Alfa Romeo has been building coupes since the 1930s. Beginning with fabulously stylish and expensive bodies on sports chassis before, and immediately after, the war, Alfa later decided to 'think small'. This decision led to the renaissance of one of the most charismatic marques in motoring and the birth of a line of small sports coupes that would become a legend.

First of this classic pedigree was the Giulietta Sprint, launched in 1954. Wearing fine clothes designed by Bertone, and with flashy performance to match, the little coupe took the motoring world by storm. In 1962 Giulietta became Giulia and Alfa's sporty coupe was offered with more power on tap.

More power meant more sporting appeal. So highly rated were these Alfas that several red-blooded special versions span off the main production line. With aggressively beautiful bodies by Bertone and Zagato, these cars were dream machines with very successful competition careers.

The Alfasud represented a slight change from all this, with a move into a lower market sector, but the boxer-engined Alfasud Sprint was still a machine to be reckoned with. Its big brother, the Alfetta, being built in Northern Italy at the same time, upheld the company's reputation for fast, sexy machinery.

In 1989, with the end of Alfasud Sprint and GTV production, the line of traditional Alfa sporting coupes, and the classic pedigree, came to an end. Graham Robson's history of these cars describes each in detail with the aid of superb archive and specially commissioned photography. In a new century, when classic Alfas are more highly prized than ever, this book is an ideal tribute to these characterful and sporty cars.