You know how we motoring writers tend to get a bit overheated and over-excited when it comes to Alfa Romeos? Yeah, well, here's why - it's called the Giulia SWB Zagato, and it's a staggeringly beautiful one-off to celebrate 100 years of Alfa working with the famed Milanese design house, Zagato.
Classic Alfa Romeo and Zagato models
The two companies have form together. Remember the staggeringly pretty Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato? The Giulietta SZ and Giulia TZ? Or the so-ugly-it's-actually-beautiful SZ Coupe of the late 1980s? When Alfa Romeo and Zagato get together, wonderful things happen.
Which is just how it is with the Giulia SWB Zagato. As the name suggests, under there is the chassis and engine from the current Giulia saloon, but Zagato has chopped a chunk out of the wheelbase to turn it into a coupe and given it an incredibly striking new body (which actually seems to owe more to the little Junior Zagato coupe than to the bulky SZ).
Actually, technically, the relationship between Alfa and Zagato is 101 years old this year, as the partnership began in 1921 with the Tipo G1. But work on this Giulia SWB Zagato was started back in 2021, so it kind of counts.
German collector
Sadly for us mere mortals, the Giulia SWB Zagato is a strict one-off and has been sold to a mysterious German collector, who apparently owns a whole barn full of rare Alfa Romeos, including an 8C Competizione and an SZ. He's apparently a Zagato enthusiast because he owns a few 1980s Aston Martin Vantage Zagatos too. Those don't come cheap.
Can't imagine that the Giulia SWB came cheap either - underneath is the engine and drivetrain of the mighty 540hp V6 twin-turbo GTAm version of the Giulia, a car calculated to give the BMW M3 nightmares. It even gets a six-speed manual gearbox instead of the more common automatic... The five-spoke centre-lock alloys also come from the Giulia GTAm. We also love the subtle badging - there's a monochrome Alfa logo stencilled onto the mesh of the central grille in the nose and Alfa Romeo written on the bootlid in chrome calligraphy. *Chef's kiss*
Simplicity, aerodynamics, and lightness
Inside, aside from being a two-seater, the cabin is pretty much stock Giulia, save for the lashings and lashings of carbon fibre and leather and the body-colour strips of iridescent 'Montreal Green.' Alejandro Mesonero, head of Alfa Romeo's 'Centro Stile' styling department, said that it "fits perfectly into the historical path of the two marques where the first objective was and is to combine beauty with performance. The philosophy of this new 2023 SZ is that of the 1960s, with a body driven by simplicity, aerodynamics, and lightness."
For all Mesonero's approval, technically, this is a fully Zagato product, designed and built by the firm at the behest of the German collector. We're pretty sure Alfa Romeo is happy enough to take the reflected glory, though. At a time when BMW seems keen to trash its reputation as a maker of handsome cars, it's refreshing to see a major premium car maker still wedded to utter beauty.