Italian Coachbuilder Turning Alfa Romeo Giulia Into Gorgeous Two-Door Convertible

Right now, the design exists only as a series of computer-generated images, but Castagna is open to building one, and only one, for a wealthy collector.

Castagna's Alfa Romeo Convertible Is Begging to Be Built

We see plenty of impressive designs that promise production but never go anywhere. Castagna, however, is no fly-by-night operation. Its name comes from the original Italian coachbuilder founded in the mid-1800s, known for its work on the Orient Express and the groundbreaking ALFA Aerodynamica prototype of 1914. The modern company based in Milan was founded in the 1990s and specializes in custom Fiat 500s, including a funky pickup.

The Alfa Romeo convertible is a much more ambitious project. Its striking design appears to draw inspiration from Alfa Romeo's iconic BAT concepts of the 1950s, while the wedge shape and strong, straight character line along the flanks recall the more modern Alfa Romeo GTV Spider. At roughly 185 inches long, it's the same length as the Giulia it's based on, but this is a strict two-seater.

Where does all that length go? The new hood takes up much of it, with the designers moving the dashboard and front seats back by a full 13 inches. The result is a set of proportions rarely seen on a production car, giving the convertible an impressive stance.

Much of the body is made from carbon fiber, or at least it would be if the car was real, and all the glass panels are new. The windshield, side windows, and fabric top form a single, uninterrupted oval canopy. This is helped by Castagna's patented method of bonding the windshield over slimmed-down A-pillars, which improves visibility while creating the effect of one continuous glasshouse.

What's Under The Hood?

There are no performance specifications yet, naturally. However, the donor Giulia GTA, of which Alfa Romeo built just 500 examples alongside a more extreme GTAm version, packs the same twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6 found in the Giulia Quadrifoglio, but with output bumped to 532 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque.

Interestingly, the Giulia GTA weighed around 220 pounds less than a regular Quadrifoglio, tipping the scales at about 3,350 pounds thanks to measures such as carbon-fiber body panels and Lexan polycarbonate resin in place of glass. Castagna claims its convertible can weigh even less, at just 3,130 pounds, thanks to the removal of the roof, rear seats and other components.

Alfa Already Built A Two-Door Giulia Coupe

As interesting as this convertible from Castagna is, we have to wonder why it didn't build a coupe to maximize rigidity given the extensive modifications it intends to make. But the likely reason it didn't is because Alfa Romeo and Zagato already built a one-off Giulia Coupe in 2022. Dubbed the Giulia SWB Zagato, it was inspired by the iconic Alfa SZ and turned the Gulia Quadrifoglio into a sumptuous two-door with a double-bubble roof and redesigned front end that remains one of this decades best-designed cars.

Dare we say it, but had Castagna tried to do the same, too much comparison would've been drawn between the two, and Castagna's design doesn't quite look as pretty as the official Alfa/Zagato effort.