Page 1 of 2 Next >> In 1961 former Ferrari and Alfa Romeo engineers Carlo Chiti and Lodovico Chizzola branched out on their own and established Delta-Auto. The fledgling company's first major commission came from Alfa Romeo, who were interested in a competition version based on the soon to be introduced Giulia production car. Chiti and Chizzola pushed that brief as far as they could and developed a racing car that effectively was a Giulia in name only.
The two talented engineers designed a new tubular spaceframe chassis from scratch. It featured all-round independent suspension and disc brakes on each of the four corners. The sophisticated rolling chassis was clothed in a lightweight aluminium body that was designed and constructed by Milanese specialists Zagato. The Ercole Spada penned design boasted a slippery nose with covered headlights and a Kamm tail similar to the second series Zagato bodied Giulietta racing cars introduced in 1961.
What was carried over from the Giulia production car was the twin-cam, four cylinder engine. To lower the frontal area, the 'four' was mounted in the engine bay at a slight angle to the left. Breathing through a pair of Weber carburettors, this 1,570cc unit produced around 160 bhp in racing trim. By 1965, an even more powerful, twin-spark version of the competition engine was available as an option. The Giulia derived engine was mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.
Developed during 1962, the new Giulia racer was dubbed the 'TZ' for Tubolare Zagato in reference to the chassis and body design respectively. By the time the Giulia TZ made its public debut, the company had been named Autodelta and it did not take long before it was incorporated as Alfa Romeo's official competition department. Intended for GT racing, Autodelta needed to produce 100 examples for homologation purposes. Page 1 of 2 Next >>