auto italia 33ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA SZ
ordered the SZ definitely did not plan on racing it. He
didn’t even bother to remove the ‘in rondaggio’
(‘running-in’) stickers on the rear window and
windscreen. At some point, he also installed an
Autovox car radio inside the glove compartment, a
roof-mounted aerial and two Swedish-made
‘Säkerhetsbälte’ safely belts. The current number plate
is not the original one, though; TO 427125 was
apparently lost, so the owner applied for a new one in- One thing that is clear is that the car was always
maintained with maximum care.
Giulietta SZ 00101 was already in Osvaldo Avalle’s
shop by 1984. He filed for homologation with ASI (Italy’s
historical car register) and the documentation was duly
signed by ASI’s technical secretary, Federico Robutti.
However, the SZ pretty much disappeared from sight
as soon as the papers were received in November - Its yearly insurance slips were carefully
preserved, as well as all other paperwork, so that we
can tell that the car was road-legal up until 1995. When
it was discovered in 2018, the odometer read 94,790km
- a mere 3700km more than in 1987.
Even ignoring its remarkable state of preservation,
an adjacent tree, various people in yellow overalls, car
transporters, cranes and recovery teams all swooped
in. What they managed to bring out was a stunning
collection of dream cars: a Cisitalia 202 Cabriolet, a
Fiat 500 Sport (built by his father Mario), a 1961
Moretti spider, several Panhard 24 CTs and quite a
few more old wrecks.
But it was the emergence of this Alfa Romeo
Giulietta SZ, hauled out from the secret shelter under
Osvaldo’s home, that was the real find. News of the
discovery quickly spread around the world. Covered in a
thick layer of dust, it looked slate-grey when it was
pulled out and loaded on to the transporter. In fact,
under the layers of grime was metallic light blue paint.
The story of SZ chassis number 101.2600101 goes
like this. It was sold on 19 February 1962 by a Turin-
based Alfa Romeo dealer called Dario Vico, ordered in
delicate sky-blue livery with steel and aluminium
Borrani Record wheels. That colour scheme and that
specification told a story that, despite the SZ being
eminently suited to competition work, this was very
much notbought as a racing car, but a pure road
machine. The 21-year Torinese man who originally
The first owner had no
intention of racing this car.
He didn’t even bother
removing the ‘running in’
stickers from the window