- Olga Kokorina
- Translated by Olga Apetenok
- Ru Fr Ar He
Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato. As a sign of respect
The Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato is a hatchback based on the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan, created at the end of 2022 and styled like a coupe. Three mysterious letters in the name mean ‘Short Wheel Base’. The unique new car was made in a single copy for the sake of art and as a sign of respect for its long-standing partner, Zagato bodywork studio, with which Alfa Romeo has been cooperating for more than 100 years (their first joint model Tipo G1 was released in 1921). Surprisingly, this project was sponsored by a German connoisseur of Zagato, who lives in Germany and collects cars from an Italian studio. The cost of the Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato has not been disclosed.
Zagato is an independent coachbuilder and design studio located northwest of Milan in Terrazzano. Alfa Romeo and Zagato have created dozens of unique models, such as the Alfa Romeo SZ coupe from the late 1980s, the look of which was also created by Zagato.
Exterior
The new car does not resemble the Alfa Romeo Giulia production sedan, which was sold in Israel as the second generation after the 2020 restyling. Zagato’s Giulia has its own original carbon fiber body. The car has become shorter, but the exact dimensions remain unknown: the Zagato SWB will not be standard.
The ‘face’ of the Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato is very impressive and aggressive. A low hood, triple ‘waves’ of ‘frowning’ LED running lights, a trademark ‘beak’ triangle and huge black holes in the grille ‘under the eyes’… This design is truly memorable. Of course, there are Zagato-branded ‘bubbles’ forming the profile of the roof. The heavy-looking rear is also Zagato’s corporate identity. Designers have tried to play with the appearance of older Alfa Romeo models, including 1960s racing cars, and have not forgotten the Alfa Romeo SZ coupe: the brightest reference to the SZ is the triple headlights traffic light sections.
Interior
The interior was borrowed from the regular Giulia: the design is almost completely standard; the exception is the individual parts which are now carbon fiber. The front seats are sporty. Plus, the second row of seats was replaced with a safety arch. The color scheme is black with dark green, to match the bodywork. Since there are no rear seats, the trunk turned out to be quite large. Things are loaded through a lid combined with a panoramic rear window, which is why the model is considered a hatchback, but that designation is hardly appropriate for such a sculptural and sporty car.
Powertrains
In terms of powertrains, the Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB is based on the powerful Giulia Quadrifoglio sedan in the rear-wheel-drive version with a manual gearbox. Under the long hood is the 2.9-liter V6 engine boosted to 540 hp. The dynamic characteristics of the SWB Zagato have not been announced, but it is clear that they are somewhere on the level of the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm, which has only an automatic gearbox, which allows the GTAm to accelerate to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds and develop a maximum speed of 300 km/h. We hope this unique car will be a great New Year’s gift for his client!
In February 2023, the manufacturer will release an updated Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan, which will receive new adaptive matrix headlights, a digital dashboard with a 12.3-inch display instead of an analog display, and an entry-level version with a 2.1-liter turbo diesel engine (160 hp, rear-drive), which has been “in the archives” since 2020.
