ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA SPRINT VELOCE ALLEGGERITA PARTICIPANT 1956 MILLE MIGLIA

• An extremely rare early lightweight / so called Alleggerita model
• Documented participant in the 1956 Mille Miglia race
• Owned and raced by Mr. Jo Bonnier,  a quintessential gentleman racer of the 1960s, a very well known Swedish Formula One winner and winner of the 1960 and 1963 Targa Florio
• Finished the 1956 Mille Miglia 3rd in class and 15th overall, ahead of many competitors with more powerful cars.
• The literal translation of the Italian word Alleggerita is lightened and that is exactly what Alfa Romeo did to create this special race version of the Giulietta Sprint
• Impressively restored with invoices over € 120.000,-
• Participated in recent Mille Miglia’s and finished without major issues
• With a large and comprehensive file outlining both Mille Miglia history and restoration details

First of the Giuliettas, the Sprint debuted at the Turin Motor Show in April 1954 powered by a 1.3-litre, all-alloy version of Alfa’s classic twin-cam four designed by one-time Ferrari engineer Giuseppe Busso.

In 1956 Alfa Romeo decided to construct a higher performance version of the highly successful Giulietta Sprint to compete in events such as the legendary Mille Miglia and Targa Florio.

The Giulietta Sprint Veloce debuted at the Turin Motor Show in April 1956, this being the first occasion that the ‘Veloce’ (fast) designation was used by Alfa Romeo.

Right from the start, the Giulietta Sprint Coupé was appreciated by drivers who recognized its potential for competition success.

Advertised by its maker under the tag line ‘Only the best is good enough’, the Veloce competed two days later in the Coppa della Consume, securing a class win.

The early Giulietta Sprint Veloces, with Bertone body numbers commencing ’77’, are commonly known as ‘Alleggerita’ cars. They differ considerably from the ‘normale’ Sprint and were built in limited numbers.

The literal translation of the Italian word Alleggerita is lightened and that is exactly what Alfa Romeo did to create this special model.

The Alleggerita was born, sharing the beautifully balanced, aerodynamic Bertone body by Franco Scaglione, with the Sprint and standard Sprint Veloce.

Aluminium doors, hood and boot along with plexiglass window to the sides and rear screens.

The interior of the doors were stripped out to the bare minimum with sliding openers to the driver and passenger doors to save the weight of window winders.

The front seats were lightened to the minimum, the rear seat removed and no heavy soundproofing.

No stone was left unturned in Alfa Romeo’s quest to produce a lightweight competitive sporting coupe.

Expert opinion differs with regard to the total, but most estimates are in the region of 600 cars built prior to the end of production in mid-1958.

According to current information, only 58 of these are known/registered today.

ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC EXAMPLE

According to the Alfa Romeo record, this extremely rare Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Alleggerita, was completed at Alfa Romeo’s Milan workshops in April 1956.
The car was produced at the 2nd. production day of the Light Weight / Alleggerita version.

In these 2 days only 10 examples were built. Knowing that most of the Allegarita’s are not existing anymore there is a large possibility that this example is the oldest surviving example.

Amongst the rarity of being an original Allegarita this car has an extensive race history whereby the Mille Miglia of 1956 was the most important race which the car drove.

This means that this Alleggerita is a so-called Mille Miglia veteran car.

Period pictures and documentation from the Mille Miglia Museum Archive in Brescia show the participation of the Alfa in the 1956 race.

This Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Alleggerita entered with Start Number 50 with the drivers Joakin (Jo) Bonnier and Bo Boësen, and finished 3rd in class and 15th. overall, ahead of many other competitors with much more powerful car.

Mr. Jo Bonnier was the driver of the Alfa and was a Swedish F1 driver.

Coming from a wealthy family (they were the official Alfa Romeo importer in Sweden) and defying his family’s wish for him to become a doctor, Jo Bonnier entered the world of Formula One in 1956 at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Bonnier raced in both Formula One and various sports car competitions and was a quintessential gentleman racer of the 1960s.

Co Driver Bo Boësen was a professional photographer. He made an article during the race for the Swedish magazine “Se”.
The period “Se” magazine with the article is together with the car.

The Alfa has been most of it’s life in Sweden and was bought in 2016 by a Dutch gentlemen.

He gave the order for an extensive restoration of the car whereby all the specific Alleggerita details had to be kept as perfect as possible resulting in a restoration with a cost of approximately € 150.000,-

Luckily the former owner has kept the unique details in original condition so therefore the car shows a beautiful patina. A nice example are the perspex windows which are still the original examples and show a beautiful patina.

The Dutch owner restored the car in exact the same specification as it was when the car arrived at the start of the Mille Miglia in 1956. So one can find the original start number on the car for example.

Since it’s restoration, the Sprint Alleggerita has been used twice for the retro Mille Miglia and the car finished without any major technical issues.

CONDITION EXTERIOR

The body of the Alfa is in a beautiful condition, due to the extensive work which has been done.

The perspex windows show their authenticity and have a beautiful pating.

The front window is the same, one can change it easily for a brand new example but the current window show minor signs of use.

The body is in a beautiful condition with a nice deep paint.

One can find on the different doors the correct Bertone body numbers.

CONDITION INTERIOR

The interior of the Alfa is in excellent shape. Currently the car is fitted with modified chairs due to the size of the former owner but the original seats are coming with the car.

The interior is fitted with the period correct materials and is in a beautiful condition.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT / UNDERNEATH

The engine compartment is in a beautiful condition. The engine has been fully rebuilt by 1 of the main Italian engine specialist in Holland.

To avoid any problems during the Mille Miglia no money has been spared and all clutch parts etc. have been renewed as well.

DRIVING EXPERIENCE

The handling of a Giulietta is absolutely superb. A corner gives a huge smile on the face but you can imagine that this lightweight version is much more fun to drive.

The engine is extremely well tuned and revs enthusiastically. When the pedal is pushed the engine revs immediately without hesitating.

The steering, braking and overall handling of the car is fabulous. It’s a real sportscar.

This incredibly fun-to-drive Alfa offers a unique opportunity to acquire one of the very rare, early lightweight models possessing extremely important known history.

It is, of course, eligible for participation in many of the most prestigious historic motor sports events including the Mille Miglia.

HISTORY FILE

The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce Alleggerita has a very impressive history file and comes with a lot of spare parts.

Included in the history file are amongst other papers:

– lots of restoration pictures

– pictures of the period Mille Miglia

– pictures of old races

– pictures of recent races like the Mille Miglia

– copy of the subscription documents of the 1955 Mille Miglia

– articles in a variety of magazine

– the period Se magazine with articles by its 1956 Mille Miglia crew.