Alfa Romeo 1600 Junior Zagato

At Marreyt Classics & Twin Cam, we're known for several things: rare cars, high-level restorations, and... controversial opinions! In a market where everyone seems to follow the beaten path, we like to swim against the current and form our own viewpoint on cars that have marked history. Most publications about the 1600 Junior Zagato refer to this car as the swan song of Zagato, the last production car before the company started focusing solely on prototypes. We strongly disagree with the course of thought behind these articles! Yes, we agree that you can't call 402 examples a commercial success, but we also see why the numbers have remained so low: on top of being one of the most expensive Alfa Romeo's in the product range, people in the early '70s simply weren't ready for its futuristic styling. As always, Ercole Spada was right all along! The best proof is that his design was almost shamelessly copied over a decade later when a Junior Zagato owner designed the Honda CRX, with thousands of units produced. We see a multitude of reasons to choose the Junior Zagato over the Bertone-designed Sprint. In an era where cars competed on the level of horsepower, Spada focused on a streamlined design to reduce drag. Modern Motor Magazine quite suitably described the Junior Zagato's wedge-shaped body as "a steel skin stretched over an engine". The lighter build and the compact size also guaranteed a nicer drive with excellent handling and sporty driving results. Ergonomically, the car was also ahead of its time: the rear window that opened just a few centimetres to improve the air flow without sucking in exhaust fumes, the bucket seats with integrated headrests, the perspex covered front lights to further reduce drag, ... Luckily, nowadays this car is much more appreciated than it was almost half a century ago. The difficulty today is to find a healthy example! And this is exactly what we have here: a very clean and rust-free 1600 Junior Zagato that handles as nicely as it looks €œ a supreme pleasure to drive! Sitting behind the 3-spoke wooding steering wheel, listening to that twin cam's alluring song with a gentle breeze coming from the back window, you realise¦ yes, Ercole Spada was right all along!