Speaking Of The 100 Best...

1954 Alfa Romeo Giulietta

This car should be on any "all time" list.  It was the Acura or Honda VTEC of its time.  The Giulietta was Alfa Romeo's first all-new postwar car, introduced in 1953.  Before World War Two, Alfa made its reputation on big, fast, expensive cars with custom coachwork.  The Giulietta was a small sports car aimed at the mass market.  It found a following in the States because of its mechanical refinement and true convertible top.  It was expensive: about the same as a big Healey at around $4500.  Far more than an MG or a Triumph (which were around $3000) but less than a Porsche 356 (around $5500).  A basic Chevy or Ford was around $2500 in those days.

The Giulietta's most notable feature was an all-aluminum DOHC engine--the first in a production car.  It was high-revving and powerful for its 1.3 liter size.  The car had other state-of-the-art specifications: a unit body and an axle with an aluminum center-section, located with trailing arms, a top link, and a Panhard Rod.  (When the S-197 Mustang got onto my radar in 2005, the first thought that occurred to me was "that's the way Alfa used to locate their axle.")  And big, finned aluminum, drum brakes.  It was a light, fast, good-handling little car.

The Veloce ("fast") version of Alfa's DOHC engine had twin Weber carbs--a throat for each cylinder.   It put out 90-110 horsepower in the street car.  With racing cams, it made the then-magic "100 horsepower per liter" mark.

For 1963, Alfa increased the engine size to 1.6 liters, gave it the first 5-speed gearbox in a production sports car,  and front disc brakes.  "All grown up," it was now a Giulia.  My summer jobs then were for a sports car dealership.  I drove one about 150 miles for a dealer trade and just loved it.   The handling inspired confidence, the engine encouraged aggressive driving, the gearbox was easy and fun to use.  The Giulia  worked with you, not against you.  I preferred it to MG's, Triumph's, and the Porsche 356.  Alfas were so much fun to drive.

Cockpit, Alfa Romeo Giulia.  That nice steering wheel was connected to quick rack-and-pinion steering (which was rare except on British cars in the '50's and early '60's) .  The gear lever and pedal placements were perfect.  The cockpit was spacious compared to other sports cars.

The Giulia model also cleaned up the rear styling of the car with larger, faired-in tail lights.  In my opinion, it was  the prettiest of the postwar Alfas, including the later Duetto (the "Dustin Hoffman/Graduate" car). 

Comparing a Giulia to an Acura or Honda VTEC is a bit of a stretch.  Alfas were rear-drivers and VTEC's are front-derivers. A carbureted DOHC, with a wide angle 8-valve head isn't the same as a fuel-injected, electronically managed VTEC, with a narrow-angle 16-valve head.   But the feel of the cars is similar: a lot of revs and performance out of a small engine and quick, responsive handling.  They both say "car made for drivers by engineers who love cars and know what they're doing."  And, if you wanted one, you could even get an Alfa with a tin top:

The GT coupe version of the Giulietta/Giulia was called the Sprint.  It had small rear jump seats, but was mechanically identical to the Spider.  Amazingly, this medium-grey color was popular with European manufacturers in the '50's and early '60's.  You could get in on Alfas, Porsches, BMW's, Mercedes, and long-forgotten British sedans.