Carta di Circolazione, CSAI Passaporto and Log Book, Classic Car Taxatie (Dutch valuation)

When Francesco Vittorio Scaglione moved to Turin in 1951 in pursuit of his dream to become a car stylist, he was fortunate enough to be taken under the wing of a young Nuccio Bertone, who had recently established his own design studio and body shop. Franco's first efforts were focussed on an Abarth 1500 and the svelte Siata 208CS followed by the dramatic BAT 5. In 1954, he styled the Alfa Sportiva Coupe and Spider, subsequently the superbly balanced Giulietta Sprint (aided and abetted by ex-Ghia, Mario Boano) and finally, the out-of-this-world BAT 7, a design that stops traffic now never mind 65 years ago. Scaglione's output was prodigious with creative designs flowing from his fingertips onto the drawing board. In 1956, he penned the remarkable little Giulietta Sprint Speciale, an example of which we are offering here. It embodied his search for streamlined beauty and, despite the lack of computer-aided design, the car's Coefficient of Drag was a tiny .28, scarcely troubling the surrounding air, and a figure that would not be bettered for 20 years.

In 1957, at the Turin Motor Show, a pre-production prototype of the SS was given a low-key debut to assess reaction and was particularly well-received, however, Alfa continued to tweak the design and displayed two further prototypes at later motor shows until, on June 24th 1959, the official press launch of the finalised design was held at Monza in the lovely Italian sunshine.

The new car was powered by an Alfa Romeo Twin Cam straight-four of 1290cc, with an aluminium-alloy engine block and cast-iron inserted sleeves. The 'crossflow' alloy head featured hemispherical combustion chambers and the double overhead camshafts were driven by two timing chains and acted on two valves per cylinder, angled at 80 degrees. With 100bhp available and lightweight streamlined bodywork, this little car had a recorded maximum speed of 124mph, quite remarkable for a 1300.

Motorsport is part of the Italian DNA and Alfa were convinced that Scaglione's incredibly 'slippery' design would offer success on the circuits and with the FIA requirement to produce 100 cars in order for the model to be 'Homologated', the first 101 cars produced had the