New Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato honours a century of collaboration

That is the Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato, a cracking reminder of what the corporate is able to and a fulsome throwback to the heady partnerships of the Nineteen Fifties, Nineteen Sixties, and Seventies. This was the period of coachbuilding masterpieces, when the grand Italian styling homes discovered it in themselves to enhance upon the already stunning creations of corporations like Ferrari, Alfa, and Lancia.

Unhappy to report, however this explicit automobile is ready to stay a one-off. Constructed for a German collector, the automobile broke cowl simply earlier than Christmas 2022, an early reward for all those that nonetheless maintain a candle for this golden period of automobile design. 

The thought for the Giulia SWB originated in 2021, the yr Zagato celebrated a century of collaboration with Alfa Romeo. A commemorative automobile was deliberate, drawing on Alfa’s present Giulia and Stelvio fashions, however within the type of a two-door coupé – a distinct segment that’s sadly absent from as we speak’s Alfa Romeo line-up.

The brand new Zagato relies on the acclaimed Giulia Quadrifoglio efficiency mannequin, with a shortened wheelbase (therefore SWB) and bodywork shaped from carbon fibre. The designated buyer is a longstanding Alfaholic, in addition to a fan of Aston Martin’s ongoing partnership with Zagato. His assortment contains the Alfa Romeo SZ (‘Dash Zagato’), a quintessentially Nineties machine that took Alfa’s 75 saloon and remodeled it right into a brutish, stubby pocket supercar.

Visually, the SWB incorporates many key Zagato design components, from the pronounced forward-focused stance to the trademark ‘double bubble’ roof, advanced from the requirement for early closed racing automobiles to have area for crash helmeted drivers.

Zagato’s group labored carefully with Alejandro Mesonero, vice chairman of Alfa Romeo Design, however all improvement and manufacturing had been carried out in-house. The well-known Alfa grille is low to the bottom, flanked by a brand new iteration of Alfa’s present 3+3 headlight identification. On the rear, the abruptly cut-off tail is one other tell-tale signature of the model.

Zagatos have all the time had a clumsy, nearly gawky edge, evidenced not solely by the Alfa Romeo SZ, but in addition by earlier fashions just like the GT 1300 Junior Zagato from 1969 and the TZ3 Stradale created for Alfa’s personal centenary in 2011. Fittingly, the one-off Giulia SWB Zagato is a convincing inheritor to a century of extravagant and individualistic automotive design.

We’ve typically lamented that Alfa Romeo’s up to date soul is considerably missing, condemned to wander the highways and byways of nostalgia while the well-known badge finally ends up plastered throughout unworthy SUVs. Maybe one other Zagato collaboration might assist rekindle Alfa’s flame?