Alfa Romeo TZ2 and Canguro: Two for the Road

In 1963, the Zagato-bodied TZ* revived Alfa Romeo's road racing fortunes in the 1600 cc class. Though it was considered an extension of the popular Giulia series, the TZ featured a unique space frame chassis and independent rear suspension to go with the Series 105's rev-happy, 1570cc twin cam four, and of course disc brakes all around.  In order to keep ahead of the competition, by 1964 Alfa had come up with a lower, lighter TZ2 based on a dry sump, twin spark version of the Giulia engine that appeared first in the last few of the 112 TZ1s  built. The dry sump engine permitted a lower hood line, and Zagato's switch to fiberglass for the tightly contoured body got the weight down to 1,370 pounds, promising for a 175 hp racer...

The close-up of the tail below shows what most of the TZ2's competitors saw on the track. The car's performance fulfilled the promise of its purposeful, all-business look. In 1965, TZ2s took class wins at the 1000 Km of Monza, the Sebring 12 Hours, the Targa Florio, and the Nurburgring 1000 Km, as well as at Melbourne, the Giro d'Italia, and the Criterium des Cevennes.  

The photo below shows the class-winning car at the Nurburgring in 1965.  Alfas repeated their class win there in 1966, as well as at Monza, Sebring and the Targa Florio...

As Autodelta was moving forward with the racing program, Alfa released a TZ2 chassis to Bertone, where Giorgetto Giugiaro took advantage of the low profile to sketch out a prototype for a disappearing breed: the dual-purpose sports car that could be raced on weekends and then driven home. The Canguro (Italian for kangaroo) was first shown at the Paris Salon in autumn of 1964. A couple years before the designer began to explore wedge shapes, he managed a masterful harmony of curved contours tightly enclosing the space frame chassis. The row of air extractors on the front fenders emphasizes their curved section, and repeats the  arc of the roof section.

At the front, the trademark Alfa shield grille was stated as a simple bright metal outline, while headlights were blended into the fender contours with plastic covers.  As on the E-Type Jaguar from 3 years earlier, the fenders and engine cover were formed into a single unit thich titled forward for access. Unlike that car, the designer didn't even bother with token bumpers.  Also, unlike the case with the E-Type, the manufacturer did not take the enthusiastic crowd that mobbed their show car as a sign they needed to put it into series production... 

The rear three-quarter view shows how the door windows curve into the roof, repeating the curved section of the fender forms which wrap inward at the base, exposing the wheels which fill wells repeating the same ovoid shape. The wraparound backlight arcs down slightly toward the Kamm tail with raised center section, with a lower overall profile than on Zagato's TZ or TZ2.  Overhangs are tight, front and rear. 

The Canguro's interior features situated it somewhere between the stark, stripped down TZ2 and Alfa's GT cars. The passenger, unable to roll down a window (the curvature into the roof prevented that) or tune the radio (there was none) was given a speedometer to study, perhaps in alarm...

Air extractor vents, useful for a cockpit where only the small windows at the front of the doors could pivot open, were cleverly concealed in the quadrifoglio, the four-leafed clover that had served for decades as the symbol of Alfa's racing teams.

In the photo above, the Canguro wears cast magnesium wheels like the racing TZ2s, unlike the wheels for the Paris debut, shown below. The car was crashed when under test by a journalist, and sat behind Bertone's factory for years until the forlorn wreck was purchased by an enthusiast for the equivalent of $36.00.  It needed an engine and a complete restoration, and after receiving these it traveled to various car shows, where it served as a reminder of one of Alfa Romeo's great moments and also one of its lost opportunities, the car that got away...

We mentioned that there were a dozen TZ2 chassis, with ten bodied by Zagato as road racers and one bodied as the Canguro by Bertone. Alfa sent one of the last chassis built to Pininfarina, where Aldo Brovarone styled the 1965 Giulia 1600 Sports Coupe in an elongated form with swooping fenders echoing his prototype Dino from the same year. The large overhangs and embryonic bumpers front and rear hint at touring rather than racing intent.  Overall, the design lacked the tight focus and clarity of Giugiaro's design for the Canguro, which remains one of the most perfectly proportioned cars Alfa (or any manufacturer) failed to put into production.

*Footnote:

The TZ2 and its predecessor, the TZ (now sometimes called the TZ1) are discussed in "Bodied by Zagato Part 2: Five Decades of Alfa Romeos", which was posted on May 6, 2020. 

Photo Credits: 

Top & 2nd from top:  the author

3rd from top:  Alfa Romeo Automobilismo Storico

4th from top:  Wikimedia

5th thru 7th:   Carrozzeria Bertone

8th:  en.wheelsage.org

9th:  imcdb.org

10th (Bertone Canguro in color):  Alfa Romeo Automobilismo Storico

11th:  Pininfarina, on en.wheelsage.org