It is a $43,000 cylinder head for a car you have likely never heard of. The Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2 was a bad little number back in the 1960s. The follow up to the company’s TZ1 model which had a beautiful body, the TZ2 took the look and enhanced it further, used fiberglass to make the shell, and employed the services of an angry little four banger engine. There were 12 of these cars made, hence the huge price tag on the cylinder head that is currently for sale online. Listed as “New Old Stock” we’re not sure if it has ever been mounted to an engine block before but the thing looks clean as a whistle.
The 1.5L inline four engine used dual overhead camshafts and made a very impressive for the time 170hp! Obviously a cross-flow hemispherical style head, this thing moved some air and that little engine made some power. Couple that horsepower to a really small, 1,300b car with a steep gear ratio and a stick and you have yourself a recipe for fun and excitement. This was apparently a pretty expensive package with only 12 ever sold but the whole thing is really kind of neat. The engine used a dry sump oiling system and had a 7,000 RPM redline! Again, all of this was going on in 1965. That’s pretty awesome.
The car’s 152 mph top speed was a pretty big deal back then but its design shares many features with iconic cars like the Shelby Daytona Coupe, especially the tail area. The car was a one year wonder essentially and by the end of 1965 development and production stopped with the company focusing on other stuff.
This head is like 53 years old and we’d bet a buck that on a flow bench, even today, it would move some impressive amounts of air! Now, if you are one head away from finishing your TZ2 resto, $43,000 will finish your project!
Link: This twin plug hemi head does not fit what you think it does, we guarantee!
I hope for that price, it isn’t cracked in the intake runner of #1 like it looks to be.