He got the number wrong - but it is actually a very special car.
Alfisti Johan de Munck from Belgium pointed out that a Giulietta SV raced at the Spa 6H meeting in september - and that it ran with number 41. His point was that I should have been there, and that I could have raced with number 42. This was in the pre-1963 GT race; a race in which I would very much like to take part. He posted these two shots on Facebook, and after I had stopped dreaming - I noticed the number plate on the car VYX 2, a british registration, and I was sure I had seen that somewhere before?!
VYX 2 - where did I see that before?
And then I remembered: It was featured in an old article I had read - John Bolster road-testing a Giulietta SV in the may 1959 issue of Autosport (read the report below). I searched the internet and found out that the young guy who lent the car to Mr. Bolster was a quite serious racing gentleman who was also featured in the september 1960 issue of Motorsport - although Boddy and Jenks didn't seem to think much of the young man.
The very kind gentleman who let Bolster borrow the SV for the road test in 1959.
VYX was apparently sold (back) to Italy after its short career in the UK and found its way to Holland in the mid-1980s and around the turn of the millenium it was owned and raced by a Belgian alfisti - Fred Corporaal. It was up for sale some time ago as can be seen in the pictures below. And now we all saw it race at Spa Francorchamps in one of the most fantastic fields on the European classic motor sport calendar. The car was entered by Andrew Lawley and Tom Smith from the UK.
John Bolster tests (Autosport 27th of March 1959):
THE ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA
IN ONE WORD - BEAUTIFUL! The sleek, simple lines of the little Alfa make it undoubtedly one of the loveliest cars ever made.
The Sprint Veloce version of one of the worlds’s most desirable cars.
THERE are certain cars which are acknowledged throughout the motoring world as being thoroughbreds, and among these the Alfa Romeo Giulietta stands very high. Indeed, I would go so far as to suggest that, if a poll of the readers of Autosport were undertaken, the Sprint Veloce version would be voted just about the most desirable car that money can buy. This much-coveted model is the subject of the present road test.
As the concessionaires, Messrs. Thomson and Taylor of Cobham, Surrey, did not have a demonstrator of the latest Veloce type, I borrowed an immaculate example, which had only recently been run in, from a private owner, with their full approval. I have to thank Richard Shepherd-Barron for the loan of his delightful car, and for providing me with a memorable experience.
ALTHOUGH a good deal og chromium is used at the front the result is pleasing and not vulgar.
The Sprint Veloce is a two-seater coupe by Bertone of superb appearance, and in 'Alfa-red' it really looks a picture. It is a practical car, with wide doors and ample luggage space, while a very large fuel tank allows for long non-stop journeys. The beautiful finish of every detail is a joy to behold. The machine is small and compact, but it is extremely sturdily constructed for continuous high-speed use on Continental roads. It is therefore not exceptionally light.
The engine is a magnificent piece of work. The sturdy counterbalanced crankshaft runs in five main bearings; an almost unheard-of refinement in an engine of only 1.3-litre capacity. The bore and stroke are virtually 'square', and the three-ringed domed pistons run in wet liners. Naturally, the light-alloy head has the 'four-per-pot' arrangement of holding-down studs, which is standard on all the best 2-ohc engines.
The camshafts operate the inclined valves through inverted pistons. A two-stage duplex roller chain drive is employed, with a jockey sprocket on the upper run. The steel-backed main and big-end bearings are of lead-bronze. with a lead-indium overlay. There is a large oil filter, and the light alloy sump has what is, in effect, an oil radiator beneath it. This is a separate ribbed compartment, containing a labyrinth through which all the oil must pass. It is detachable for cleaning.
The Veloce engine is rated at over 90 bhp at 6,000 rpm, but it can run considerably faster than this. It differs from the 70 bhp Sprint engine in having a higher compression ratio and extremely radical camshafts, giving no less than 64 degrees of overlap. It also has two Weber twin-choke horizontal carburetors, which are fed from a cold-air box.
POWER UNIT: The twin-cam 1,290 cc engine develops 94.8 bhp at 6,000 rpm, which is a lot of horses from so small an engine!
In the past, the gearbox has been the least satisfactory feature of the Alfa Romeo. Now, an entirely new box, with Porsche-type synchromesh on all four speeds, has been standardized. The propeller shaft is in two sections, the front end having rubber universal joints for damping. The rear axle is very light, being built-up with steel side tubes and it is located positively by a pair of sturdy trailing arms beneath, and above, just to the left of the light alloy centre section, there is a tubular triangular member with very widely spaced pivots. Obviously, immense trouble has been taken in locating the axle so that cornering and torque reaction forces may be well resisted.
Helical springs and telescopic dampers are the suspension medium all round. In front, the wishbones have a very wide base to give excellent stability to the car. The present steering column could not readily be transferred to the right, without interposing several universal joints in the shaft. Indeed, the Veloce engine has to be canted 8 degrees to the left, for the big Weber carburetors fill the whole of the right side of the bonnet. The brake drums, with turbo-fins, are literally enormous for the size of the car. The two pairs of exhaust pipes do not join until they are about to enter the first of the two silencers.
'THE DRIVING POSITION' says Bolster, 'is very ‘Doctor Farina’. The gearbox is a delight with synchromesh on all four gears.
This Alfa Romeo is thus a small sporting car of immense technical interest. When I took my seat, I found that entry is easy, and that the all-round visibility is excellent, aided by the deletion of triangular ventilating panels from the front windows. The rear windows may be opened slightly outwards to give a draught-free extractor effect. The driving position is very 'Doctor Farina'. The engine takes a few moments to fire regularly on a cold morning, and twin batteries had been fitted to the test car for this reason. At all other times it is an instant starter, and idles regularly almost at once. At moderate speeds, the smoothness and silence are literally beyond belief, which I put down largely to the five-bearing crankshaft. As the revs mount, a hard and purposeful note is heard, though the unit is never noisy, and remains so throughout the range. The red mark on the rev-counter dial begins at 6,750 rpm.
Naturally, a race-bred unit of this type does its best work above 4,000 rpm. It behaves impeccably in traffic, however, if one uses a little consideration with the accelerator pedal. The performance figures, as shown on the data panel and the graph, are really outstanding for a 1.3-litre car. However, I treated the clutch gently and observed the rev-limit scrupulously as I was driving a private owner’s pride and joy. With a little more brutality, my figures could be beaten. The maximum speed of 112.5 mph is tremendous, and the little car certainly felt as though it was traveling. As is usual, the speedometer became rather gay at the top end, indicating as much as 125 mph. The engine was running well within its limit and seemed entirely happy to maintain this considerable velocity. Around 90 mph is a very pleasant cruising speed.
The Alfa handles particularly well, especially on wet roads. The cornering power is very high, and one gets a splendid feeling of being fully in command of the little machine. There is a certain amount of roll, but this is scarcely noticed from inside the car. The suspension, steering and roadholding are all of a very high standard. The rear suspension may appear complicated, but it achieves results that could never be approached by a conventional semi-elliptic layout. Larger cars can equal the performance figures of the Veloce, but they cannot be flung around with the abandon which one may employ with this machine.
THE BOOT is not very large, and the spare wheel takes up a lot of space, but there is plenty of room behind the seats.
It is necessary to emphasize that this is a meticulously constructed luxury car, and not an ultra-light machine which will need rebuilding after one season. The controls work beautifully, and in this connection one must give full marks to the new gearbox. It is light and quick in action, yet the synchromesh is unbeatable. With this type of engine, one often wants to engage bottom gear at quite appreciable speeds. The perfection of the synchromesh encourages one to do this, rather than let the engine labour while pulling away on second. This box is so much better than the old one that it transforms the pleasure of driving the car.
The very large brakes have the situation well in hand at all times. They are smooth and progressive, and the wheels are pierced to assist the turbo-fins in their dissipation of heat. Regrettably, the hand-brake is of the umbrella-handle type, which hardly seems worthy of the car. Another small point of criticism is the absence of a high-beam indicator for the headlamps, though there is an indicator for the sidelamps.
The kind of driver who likes to stay in top gear all day will have no use whatever for this Alfa, but the keen motorist, who enjoys making intelligent use of the box, will love every moment of his journeys. It is a pity that punitive import duties render this a car for the very few, for it is as enjoyable to drive as it is beautiful to look at, which is praise indeed.
SPECIFICATION AND PERFORMANCE DATA
Car Tested: Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce 2-seater coupe, price £2,698 7s. including tax.
Engine: Four cylinders 74 mm x 75 mm (1,290 cc). Twin overhead camshafts. 8.5-to-1 compression ratio. 94.8 bhp. at 6,000 rpm. Two twin-choke Weber carburettors. Coil and distributor ignition.
Transmission: Single dry plate clutch. Four-speed gearbox with central lever and synchromesh on all gears. Open two-piece propeller shaft. Hypoid rear axle.
Chassis: Platform chassis in unit with steel body structure. Independent front suspension by wishbones, helical springs, and telescopic dampers, with torsional anti-roll bar. Worm and roller steering with three-piece track rod. Rear axle on lower trailing arms and single upper triangulated member, with helical springs and telescopic dampers. Girling hydraulic brakes, 2 L.S. in front, in large light alloy turbo-finned drums. Bolt-on pierced disc wheels fitted 155 x 15 Pirelli tyres.
Equipment: 12-volt lighting and starting. Speedometer, Rev-counter, Oil pressure and temperature, water temperature, and fuel gauges. Self-parking windscreen wipers and washers. Self-cancelling flashing indicators. Heater.
Dimensions: Wheelbase 7 ft 6.5 in. Track 4 ft 2 in. Overall length 13 ft 0.5 in. Width 5 ft 0.5 in. Weight 18.75 cwt.
Performance: Maximum speed 112.5 mph. Speeds in gears: 3rd 84 mph. 2nd 57 mph., 1st 34 mph. Standing quarter-mile. 18.4 secs. Acceleration: 0-30 mph. 3.8 secs., 0-50 mph. 8.6 secs., 0-60 mph. 11.8 secs., 0-80 mph. 21.2 secs. Fuel Consumption: 25 mpg. (approx.)
