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The Art of Conservation: Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca
by Corrado Lopresto, Gautam Sen, Paolo Di Taranto
NOW AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE
Click on this link or the below image to view sample pages
The story of rediscovering a very important historic vehicle and its conservation whereby the car has been treated as a work of art, saving as much as possible of the amazingly well preserved original. Drawing on art and archaeological techniques, prominent Italian collector Corrado Lopresto decided to clean only half the car, leaving the other half frozen in time. In the uncleaned half, Lopresto preserved everything (including the dust) under a thin layer of transparent matt lacquer. The cleaned part has not been restored either, but has been saved by retouching in such a way that the original aspects are not affected. This book "Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca: The Art of Conservation" captures the rediscovery of this historic vehicle and the way it has been preserved – a fascinating tale of art meeting automobile.
- A very significant car in terms of aerodynamics and body design, this is the specific car on which the evolution from the Coda Tonda version of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ to the Coda Tronca was executed
- Hidden for the best part of five decades, the car was rediscovered in the United States in a perfectly preserved state
- Acquired by the legendary Italian collector Corrado Lopresto, one half of the car has been conserved, and the other half has received light restoration to preserve the car in as original a state as possible, making it a unique experiment and example of conservation processes and concepts
- Not only did it win the Best Preserved Award at the Concorso Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2016, it also headlined the special exhibition of historic vehicles at UNESCO, Paris
- No doubt one of the most significant cases of a barn find, which has been preserved in the best possible way, thereby providing an example for the future
- Page Size 290mm x 25mm
- Hard cover with dust jacket
- 216 pages
- 263 illustrations
- Written in English and Italian
- 978-1-956309-05-8
- First published in 2024
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Thank you, Pete Vack and VeloceToday.com, for the great review.
October 14, 2024
 VeloceToday Oct 14 24.jpg)
Click the image above, or this link, to be taken to the VeloceToday website.
Thank you, Classic Cars Magazine, for the great review.
September 2024
 Classic Cars Sept 2024.jpg)
Thank you, Jürgen Lewandowski and Motorworld Magazine, for the great review.
September 2024
 MotorWorld Bulletin August 2024.jpg)
English translation:
Over the past few decades, Corrado Lopresto has put together one of the most impressive car collections in Europe – the Milanese architect only collects Italian brands, but the unique ones, the show cars, the style-defining models from the big bodywork companies. And of course the models that have made racing history – and these models include the Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca, which was dressed by Carrozzeria Zagato. A brief look back: From 1956 onwards, Carrozzeria Zagato built around 170 examples of the Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce with a 1.3 liter four-cylinder engine, which quickly became popular in racing. As always, there were customers who wanted a faster version, and so the Sprint Zagato "Coda Tronca" with optimized aerodynamics was created. To achieve this, Zagato designer Ercole Spada made the car four centimeters lower and 14 centimeters longer and gave it a brutally cut Kamm rear end (“Coda Tronca”). The car now reached 215 km/h instead of 200 km/h – around 30 vehicles were to be built. It was clear that Corrado Lopresto also wanted a “Coda Tronca” in his collection and finally he found a car in the USA. And it was not just a “Coda Tronca”, but the first car built that was based on a “normal” Sprint Veloce. And Lopresto had another wish: he wanted to not only perfectly restore the more than 50-year-old car, but also preserve its wonderful original condition. The solution: while the right side – in the direction of travel – was perfectly preserved in its original condition, the left side was restored to new condition. The result is surprising with its two completely different sides - on the one hand, weathered and marked by racing, on the other, the car looks as it did when it was delivered. You don't have to like the solution, but the result is fascinating - and the book is absolutely worth reading and looking at. No wonder the car caused a stir at Concours.
July 2024
 SpeedReaders July 2024.jpg)
Click on the image above or this link to be taken to the SpeedReaders website and full review
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