Monoposto Veloce

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

In AD7-117 Toshiharu Takeno asked, "regarding early Giulietta Spider Veloce's.
Does anyone know the difference between Le Mans Spider and Sebring Spider?
What are their configuration?"

In AD7-120 Taiju Kobayashi followed with "In Japan, we commonly call a
monoposto (single seater) Giulietta 750 spider with low windshield & head
fairing as a "Sebring Spider" .(a friend of mine has one, bought in the US)
But actually we haven't seen any period photo of that sort taken in Sebring.
Instead a works Le Mans car features a monoposto, I've heard. So we, Takeno
and I are not sure there really exists "Sebring" spider. And we are
desperately wishing to know which race the monoposto was made for and made its
debut, and how many they were made by Alfa itself (many fakes were likely to
be made)".

In AD7-121 Ed McDonough responded: Subject: Monoposto Spiders "They were
actually made for the Mille Miglia...1955 and 1956 I believe."

I know zip about Spiders (and generally care less, being a roof man) but it is
fairly well known that the Giulietta was conceived as a sedan, became a coupe
by a financial accident and a Spider by afterthought, and that the Spider in
turn became a success initially in large part through the careful nurture of
Max Hoffman of New York who suggested numerous revisions to the prototype-
dropping the wraparound windshield, adding wind-up windows, simplifying the
dash, cleaning up the bumpers- etcetera - and made a commitment to sell a
bunch. 

The only photos I have seen of the monoposto in competition were of the one
Consalvo Sanesi drove in the Mille Miglia 29 April 1956. These photos, in the
Anselmi-Boscarelli book on the Giulietta in the series Le Auto Classiche,
refer back to the photo on page 98 captioned "Un'altra delle operazione
"istigate" da Mr. Hoffman fu realizzazione di un piccolo gruppo di Spider
Veloce monoposto destinato alle competizione." An operation instigated by
Hoffman to make a small group of monopostos for competition. 

Later in the same book there is a register "delle Giulietta sportive". On page
186 is a list of chassis numbers, motor numbers, colors, production dates, and
first owner of "Le spider tipo 750-G e monoposto", some of which are listed as
Tipo G, monoposto, some as Tipo F, monoposto, some as Tipo G, trasformata in
Tipo F, and one as Tipo G, biposto (tipo Europa). One of the Tipo G,
trasformata in Tipo F is also appended "Europa". There are twenty-four cars in
all. For the "Primo proprietario" Alfa Romeo, Milano has one, Alfranco Pagani,
Milano has one, Auto Konig of Munich has one, Associated Commercial
Enterprises of Beirut, Lebabon has one, and the other twenty are all Hoffman
Motor Car Inc., New York.

There are ten pages of class victories listed, with dates, driver, place, and
car type, but not broken down to monoposto/biposto. Six pages are Berlinas and
TIs in various rallies. The vast majority of the rest of the victories are in
Europe and are in Sprints, Sprint Veloces, Sprint Veloce Zagatos, Sprint
Veloce Michelottis, Sprint Speciales, and Sprint Zagatos. ALL of the Spider
victories listed are:

Palm Springs, 11/56, Richard Morse
Santa Barbara, 11/56, Bill Pollack
Sebring, 24/3/57, G.Rainville/J. Kaplan
Elkhart Lake, 22/6/58, Clinton lindburg
Thompson raceway, 20/7/58, Georgr Fogg
Sebring, 1/3/59, G.Rainville/J. Kaplan
Lake Erie, 7/59, Chuck Stoddard
Maryhill loops, 7/59, Pierre Phillips in G production & Ray Stickel in F
production
Lime Rock, 7/59, Chuck Stoddard
Vernon field (Jamaica) 12/61, P. Sirgany
Carrera Presidenciale, Mexico 12/61, Hector Alonzo Rebacque

Doesn't say whether any were monopostocs, BUT
- -it seems that racing Spiders was a mainly North American thing  
- -it seems Max Hoffman, with twenty monopostos, must have been thinking about
somebody doing some racing
- -Sebring is a place he would most likely have been thinking of,
- -and there were two Giulietta Spider class wins at Sebring.

That is all pretty circumstantial, but except for Sanesi's and any other
monopostos, if any, which ran at Le Mans or the Mille Miglia, "Sebring" would
be as legitimate a descriptive name as one might want- pending somebody else
coming up with more and better data.

Cordially, 

John H.

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