Hi matt-pizzi and welcome to the world of Alfas. I have a Giulia SS which Ive had for about 2 years. As Im sure youre aware, the Giulia replaced the Giulietta in the Alfa line up. If you posted a pic of the car you could probably get some very specific comments but I understand why you may not want to do that.
Here's a few thoughts - Im certainly not an authority - and hopefully others will chime in and correct me if IM incorrect....
I havent seen any specific SS restoration guides - although there are obviously many Alfa books which feature the Speciale.
The interior, because you're talking about cars that are 60 years old, have inevitably been restored or replaced or whatever....and sometimes not back to the original materials or style. I believe that the Giulietta generally came in 2 interior styles (this was confirmed by a gentlemen whose been driving Alfas since the 60s), red vinyl with cloth or blue vinyl with cloth. Many of the elements are similar or shared across the Giulietta series. The cloth is pretty light in color and is a weave - its often called salt and pepper because of the tones in the weave. Maybe there were more options - there certainly were for the Giulia series cars (including leather).
The seats, which I believe are the same style for the Giulietta and the Giulia, are "sprung" steel seats...and kind of impractical in the SS IMO. There is not a lot of interior room in the SS and those seats (and I mean the thickness and style of the cushions) take up too much room.....so you see a lot of the SSs with some kind of seat alterations to make them more practical. And obviously, the seats are the first things to require some help if the car has been used! Mine are original but Ive adjusted them so they aren't so "thick"...I recently spoke to a well known Alfa restorer who very commonly "upgrades" the seats so that they are more practical and considerably thinner - gaining 1 or 2" precious inches in the cabin. IMO if you're going to drive the car, rather than stare at it, thats a very practical upgrade....but each to his own.
There's obviously a lot of information here on the forum. Ive also learnt a lot from looking at a lot of cars on the internet - staring at pictures to try and figure out some funny detail that Im trying to replace/fix. Through the mists of time this can be either be slightly frustrating or "it is what it is"....especially with Italian car companies that would often use parts from the next series of cars on the end run of the current series....but theres tons of photos of interiors. Especially on sites like BaT and auction sites....often very detailed and you can start drawing your own conclusions through the law of averages....
Theres also this site:
You might even find your car on there...but theres a lot of photos etc...
The parts book is great to look at to understand originality - thats readily available - and theres even a proper owners maintenance manual for the Giulietta series. Obviously the most important thing is that you have all the correct parts on the car - and the truly important parts are clearly the correct engine series etc....if worst came to worse, the interior materials can be worked on, the parts are harder to come by.
Good luck! The Speciale is a great car.
Roger
