The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm is a car that is more about the past than it is about the future. It's a gas-burning, fender-flared winged beast of a sports sedan whose origins can be traced back to the 1960s.
Back then, Alfa's racing engineers slimmed down the weight of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT, upgraded its engine considerably, and anointed their creation the Giulia GTA. One of the most successful touring cars of its time, the GTA had everyday life and checkered-flag greatness baked in.
Alfa Romeo engineers recently applied the spirit of that GTA, which stands for Gran Turismo Alleggerita, the final word meaning “lightened” in Italian, to the Giulia Quadrifoglio. The GTA cut a claimed 220 pounds while adding various aerodynamic aids. To drop the pounds, the doors are aluminum and the drive shaft, hood, roof, front bumpers, and wheel-arch extensions at the front and rear are carbon fiber. New engine electronics, higher boost pressure, and an Akrapovic titanium exhaust system tickled out 533 horsepower from the twin-turbo 2.9-liter V-6, 28 horses more than the standard Quadrifoglio. Only 500 of the Giulia GTA will be made, and included in that short run is the even more extreme GTAm, a race-ready and street-legal version that ditches its rear seat to shed another 55 pounds compared to the GTA.
In place of the GTAm's back seat is a roll cage, helmet rack, and fire extinguisher. The rear windows are made of lightweight polycarbonate. The carbon-fiber racing bucket seats only move fore and aft, but there's plenty of Alcantara trim and carbon-fiber bits to take in. Fabric loops replace the interior door handles, a very Porsche touch.
What a difference 33 years makes juxtaposition of Alfa Romeo S.Z., 1989 & Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato, 2022. Zagato have revealed a one-off coachbuilt special to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first collaboration between the two companies. The car, built for a German collector, is based on the Alfa Romeo Giulia, with a shortened wheelbase and a 532hp biturbo V6 sourced from the GTAm driving the rear wheels through to a six-speed manual gearbox. It will remain a one-off. The S.Z. (for Sport Zagato) was an earlier collaboration based on the transaxle platform of the Alfa Romeo 75 using that car's 210hp 3.0 litre V6. There were 1036 S.Z. models built
Saving the best until the end of the year, Zagato and Alfa Romeo have just unveiled a glorious homage to the iconic S.Z. called the Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato. As you’ll see, Il Mostro has had quite the glow-up.n its over 100-year history, Zagato has produced a seemingly endless list of jaw dropping designs. Some command attention with their sheer beauty, while others, like the captivatingly brutal S.Z., won our adoration by throwing the design rulebook out the window. Today, we’re delighted to welcome another Zagato great to the roads: introducing the Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato.
Commissioned by a passionate collector of Biscione cars, the Giulia SWB Zagato is the result of a close collaboration between Zagato and the Alfa Romeo Style Centre. Designed as a natural evolution of the Alfa Romeo SZ lineage that started with the SZ Codatronca in 1961 and more recently includes the notoriously visually divisive S.Z., aka ‘Il Mostro’, the Giulia SWB Zagato is easily one of our favourite designs of the year. From the front, the light signature is immediately reminiscent of the S.Z.’s headlights, while the rear features a cut-off tail and a swooping light bar that mimics the silhouette of the original SZ Codatronca’s rear-end.
Step inside, and this coachbuilt beauty’s production car links become a little more obvious, with many elements borrowed from the Giulia Quadrifoglio saloon on which this car is based. The cherry on top — or rather inside — this incredibly enticing package is a six speed manual gearbox, connected to the sonorous twin-turbocharged V6 from the hardcore Giulia GTAm, resulting in an impressive power figure of 540hp. We think you’ll agree that Il Mostro’s gorgeous reincarnation is deserving of a new nickname, perhaps ‘La Bellazza’?
Alfa Romeo GTAm / Jorge Santos / Alcides Petiz / Diago Santos / RP Motorsport by Artes Max
Via Flickr:
ESPÍRITU DE MONTJUÏCH 2022 / Circuit de Barcelona