The Art of Conservation: Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca

The story of rediscovering a very important historic vehicle and its conservation whereby the car has been treated as a work of art, saving as much as possible of the amazingly well preserved original. Drawing on art and archaeological techniques, prominent Italian collector Corrado Lopresto decided to clean only half the car, leaving the other half frozen in time. In the uncleaned half, Lopresto preserved everything (including the dust) under a thin layer of transparent matt lacquer. The cleaned part has not been restored either, but has been saved by retouching in such a way that the original aspects are not affected. This book "Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca: The Art of Conservation" captures the rediscovery of this historic vehicle and the way it has been preserved – a fascinating tale of art meeting automobile.

A very significant car in terms of aerodynamics and body design, this is the specific car on which the evolution from the Coda Tonda version of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ to the Coda Tronca was executed

Hidden for the best part of five decades, the car was rediscovered in the United States in a perfectly preserved state

Acquired by the legendary Italian collector Corrado Lopresto, one half of the car has been conserved, and the other half has received light restoration to preserve the car in as original a state as possible, making it a unique experiment and example of conservation processes and concepts

Not only did it win the Best Preserved Award at the Concorso Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2016, it also headlined the special exhibition of historic vehicles at UNESCO, Paris

No doubt one of the most significant cases of a barn find, which has been preserved in the best possible way, thereby providing an example for the future