Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale

Maybe it's a generational thing, but I've always thought that the Golden Age of Italian coachbuilding lasted from the late 1940s to the very early 1960s.  Of course there were fine designs created before and after that era, and a number of 1946-1961 designs were distinctly inferior.

One of the most interesting designs, though not a great one in my esteem, is Alfa Romeo's Giulietta Sprint Speciale whose bodies were by Bertone and styled by Franco Scaglione.  The prototype was revealed at the 1957 Turin Auto Show and production lasted 1959-1966.

Sprint Speciales were quite aerodynamic for their time, as can be seen in Gallery images below.  The first Wikipedia link above reports the car had a drag coefficient of 0.28.  That suggests the shape having been wind tunnel tested (after all, Scaglione had an aeronautical engineering background).

As an automobile design, I find his slightly earlier Giulietta Sprint better, because the Sprint Speciale strikes me as being too forced aerodynamically.  Readers may well strongly disagree.

Gallery

The first two images are of the 1957 prototype.  One recognition detail is its lack of a front bumper.

Other is its slightly shorter trunk lid.

Side views of a 1965 Sprint Speciale from Mecum Auctions.

Its passenger compartment greenhouse is nearly airfoil-like.  Not quite a fastback because the trunk lid has a subtly different angle.

Overhead side view of a for-sale 1961 Sprint Speciale.  Deviations from a totally smooth shape include the  distinctly raised front and rear fenders.  The latter probably added to the design's potential drag coefficient.

Now for three views of a 1965 Sprint Speciale via RM Sotheby's auctions.  The aluminum paint shows the car's shape well without reflections.

The front wheel opening detailing seems contrived.  A curved profile such as that of the rear wheel opening would have been better looking.  Plus, the raised sculpting strikes me as being unnecessary.

The rear seems pinched, but that was probably due to aerodynamic considerations.  Tail light assemblies seem especially susceptible to damage.