primotipo…

I love Stewart Johnson’s moody, evocative shot of Alec Mildren’s Alfa Romeo TZ-2 taken during the 1966 Surfers Paradise 12-Hour run over the August 21 weekend.

These cars were built for endurance events, not the five or ten-lap screamers prevalent in Australia, so it was a chance for the team to contest a 12-hour event of the type for which Autodelta designed the car.

Jackie Stewart is best away at the start in the Scuderia Veloce Ferrari 250LM from the David Piper/Richard Attwood Ferrari 365 P2 #1, the Peter Sutcliffe/Frank Matich Ford GT40, the Bartlett/Chivas TZ2 and then the first of the Lotus 23B Lotus-Fords driven by Frank Demuth and John Harvey.

Below, the third-placed Bartlett/Chivas TZ-2 is ahead of the Piper/Attwood Ferrari 365 P2 DNF. Up front was the winning Stewart/Buchanan Ferrari 250LM, one lap ahead of the second-placed Sutcliffe/Matich Ford GT40.

Chassis AR10511-750112 was built on a modified TZ-1 chassis; number 750072 was a chassis, not a complete car, and had an aluminium body, ‘presumed to be the only all-aluminium car and to have been used as the mould for the fibreglass cars,’ wrote zagatocars.com.

Registered UD111834, the works Autodelta machine was first raced by Roberto Bussinello and Andrea de Adamich in the April 25, 1965 Monza 1000km – round five of the World Sportscar Championship – finishing first in class and seventh outright. The race was won by the Mike Parkes/Jean Guichet Ferrari 275 P2.

It was then off to the Targa Florio on May 5. This time Bussinello was paired with Nino Todaro, but they failed to finish after an accident on lap 6 of 10. Up the front was the Vaccarella/Bandini Ferrari 275 P2.

Suitably repaired, 750112 was prepared for the Nurburgring 1000km a fortnight later, May 23, with Bussinello again at the wheel, this time paired with Teodoro Zeccoli, where they were 30th with 36 laps completed compared to winners’ Surtees/Scarfiotti’s 44 laps aboard a Ferrari 330 P2.

The car’s final European outing before its sale to Alec Mildren was at Le Mans on June 19-20 where Zeccoli shared it with Jose Rosinski. The weekend looked promising enough but it all came undone come raceday when Teodoro went off at the end of the Mulsanne into the sand trap from which he never escaped.

He didn’t give up, though. The spectators were treated to a gritty two-hour performance where Zeccoli tried to dig the car loose, the final element of which involved stripping down to his jocks to use his race suit under a rear wheel in an attempt to get more traction. Unsuccessfully, unfortunately.

Mildren then imported 750112 to replace the second of his GTAs in mid-1966 with its regular pilot, Kevin Bartlett, seen below giving the now yellow car plenty at Warwick Farm in 1966.

Amongst the sprinters. Frank Demuth’s Lotus 23B from Kevin Bartlett, Alfa Romeo TZ-2, Niel Allen, Lotus 23B, Lionel Ayers, MRC Lotus 23B and Greg Cusack’s Lotus 23B then the obscured Les Howard’s Lotus Super 7 and Spencer Martin’s Ferrari 250LM on June 15, 1966

And below, Bartlett chasing Ron Thorp’s AC Cobra, again at Warwick Farm

750112’s ownership roll call in Australia is fairly long, although most of them didn’t race it.

From Mildrens the car went to Roy Compton, then Max Brunninghausen in 1967, Compton trading the TZ-2 on Brunninghausen’s TZ-1. Max raced it extensively, including a trip to the Macau Grand Prix in 1968, where he finished a splendid third in the sports car behind Jan Bussell’s winning Brabham Lotus-Ford and Hengkie Iriawan’s Elfin 600C Ford FVA.

The robust TZ-2 was ideally suited to the rough road circuit, although Max had his challenges after differential failure during practice. Divine Intervention came via Alec Mildren and the Australian Government, who shipped a spare diff from Sydney to Macau via a Diplomatic Bag!

Another Sydneysider, Denis Cribbin followed in 1969, the cars contemporary racing history, including two or three decent hits along the way, was then over.

The trail of ownership then goes something like this. Les Miller bought it in 1971, followed by Messrs. Robertson, Hopkins, and Whiting in quick succession (is this correct? I’ve never heard of them in connection with this car), then Royce Fullard of Eltham, Victoria. Royce may have sold it to Nick Langford, who lived not far away in Mitcham.

When I saw the car in Langford’s restoration business at Castlemaine circa 1978, it was in a million bits. Langford – an Alfisti through and through – would have done a great job with the restoration, but its sale as a result of his matrimonial earthquake shook the car loose, and it left our shores for good circa-1980. Current custodian folks?

Etcetera…

The Bussinello/Todaro TZ-2 #750112 during the 1965 Targa Florio.

Denis Jenkinson wrote in MotorSport about the new car’s Targa appearance. ‘The special bodied orange Alfa Romeo GTZ of Autodelta, the factory team, came screaming into sight at the far end of the village street, and snarled as it slowed and changed down for the corner in the square.’

The secret of the car’s success was the careful evolution of the TZ-1 chassis and engine. Later in its competitive life in Australia, the capacity of the twin-plug twin-cam four-cylinder engine fitted to 750112 was circa-1.9-litres rather than the 1.6-litre unit first fitted.

To reduce weight, the TZ’s aluminum body was replaced with a lighter fibreglass one, with the exception of ‘our’ 750112. Designer Ercole Spada created an erotic, lower, leaner, more aggressive body. All of the improvements resulted in a car that sat 140 mm lower, produced 20 extra horsepower and weighed 40 kg less than the TZ-1.

Alfa Romeo historian/author Ed McDonough wrote that, ‘Unfortunately, by the time the TZ-2s made their race debut at Monza in 1965, Alfa management had already told Carlo Chiti, Autodelta’s director, that his shop was to concentrate its efforts on developing the GTA and the Tipo 33.’

‘This was done at the TZ-2’s expense, and soon the cars were sold off to privateers. The TZ-2 raced successfully for another two seasons and scored class and sometimes even overall wins in a variety of events, including sprints, endurance races, and hillclimbs. The TZ2 extended the TZ-1’s victories with wins in the 1600 GT class at Sebring, the Targa Florio, the Nürburgring 1000 km, Monthlery, Spa and Monza.’

Max Brunninghausen in the Warwick Farm form up area above, and in the Surfers Paradise pits in 1968 below.

‘There are constant arguments as to how many TZ-2s were built, ‘ wrote Ed McDonough. ‘According to Alfa expert L. Fusi, twelve were made from chassis 750.114 to 750.121, obviously leaving some numbers out. Author David Styles says ten were built, while Hull and Slater say twelve, as does Belgian Tony Adrieansens. Adrieansens argues eight were made in 1965, and four of the 1965 TZ-2 chassis were built with TZ-1 chassis numbers. For example, 750.104 is a TZ-1 chassis number but is an early TZ-2. 750.1106 is the same and was one of the early test cars. Possibly 750.112 is the only aluminium-bodied car.’

‘All the nine Zagato-bodied racecars are accounted for and most are in racing condition. Since the running gear is production based, they are relatively inexpensive to run in vintage racing. However, you’ll first need more than a million dollars to buy one, as that’s what the last one sold for at auction.’

Credits…

Stewart Johnson, John Crawford, Ray Kaleda, Zito Drummer, Natalino Wong, Geoff Dowdle, Bill Reid, Ken Crump via Ed Holly Archive, Kevin Bartlett Achive, John Gray, Lynton Hemer, Geoff Medley, Alfa Romeo Archive, Marouf Collection, zagato-cars.com, ‘Colour and Noise:40 Years of the Macau Grand Prix’ by Phillip Newsome, Ed McDonough ‘Alfa Romeo TZ2-Delta Force’ article on supercars.net.

Finito…