Background

Having won the inaugural 1950 and ‘51 Formula 1 World Championship, Alfa Romeo quit single seater racing owing to the cost of building a new car for 1952 when a two-litre engine limit came into effect.

Instead, the firm embarked upon a Sports car programme with the intention of winning at Le Mans. However, in its original form the resultant C52 ‘Disco Volante’ proved a disaster and although the subsequent 6C 3000 CM most significantly bagged second place in the 1953 Mille Miglia, Alfa management decided to close their competition department at the end of 1953.

During 1961, highly regarded ex-Ferrari and Alfa Romeo engineers Carlo Chiti and Lodovico Chizzola established Delta Auto in Feletto Umberto, Udine. The firm offered engineering services to motor manufacturers and soon picked up a commission from Alfa Romeo who wanted to make an official return to motor racing.

The Milan company already had a production-based 1.6-litre GT car in the very early stages of development, but its real priority had been to get the new Giulia range into production. As work on the Giulia approached its conclusion, Alfa Romeo contracted Delta Auto to help create a purpose-built GT racer to replace the old Giulietta SZ (Sprint Zagato).

The new machine would be conceived for Group 3 GT racing which stipulated a production run of 100 vehicles within a twelve month timeframe.

At the time, GT racing was at an all-time high with the FIA having switched the World Sportscar Championship to focus on these production-based Group 3 Grand Touring cars as opposed to Prototypes. The Prototypes were still eligible to run a limited number of events, but points scored by these more highly developed cars went towards a separate Coupe des Sports.