Re: 4R Zagato

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Looks as if one can't post anything anymore without "quibblers" making 
one out to be a liar. My information comes from David Owen's book "Alfa 
Romeo: Always With Passion"

According to Owen's statement in the first paragraph of the sidebar 
'The Spider 4R Zagato' on page 111: " The car was built on the Giulia 
floorpan with Giulia mechanicals, but the body, at least, was built by 
the old firm in the old way, and the car looked a great deal more 
genuine than many modern recreations."

Unfortunately, David Styles' "definitive" Alfa history "Alfa Romeo: The 
Spirit of Milan" doesn't mention the 4R Zagato Quattroruote at all.

But Tippler's treatise: "Alfa Romeo Spider, The Complete Story"  States 
only that the Gran Sport Quattroruote 4R Zagato was built '...using the 
running gear and suspension of the 101 series Giulia."

I suspect that Mr. Owen was being a bit too literal. While it is 
possible to mount either front or rear suspension members outside of 
the  stamped Giulia floorpan to get a longer wheelbase, it would make 
little sense to do so. What would make more sense would be for Zagato 
to fabricate a simple ladder or x-member frame for the small number of 
cars made.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0S




On Friday, Aug 1, 2003, at 17:14 US/Pacific, alfa-digest wrote:


> Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 14:56:38 -0400
> From: "John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>
> Subject: 4R Zagato

> Tim had written that they "were built on a Giulia floorpan", and 
> George Graves
> wrote they "were actually built on a Giulia floorpan by the original
> coachbuilder, Zagato and sported a real, fold-down flat windshield."
>
> I question at least the "built on a Giulia floorpan" part; the car has 
> a
> wheelbase of 2600 mm, versus 2250 mm for the 101.23 Giulia Spider 
> (whose type
> number Russ Neely correctly says they shared), a difference of roughly
> fourteen inches. Other Giulia wheelbases are 2380 mm for the Sprint, 
> 2350 mm
> for the 105 coupes, 2510 mm for the sedans, 2570 for the 1750/2000 
> Berlinas.
> Even the Milano is 2510; the Alfa Sei was the only Alfa between the 
> 2600
> berlina and the 164 with as long a wheelbase as the 4R.
George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0S
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