[G15]

Going through my photo albums I stumbled upon this picture

Now this will make you cry

This lightweight 750E Sprint Veloce turned up here in the UK about 25 years ago.

I went to see the new owner with a collegue of mine who was & still is an Alfa restorer
As you can see this 750E had been totally butchered, & also had the wrong engine

But these lightweights are ultra rare & even back in the early 80`s were worth saving

I have lost all trace of this car, & hope it is still out there & alive

I am sure the Giulietta Register in the UK will have some record

I believe this car was raced by "Richard Shepherd-Barron" the Morgan racer, here in the UK in the late 1950`s?

 

[G15]

Giulietta Sprints on a farm

Found these three Sprints on a Farm in Surrey UK in 1989
Bought from the estate of the late "John Willment", team manager & racing driver

The Red Giulia 1600 sprint just out of the picture was so far rotted that I broke the car for spares. The yellow car in the centre was sold off for restoration.
The most interesting was the red Sprint to the left.

A 1955 built column change "eyebrow" Sprint (chassis No: 1493 01325)Manufactured November 1955.
Sold new in London April 1956

Sadly due to other projects, we parted company many years ago

 

[G15]

Giulietta Sprints on a farm

Here is the red 55 Sprint again (750)with the paint coming off before I sold on.

I could never work this one out.
The rear light housings are the same on this car as a 101 Sprint, but the only sign anywhere of any welding on the rear wings was the wheel arches. Nothing around the wing seams or lamp holders

Was this a prototype Sprint?

If anyone reading this would like to add a comment, I would be interested to know

 

[G15]

Spider Farm find

Found this Giulia 1600 Spider on a Farm.
I think I paid £200 (about 400 dollars) for this car
All I wanted was the optional front Disc brakes for my 750B sprint
The sills & floorpans had gone, but the car still drove

Seems a shame now that I broke this one up, but in the early 80`s these cars were not worth a lot of cash here in the UK

 

[G15]

Rust in pieces

Not really an Alfa, but it is Italian

I found this one at a Farm yard sale (Lot No: 117) in Wildwood, Florida about 10 years ago

It is a Maserati & I believe an "Indy" model minus it`s engine

As you can see the car had rotted so badly that it had broken it`s back

I believe this car sold for all of 50 dollars including the snakes!

 

[alfasud1972]

Here is the red 55 Sprint again (750)with the paint coming off before I sold on.

I could never work this one out.
The rear light housings are the same on this car as a 101 Sprint, but the only sign anywhere of any welding on the rear wings was the wheel arches. Nothing around the wing seams or lamp holders

Was this a prototype Sprint?

If anyone reading this would like to add a comment, I would be interested to know

Interesting, I once asked almost the same question in a thread here on the AlfaBB that can be found here below. But you will not find a good answer there....

http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/giu...42279-750-interim-nose-sprints-101-tails.html


And you don't happen to know some early Alfasuds hiding in a shed do you ?


.

 

[AlfistiSA]

'55 Sprint

Hi G15 and Rody

Based on the picture you posted, I'd say that Sprint shell was late '58 to end '60. In 22 years of Giulietta's including owning 750, Interim and 101 Sprints, I have never seen, nor heard of a '55 with larger tail lights and that rear body seam which only came into existence with the advent of having to weld together the new pressed panels.

Did you take the chassis number off the data plate or the firewall - it seems to be a common occurance to swap data plates to keep cars as 'registered'.

I've done a heap of research on the '58 to '60 Interim or Transition cars as I own a '58 Series 1 Sprint Veloce Confortevole, one of 50 made with framed wind-up windows.

We also have an 11 January '60 Normale and I researched the morphing of the 'pure' 750 into the 'pure' 101 Series through the earliest 750 Interim cars with predominently 750 features (internal pressings, open sills with jack points through the sills, mechanical parts, a smooth finished rear valance) through the changes to predominently 101 features (later internal pressings, closes sills with jack points below sills, 101 mechanicals, split case gearboxes, the heavier duty front suspensions, the body seam at the rear valance and so the list continues). In all instances, cars built before 1493E06611 are Series I 750 Sprints with small tail lights and a smooth rear valance. Cars built after 1493E06611 are Series II Sprints with the new 101 style body, new grilles, larger tail lights and rear valance seam

The picture below shows a Series II Interim Sprint - this deduction based on the larger rear tail lights, the boot lid with the opening for the aeroplane casting. It looks like the dash is the flat oblong Giulia type, however no Giulia Sprint had the hole in the boot lid for the Aeroplane as they all carried the chrome numberplate bracket.

It would be interesting to examine this car close up.....

Best
Greig

 

[AlfistiSA]

It helps to attach the picture...

 

[alfasud1972]

Okay, thanks Greig !

 

[GTD]

55 Sprint ???

G15

I could never work this one out.
The rear light housings are the same on this car as a 101 Sprint, but the only sign anywhere of any welding on the rear wings was the wheel arches. Nothing around the wing seams or lamp holders

"Did you take the chassis number off the data plate or the firewall - it seems to be a common occurrence to swap data plates to keep cars as 'registered'."

I think Greig's spot-on here. When nothing seems to make sense; the likely explanation is: nonsense

 

[G15]

1955 Sprint

Thanks for your information Guys, but Greig I have to disagree with you about this particular car

Here is why

The Bulkhead & Chassis plate where stamped (1493 01325) With no sign under the rust of either the chassis number or plate on this car of ever been tampered with

The car also had a column change with crude hole cut in floor where it had been converted to floor gearstick box . The steering column shaft held the remains of the column linkage


The front seats were Metal pans with inserted foam & covers.
Completely different to my 1958 Interim Sprint, chassis : (1493 07760)

The front headlights were small 3 piece items, & indicators mounted into the front vents (see next picture) Also, no sign in front vents of any cross bars having ever been fitted (see black & white picture below)

The steering column shaft held the remains of the column linkage

The dashboard top was bare metal with no covering

A strange framework under dashboard attached to throttle linkage

Amongst the wheel rims fitted to this car, two were "rolled edge" & not pressed, just like prototype in the black & white picture

The door strikes were the same as the Sprint in the black & white picture

No splines for wiper arms, just pins

The Aluminium sill caps were full depth & the same as the one in the black & white picture

& finally, the rear valance seam on this car was not part of the rear panel, but beautifully made & held on with self tapping screwsUnder all the coats of paint this car was found to have been "Black" from New with Green & cream interior
A 1955 colour

I was told that Alfa Romeo Archive states that this Sprint was manufactured November 1955.
Sold new in London June 1956. (The registration attached to the Vehicle "65 DLP" was issued in North London in 1956)

Maybe it had a repair of the rear in the past, but if so, it was a **** good job with no evidence of welding, but all the rest of the above adds up to this being an early 750 car

This is also one car I regret selling. I am unsure of the wherabouts, but believe it went to Italy

Regards
Alan

 

[VeloceSA]

Hi Alan and all,
While I don't dispute the fact that this car is an early Sprint,I would suggest that some skillful panel beating rather than it being a factory prototype was the explanation for this car.
Possibly the car was rear ended or the owner felt the need to facelift it to 101 spec. A whole 101 rear end might have been grafted onto it. The welding work on the rear wheel arches would indicate that the pressed 'flat' type wheel arches of the 101's were modified to the hand rolled 750 arches seen on the front fenders.
In front the bulkhead seems similar to the one on the 750 recently on EBay but the front vents are the shape and size of those on 101's with evidence of mounting holes for the later 101 side grills. Not a difficult mod for a skilled panel beater.
My 2 cents worth,
Nick
Quite Sunny South Africa.

 

[G15]

Sprint Bulkhead

Thanks for your reply Nick

Perhaps you are correct in what you say

You have got me going

I am now going to attempt to Trace this car if possible to see what I can find out

I have attached a picture of the bulkhead, showing the flat deep ledge, which is completely different to my 750B interim Sprint

Regards
Alan

 

[G15]

Sprint 750B Interim

This is the first Sprint that I ever found, & this 750B Interim car was to become a long lasting love affair

When I was a small boy, I used to rush home from School on a Friday afternoon to watch the BBC Trade colour test transmissions on my Parents Black & White TV set here in the UK.
One test film that was shown regularly was the Shell Film "1958 Coupe Des Alpes". For anyone who has not seen this film, it is probably the best rally & best Giulietta film ever made
I can always remember the Blue Giulietta Sprint Veloce climbing the Stelvio pass. The sound of the engine was superb
I used to think, one day when I can drive I want one of those Alfa`s.

My time came by chance in the late 70`s

A friend of mine had just purchased a house in Surrey & I went round to visit.

Whist looking around the house he mentioned that there was an abandoned Alfa in the back yard.

Looking out of the window, I could not resist the sight of a Giulietta Sprint looking extremelly rusty & forlorn & just waiting for a new owner

A deal was struck & the love affair had started. A two year restoration lay ahead

This is the car as found.
1958 Giulietta Sprint 750B Interim (chassis No: 1493 07760)


After 2 years of hard work, you can see the results below.

I kept this Sprint for about 15 years & had some great times on & off the track

I got to say, & this is my opinion.
Sprints look way nicer without the bumpers. Really brings out the shape of the body

The 6J alloy wheels which I fitted to this car were from a Peugeot 205GTI, & machined to fit.
With low profile tyres & gas Koni`s, the handling was excellent

 

[G15]

Sprint on Stelvio

This is a picture of the car that inspired my Giulietta love affair

Sprint Veloce 750E & camera car (No212) climbing the Stelvio pass in Italy on the 1958 Alpine Rally

 

[alfa soon]

Interesting about the rear of 01325... seems to have happened a bit that the later rear ends ended up on the earlier cars -I think Marco out of Portugal has pictures of one, perhaps 02095 -pictured below with red lid. and I've seen others as projects for sale in Europe -for example 01996 here in green primer.

01996: Sprint 750B 01996 - a set on flickr

02095: Sprint 750B 02095 - a set on Flickr

I list 750B 01325 as a project out of the UK on my register: The Sprint 750B first series Alfa Romeo Giuliettas

This means I've seen it in the last 3 years with a specific reference to its number. I don't have pictures or further information which makes me think I saw it on the Yahoo 750/101 list, though at this point it could have been anywhere.

I bet asking the Giulietta Register and 750/101 lists would turn up the original owner.

 

[G15]

Thanks for useful information.

How strange that there are other early 750 Sprints out there also with larger tail lights

I have now established that (01325) now resides in Italy with an english owner

I will post more information about this car once available