herberd877: Alfa Romeo Zagato classics consigned to join their modern counterparts at Villa d'Este

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Alfa Romeo Zagato classics consigned to join their modern counterparts at Villa d'Este

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Performance, Auctions, Alfa Romeo, Racing

1964 Alfa Romeo TZ Coupe (above) and 1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ "Coda Tronca" (below right)
Click either image for high-res image galleries

The more things change - or so the saying goes - the more they stay the same. Half a century after the originals graced the open roads and the auto shows of the early 1960s, two classic coachbuilt Alfa Romeos have been reborn in modern style. We're talking about the Alfa Romeo TZ and the Coda Tronca - the former now heading into its fourth iteration in the form of the TZ3 Stradale, and the latter just recently remade as the Spada Codatronca Monza. And now their progenitors are set to cross the auction block.

Regarded in the same light by Alfa aficionados as the 250 GTO is by the Ferrari faithful, the original TZ (so named for its tubular space frame and Zagato coachwork) made a remarkable 1-2-3-4 class finish upon its race debut at Monza in 1963, complimented the same year by class wins at Sebring, Le Mans and the Nürburgring as well as an outright win at the Alpine Rally the following season. Only 112 examples were made, and this particular model - chassis #750006 - was prepared by Autodelta (the same Alfa tuner still operating in the UK) and fully restored to its original 1964 Le Mans condition after single-family ownership of 23 years.

Likewise bodied by Zagato, this 1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ "Coda Tronca" (chassis #0184) is one of only 30 such examples made out of 200 total SZs. Its Kamm-tailed body gave it its name, a shape which its original designer Ercole Spada reprised for his eponymous modern Corvette-powered special and which led to the development of the aforementioned TZ.

Both of these historic examples feature DOHC four-cylinder engines (1.6 liters and 150 horsepower for the TZ, and 1.3 liters and 135 hp for the Coda Tronca) mated to five-speed manual transmissions. They're set to join the Bertone prototypes and the Art Deco classics at RM's forthcoming auction at Villa d'Este, where the TZ is expected to fetch €475,000-€575,000 ($690k-835k) and the Coda Tronca €260,000-€300,000 ($377k-435k). With their modern successors destined for the garages of the extremely fortunate, we could hardly imagine better stablemates to join them. Have a closer look at each in the galleries below and delve further into their histories in the backgrounders after the jump.

Gallery: 1964 Alfa Romeo TZ Coupe - chassis #750006