1965 ALFA ROMEO GIULIA TZ

Italian title
Chassis n° AR750042
Engine n° AR00511*00089

Emblem of Alfa Romeo’s success
Outstanding engineering, sublime aesthetics
Continuous history
Exceptional driving qualities
Top-level restoration

Motorsport is in Alfa Romeo’s genes, and so it was no surprise that the new Giulietta, unveiled in 1955, would quickly become the subject of more highly developed versions. The first non-standard Giulietta was the Sprint Speciale (SS) presented in 1957, with an original form designed by Franco Scaglione for Bertone, and inspired by the "BAT" cars. However, although it demonstrated real sporting qualities and had good aerodynamics, it was heavy and was supplemented by the Giulietta Sprint Zagato (SZ), a lighter car with a tighter form that was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 1960 and subsequently enjoyed great success in competition. This model was produced in smaller numbers than the SS, with around 200 examples built.
The arrival of the Giulia in 1962 shook things up, but even though the SS adopted a 1600 engine in 1963, the potential for development was too limited for it to lead the way in competition. At the same time, development of the SZ was restricted in line with Wunibald Kamm’s principles of aerodynamics.
To produce a successor to the SZ that could benefit from the Giulia’s engineering, Alfa Romeo took a radical new direction led by Giuseppe Busso, who had begun designing a new racing car in 1959. According to Busso, the inspiration came from the "Tipo 750 Competizione" developed in 1955, but whose box structure lacked rigidity. This is possibly what prompted Busso to adopt a completely new tubular chassis. He used the Giulia’s engineering, including the excellent twin- cam 1600 engine, but with independent rear suspension. For the body, it made sense to turn to Zagato who produced a perfectly executed berlinetta design, almost as if the SZ Coda Tronca had been a draft and this was the masterpiece. More than ever before, the purpose dictated the form, its restrained styling communicating efficiency, from the petite grille at the front to the cut-off tail at the rear.
The combination of its tubular chassis and its Zagato body gave the automobile its name : TZ for Tubolare Zagato.
Focussed on the development of its touring cars at this time, Alfa Romeo looked to entrust the management of its racing cars to an external source, and found a perfect partner in Autodelta. Created in 1963 by Carlo Chiti and Ludovico Chizzola, Autodelta was a race-car preparer. Chiti and Chizzola learnt of Alfa Romeo’s desire to outsource its racing activity, and an agreement was struck with Orazio Satta to set up a partnership. This continued for some months before Alfa took a share in the company in 1964, becoming the sole shareholder in 1965. And so for its motorsport activities, Autodelta, led by Carlo Chiti, became Alfa Romeo’s armed wing. This was good news for the future of the TZ : with Autodelta in charge and supervising its production, the car was developed with care and competence. Being lightweight (weighing around 650 kg), the car reached speeds of over 210 km/h with ease, and higher speeds in cars where the 1600 engine had been tuned to produce over 150 bhp. The well-designed chassis gave the car great agility, and it worked wonders on both road and track, with an enviable record of success in competition. In 1963, the TZ won its class in the Coppa FISA at Monza, driven by Lorenzo Bandini. It won its class again in the 1964 Sebring 12 Hours. There was also an verall win in the 1964 Coupe des Alpes for Jean Rolland and Gaby Augias. Moreover, the TZ won its class several times between 1964 and 1967 in the most challenging and prestigious events, including Le Mans 24 Hours, the Targa Florio, the Nürburgring 1000km, the Tour de France Auto and the Sebring 12 Hours.
In 1964, work began on an even more radical version, the TZ2. However, that’s another story....In its first version, 112 examples of the TZ were produced.
Leaving the factory on 11 March 1965, the Alfa Romeo TZ on offer was a rare example delivered new in France on 17 March 1965 to the marque importer SoFAR in Paris. This is confirmed in the Alfa Romeo archives that also record the car as being white with black interior. Remarkably, the copy of the first French title in 1966, after the car had been imported by SoFAR and homologated in France, allows us to trace its history. It was ordered by Maurice Zadouroff (the title records it as Zadourofr), living in Bidart, and the car was registered 195 KK 1964. Zadouroff was an important retailer from the Basque country, confirmed to us by Georges Debussy, the former dealer of the Alfa Romeo garage in Biarritz, who used to race in SZ and GTA models. He told us:
«At that time I had an Alfa enthusiast client who came to pay me a visit : I offered him the Tubolare Zagato on the strength of a picture on a postcard, and Mr Zadouroff ordered one from me straight away. I called S.O.F.A.R, the importer in Paris, and the boss, M. de la Charrière promised me a car as soon as one became available. Another of my good clients ordered an Alfa 2600 Zagato from me, again from a postcard as we didn’t have any brochures, and I put in a second order. Several months later the two cars arrived on a truck from S.O.F.A.R and the TZ was delivered to me in a magnificent Alfa red. Mr Zadouroff told me he didn’t want a red car as it would stand out too much. He asked me to have it repainted yellow and to have two vents put in the rear wings to attach his fishing rods to. This was a favourite pastime of his, and he made regular trips to St Jean Pied de Port in the car. A few years went by and then one fine day at the start of 1970 M. Zadouroff showed up at my garage and announced that he would like to sell me his TZ which proudly displayed 27,000 km on the clock. "15,000frs and it’s your". I didn’t have the money but as he insisted, I offered to pay him in three instalments, and the deal was done. It stayed in the lobby of my garage for a long time, not for sale, until the day when the Alfa Romeo dealer from Carcassone, Roger Debien, begged me to let him buy it when I decided to sell it.
At the end of the 1970s or the start of the 1980s, when I was short of cash, I decided to sell the car. I was not short of offers, but as I had promised it to Debien, it was he who became the next owner for the sum of 200,000frs, which allowed me to invest in a new project.
Some time later, when business was even tougher, with fierce competition and it was really hard to sell Alfas, I was invited to visit René Mauriès’ fantastic Alfa Romeo collection in Albi (which would later be sold by Maître Poulain in Paris). I went there in my old Alfa 6 saloon that I hadn’t managed to sell and Mauriès took me aside and told me I should have kept my TZ as Roger Debien had just sold it for over 3 million francs (around 500,000 euros) to a foreigner. I felt the sky fall in on me, I couldn’t have been more shaken up, and the return journey to Biarritz in my old Alfa saloon was tough. The next day, I called Debien without talking to him of the fabulous price he had got for my ex-TZ, but I did ask if he could help me out by taking the old Alfa 6 of my hands; he said he’d call me back and I’m still waiting for that call.»
Thanks to Mr Debussy’s account, we know that the car only had three owners before 1990, that it was probably red originally, and above all that the air vents seen in photos from the late 1980s were put in for a most unusual reason!
In Carcassone in 1990, in the hands of the Alfa Romeo dealer Roger Debien, the car was registered 4034 MZ 11. In February 1990 it was sold to the famous Van der Velden family, through the intermediary Guido Bartolomeo, a well-known connoisseur of the marque. The following year it was sold to an enthusiast and Swiss dealer from the Lausanne region (the car was registered in the Vaud VD district), and it was then fully restored by a renowned Italian specialist in Zagato aluminium bodied cars, and repainted red. At this point the air vents made in the rear section at the request of the first owner were removed. The TZ then sold to a German collector who kept it for several years, before heading off to the Ancona region of Italy as a flagship model in one of the most important Alfa Romeo collections in the world. It was at the sale of this collection, the legendary Solo Alfa sale organised by Artcurial Motorcars at Retromobile in 2014, that the car was acquired by the current owner, a Parisian enthusiast with a particular interest in Zagato- bodied race cars. Since then, as with all his cars, he has used his TZ regularly in order to keep it running well, with some 12 000 euros spent in recent years to ensure this was the case. The roof lining has been re-done at the excellent workshop of Caribex. Equipped with its original engine, impeccably presented within the tubular frame, the car comes with its owner’s manual.
The interior has the purposeful appearance of a racing car, with bucket seats in competition trim, large rev counter under a visor, facing the driver, and central speedometer, graduated to 260 km/h.
In superb condition and with continuous history, this TZ is undoubtedly one of the most stunning examples available. A sublime racing berlinetta, built to win, it will be welcomed at all the major historic events such as Tour Auto and Le Mans Classic. An icon of the marque, and a witness to the talent of the engineers and designers who built it, it has the aesthetics and the history, in addition to unrivalled driving qualities, to bestow on its new owner.

Photo © Xavier de Nombel

The auction of this lot will take place on Friday 18 March.
https://www.artcurial.com/fr/lot-1965-alfa-romeo-giulia-tz-4134-176