1970 Alfa Romeo 1300 Junior Zagato

When Alfa Romeo's president visited the Zagato stand at the 1967 Turin Show, his company's range consisted of the Giulia in various forms, Bertone's Sprint GT and Pininfarina's Duetto. That might have been enough, but, mindful of the successful low volume SZ and TZ models, he wanted Zagato to produce something more original and more sporting. Zagato were, of course, happy to oblige. The Milanese coachbuilder's master stylist, Ercole Spada, modelled the new car on the TZ (Tubolare Zagato), which he had styled in 1963. A shallow nose, a raked back screen and an elegant Kamm tail were obvious carry-over concepts. Unusual though was the clever Plexiglass front panel, with just a simple Alfa shield cut into it and the hatchback rear window with its electrical release. While the main bodywork is in steel, the bonnet and doors are in aluminium. The interior has nice Zagato touches with comfortable seats including head-rests and recessed instruments which don't reflect in the screen. When the Junior Zagato appeared at Turin in October 1969, it featured the running gear of the 1300GT on a Duetto chassis shortened behind the rear wheel arches. The 1290cc twin-cam 'four' producing 89bhp at 6000rpm, enough to propel the sleek shape at around 107mph. The 1300 continued in production until October 1972, by which time 1108 examples had been produced, enough to enable homologation in FIA Appendix J group 3. The 1600 version, with 109bhp, followed on until 1975, but only 402 were produced. All were left-hand-drive.First registered on 5th November 1970, this 1300 Zagato is supplied with Italian registration documents and is presented in superb overall condition. The odometer is reading a mere 1,942 kilometres and we believe this is since the car was restored. Buyers should be aware that this lot has formed part of a large private collection and has been stored for some time in a heated environment, as such, some gentle recommissioning works may be required. Please contact us for further details regarding this specific lot. With only 1108 examples produced and far fewer still on the road, this rare little car offers sublime coachbuilt Italian style with fantastic handling ability. As previous Alfa Romeo Zagato derivatives now command serious values, this model must be a great `turn-key` investment prospect.