Alfa Romeo Giulia 1963 Retro Review

Gaining the curator's trust

Giuseppe reaches forward and grabs my hand.

Curling his long wiry fingers around my palm, the short, sprightly Italian, dressed in tight jeans and a bright golfing jumper locks eyes and squeezes with all his might.

Grimacing, I try hiding my pain with a faint, awkward smile. Still holding my stare, his dark brown lifeless eyes search out for signs of weakness.

"Aus-stray-leee-an, si?" he asks, both nodding his head and exhausting all his English vocab.

Nodding back, despite being born a Brit, it's at that moment I realise Alfa Romeo's museum curator is an expert communicator.

One handshake and I know what this small sedan means to him ¬- and it's far more than the €100,000+ sum insured.

With just 501 examples made, the Giulia TI Super is almost irreplaceable.

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A game changer in touring cars

Introduced back in 1962, the 101-series Giulia replaced the old 1.3-litre Giulietta; it shouldn't be underestimated just how special and important the later car is, especially in Giulia TI Super guise.

Created, like many great cars, to homologate parts (and the car itself) for motorsport, the TI Super featured the regular Giulia sedan's five-speed manual gearbox, independent front suspension and coil-spring live rear axle, but turned everything up to 11.

Announced in April 1963, the Giulia TI (Turismo Internazionale) Super's sole purpose was to compete in international touring car racing - except Alfa missed the registration deadline for 1963 homologation, forcing it to compete in the lesser Gran Turismo class.

It didn't matter. With all the correct papers in place for 1964, the Giulia TI Super went on to win and win big, bagging class victories in international and national circuit races as well as bringing home the silverware in rallies, humbling cars like the Lotus Cortina and BMC's Mini Cooper.

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>> Forza Alfa Romeo: Guilia QV and 4C Review

Light of weight, not substance

Developed by the Italian car maker's legendary Autodelta competition department, the reason for the small sedan's success was down to the building blocks of the road car.

Weighing in at just 910kg - the TI Super was more than 90kg lighter than the regular Giulia TI.

Not surprisingly, the weight saving went beyond obsessive.

Hence why the inner headlamps were ditched, the bumpers lost their rubber over-riders, the rear windows were made of exotic (back then) plexi-glass and the alloys were magnesium.

Inside, all the sound-deadening material was junked while the bench seat was sacrificed for a pair of supportive, lighter bucket seats.

Even the steering wheel was switched for one with aluminium spokes, while the dash was replaced with a simplified three-dial unit.

More concessions to 'trackability' were made with the addition of a floor-mounted gear shifter and all-round disc brakes.

As a nod to safety, a pair of seat belts were also fitted, but no doubt ignored by the previous owners of the car I'm driving - they look new.

Engineers placed the Giulia back in the wind tunnel to tweak the aero to direct extra cooling air for the exhaust manifold and fuelling system.

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Classic powerplant

Under the bonnet the standard twin-cam 1570cc four-cylinder, meanwhile, was now fed by a pair of twin-choke Weber DCOE carbs.

Power was conservatively claimed, at the time, to be around 85kW at 6500rpm, but the little four-cylinder is reportedly so easily tuned, some racers ran at almost twice the standard output.

Officially, the small Alfa's 0-100km/h was timed at around 9.6 seconds with a top speed well in excess of 185km/h.

As it ticks over noisily, I'm inclined to believe the version we're about to drive is particularly healthy.

Climbing into the soft, supportive bucket the dash displays just 21,000km, but this little Giulia is used and used hard and it's no surprise the speedo isn't working.

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At home with Giulia

Giuseppe watches me ease the small Alfa off the line nursing the gears. The clutch is heavy, but smooth and progressive. Contrary to what I expected, the gearbox offers only long throws and needs some force to select the correct gear.

We're halfway round the museum's compact short circuit when the rev counter dies a sudden death, which is a shame, because the Giulia is now finally warm and there's little time left to see how special this automotive legend really is.

Flatten the throttle and what I thought was originally peppy performance becomes very brisk indeed, as the second choke opens on each of the Webers.

The 1570cc soundtrack switches from rough and ready, to rorty and rude.

Emphasising the straight-line performance is the lack of braking. The disc brakes feel wooden and need surprising force but, to their credit, stand up to the abuse and don't fade.

Perhaps the best part of the Giulia TI Super experience is the steering that transforms from heavy and slow to feel-some and communicative.

Grip and traction, meanwhile, are impressive despite the modest 15-inch wheels.

As soon as you do reach the limit of adhesion the breakaway, both at the front and the rear of the car, is progressive. It's friendly and fool-proof, which suits me, and it's not long before the Giulia TI Super is making you feel like a superhero.

Shaded by an SUV

It's only when we begin filming do I learn the real truth while trying to keep up with our Alfa Stelvio tracking vehicle.

Without any speedo, my sense of speed is shot and it really is a challenge to keep up with the modern Alfa SUV through corners without tipping onto the ragged edge of the Giulia's handling repertoire. But by now, I don't care.

Giuseppe is my best friend, on every pass he gives me an enthusiastic thumbs-up, or theatrical applause. He's enjoying the sight of 'his' Giulia being driven, as it should be.

The Giulia TI Super was the original super sedan, and hugely influential, going on to inspire cars like the original BMW M3 and, more recently, Alfa's very own Giulia QV. Unlike those cars, however, 54 years later the Giulia TI Super can still teach car makers a valuable lesson: how a real sports sedan should be enjoyable at any speed.

1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI Super pricing and specifications:
Price: $155,950 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder
Output: 85kW/132Nm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel: 13.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: na g/km
Safety Rating: TBA

Related Forza Alfa Romeo reading:
Forza Alfa Romeo: Guilia QV and 4C Review
Forza Alfa Romeo: Design leads the charge
Forza Alfa Romeo: Stelvio Adventure Drive
Forza Alfa Romeo: Spotlight on Museo Storico
Forza Alfa Romeo: Alfa Romeo’s factory of the future
Forza Alfa Romeo: Tour of top-secret Skunkworks
Forza Alfa Romeo: Top seven cars at the Arese museum
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