Alfa Romeo Tubolare Zagato I Review and Buyer's Guide

fter the Second World War Alfa Romeo's motordivision underwent a radical change. Before the war it had made small numbers of handbuilt cars, but from 1950 it entered the mass market. The company's great traditions had not been forgotten, however, and until the Alfasud of 1972, every postwar Alfa Romeo had a twin overhead camshaft engine and the company was the first to offer five-speed gearboxes on mass produced cars.

As delivered to the customer, its four-cylinder, twin-overhead camshaft, 1,570-cc engine delivered 112 bhp, which drove through a five-speed gearbox.

That 112 bhp was just the starting point, however, and almost every TZ received the attention of tuners with the best examples producing over 150 bhp.

Since the car did not rely on the body for structural stiffness Zagato made it from aluminium, and a combination of light weight and a sound aerodynamic shape made the TZ a very rapid car indeed. In competition trim (and virtually all TZs were used for competition) it would exceed 150 mph, an astonishing speed for a 1,600-cc GT car in the early 1960s. Production of TZs was farmed out to Delta, a company near Venice, which soon became Autodelta, and Alfa Romeo's competition division, under the direction of the former Ferrari chief designer, Carlo Chiti.

The TZ made its debut at Monza in October 1963 where Lorenzo Bandini won his class. That set the pattern for the car; it faced fierce opposition in its class, particularly from the midengined Porsche 904 GTS, but it could hold its own in any company, and excelled in long distance and-endurance events such as the Tour de France and Targa Florio.

S/N 007

Jean Rolland and the TZ1 formed an extraordinary partnership, and he gave this particular car a history of competition success which few cars of the period can match. In 1967, however, he was killed while testing an Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 for the works. inished in red, with a black interior, it had been fully restored to its original specification after having been heavily crashed and put away into storage as a wreck some 20 years ago. It was now described as excellent in every respect; the engine (#0051100015) for example had covered only 100 miles since a complete rebuild.

Chassis no. 007 had just been the subject of a major article in Classic Cars, and subsequently had undergone the minor adjustments which are necessary after any total rebuild. It was represented to the assembled bidders as having been fully fettled. Estimated reserve was $135,000 - $165,000.

Alas, there were no TZ aficionados in the crowd that day willing to bid the required amount, and the car remained unsold.

However, Simon Kidston of Coys was kind enough to inform SCML that 007 was later sold by Coys to a German Alfisti for $146,250.