FOCUS ON: ALFA ROMEO GIULIA GTA
Celebrating 110 years of Alfa Romeo Only 500 units of limited edition Giulia GTA will be offered for sale, ensuring it is a collectors’ item
T
here’s only one way to celebrate the 110th anniversary of a sports car brand and that is with a special edition that reflects the brand’s heritage and capabilities. For Alfa Romeo, it was easy to select a candidate. Its Giulia Quadrifoglio has won praise around the world since it was unveiled in 2015 and holds a record at the Nurburgring for completing a lap in just seven minutes and 32 seconds. Based on the Giorgio platform, the Giulia was the first in a new era of Alfa Romeos. Organising its best technical talents in dedicated “think tanks”, Alfa Romeo asked the planners and designers involved in the car’s development to set aside old rules and habits, to think outside the box and to “believe, dream and create”. The Giorgio teams isolated themselves from the rest of the company to focus exclusively on the new platform. The resultant Giulia and Stelvio are the ultimate expression of “the mechanics of emotion” placing the driver at the heart of a thrilling driving experience. The new Giulia GTA is inspired by its 1965 namesake, the ‘Gran Turismo Alleggerita’, developed by Autodelta and based on the Giulia Sprint GT. Available in two versions, the Giulia GTA with four seats and the Giulia GTAm with two race seats, roll-bar and six-point harness, they will both feature the 2.9-litre V6 Bi-Turbo petrol engine used in the Quadrifoglio version, producing 540hp along with a raft of weightsaving solutions to remain true to the ethos of the original 1965 model. Alfa Romeo engineers have worked to improve the aerodynamics and handling but, above all, to reduce the weight. The active
16
