Alfa Romeo Giulietta

Owners of Giuliettas and 101-series Giulias were on their own by the 1970s when I served as editor, in sequence, of Alfantics, the newsletter of the Capital Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club, and the Alfa Owner, the newsletter of the national club. My position enabled me to observe the imaginative ways their owners talked about and worked to keep their cars running, whether as daily drivers, for weekend outings to club gatherings, or on the track. When Richard Langworth, author and publisher of books for collectors of high-end American cars, commissioned me to compile a book about Giuliettas and Giulias, I was eager. Richard’s venture went bust, but to his credit, he offered to help me place my book and put me in touch with the obvious carbook publishers. My book was ready for publication by 1976. But every publisher we approached passed on it, adding something like “If you’ll expand your book to cover all (or all postwar) Alfas and include color pictures, we’ll consider publishing it.” I believed that what the market wanted much more was a useful guide for serious enthusiasts. Finally, in 1982, the first firm that had seen and rejected my Giulietta came back with “You were right, we think a book such as you describe will do well in the current market.” My book became the most referenced carbook in English. Especially popular with readers were my recitation of Giulietta and Giulia paint codes and my tallies of the timing of changes from model-to-model and by serial and engine number during the transition from the 750 and 101 models and from Giuliettas to Giulias.