The sports version of Alfa Romeo's stunning medium-sized sedan, the Giulietta TI can still prove that it is not just fast but also tough and reliable, now as in the past.
In the first half of the Fifties, after temporarily breaking off its official involvement in racing following its victory in the first two Formula 1 world championships, Alfa Romeo focused on building cars which were “medium-sized” in terms of dimensions and displacement, but delivered impressive performances and had a strongly sporty personality.
It was no coincidence that in 1957 Alfa Romeo chose the Monza Circuit for the launch of the Giulietta IT, a car which embodied this new approach to perfection. The initials TI, the abbreviation of Turismo Internazionale, exactly expressed the concept behind this sporty evolution of the sedan model. With a higher compression ratio, increased from 7.5:1 to 8.5:1, together with the adoption of a 35 dual barrel carburettor, the 1290 cc four-cylinder engine was able to deliver 65 horsepower compared to the 53 of the normal version.
With a kerb weight of just 908 kg, the Giulietta TI was light and quick, reaching a top speed of 155 km/h, but as well as its performance it was also stunningly fuel efficient, with average consumption, at 80 km/h, of only 8.6 litri/100 km, which with its 40 litre tank gave it a particularly long range for the time. The car's success continued until 1964, when output at Portello totalled 92,658 units.
A hundred years after the 1907 Peking to Paris race, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta TI repeated the feat by taking part in the 2007 commemorative event.
In 1997, the year of the ninetieth anniversary of the 1907 race, the ERA (Endurance Rally Association) organised the first re-evocation of the historic adventure, with cars following a route through China, Tibet, Nepal, Turkey and Greece. The cars crossed passes more than 5,000 metres above sea level on no fewer than five occasions.. In the centennial edition 130 cars took part - the "oldest" from 1903 - and the route was exactly the same as in the original race, also including Mongolia.
Scuderia del Portello, with official support from Alfa Romeo, took part in the centennial commemoration event with a 1957 Giulietta TI, entered in the Classic category. The race officially ended after 35 days, but some cars reached Paris several days late.
FCA Heritage is happy to host this car on its stand at Milano AutoClassica, in homage to its achievement in travelling all the 16,000 kilometres of the challenge, across two continents, before reaching the finishing-line on Place Vendôme in Paris, proving the strength, reliability and speed of a model with timeless beauty: still a real “International Touring” car, even today.
