Estimate: £16,000 - £20,000
Book an
Inspection Slot
Commission a
Condition Report (up to 10 working days before the sale)
“Gent’s natty GT… body by Bertone… reasonable seating for 3 or 4 people… highly desirable piece of machinery” Motor Road Test of The Alfa Romeo GT.
The 105/115 Series Alfa Romeos were the company’s mainstay throughout the 1960s and well into the late 1970s, building on the foundations laid with the 750/101 Series Giulietta and ultimately Giulia back in the 1950s. The everyday but far from mundane 105 Giulia saloon donated its floor-pan (shortened) and running gear to the range of Coupes penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro when employed by the famous Bertone styling house. Heavily influenced by his earlier Alfa Romeo 2000 and 2600 Sprint, the family resemblance is clear with large glass houses and slim to non-existent roof pillars. From virtually any angle the Coupe is a delightful looking machine, perfectly balanced on its tip-toe relatively tall wheels, there isn’t a duff line to be seen.
Top of the range was the GT Veloce which sported 1600, 1750 or 2 litre engines depending on year with the ‘entry level’ Junior weighing in with either a 1300 engine or the 1600 from the early GTV. The all-aluminium, twin overhead camshaft engine, fed by two twin choke carburettors produced 108 very sweet BHP. All these mechanical goodies gave the sports saloon a top speed in excess of 115 mph with just 11 seconds required to reach 60; pretty impressive for the late 1960s and early 1970s. The largest capacity engines are naturally the gutsiest but the smaller displacement units spun more freely with the 1600 being allowed a full 1,000 RPM more before reaching its red line compared to the 2,000. For those of you that read all our descriptions, yes, we make compelling cases for both the 1300 and 1750 units too!
The exotic mechanical specification continued through to the running gear with five speed gearboxes and disc brakes front and rear. Proper coil sprung suspension was complimented by a sophisticated system for location of the rear axle; all the sort of components your average British sports car owner could only dream of. Just what those who had to make do with a ‘sporty’ saloon from Ford or BMC though at the time is anyone’s guess. Mind you, this level of sophistication was needed to justify the 105 Coupe’s price parity with such exotic fare as the E-Type Jaguar in the UK.
Alfa Romeo produced the Junior Deluxe specifically for certain export markets and it essentially combined the trim level of the GTV with the smaller engine of the Junior. Interior trim materials were more luxurious and the instruments more user-friendly so a quick glance told you everything you needed to know about the car’s wellbeing and possibly the risk to your licence.
Unusually, all this development and improved refinement resulted in a mere 77lb weight gain over the base model 1300 GT Junior; a case of having your cake and eating it though that is probably not the most appropriate expression in this instance.
Production of this classic Sports Saloon remained viable right through to 1977 proving just how sound the original design was.
Registration Number: LFM 196N
Chassis Number: AR 115 05 *0001030*
Engine Number: AR 00526ASG982
This beautiful right hand drive Alfa Romeo GT Junior is one of a number of cars that were produced, interestingly, in two different hemispheres. How so? During the 1960s and 1970s Alfa Romeo took advantage of a tax loophole when exporting their products to South Africa. Right hand drive vehicles for this important market were built in Milan alongside those destined for other countries but they were removed from the production lines just before completion. The relatively minor final assembly (rumoured to be as little as bolting the wheels on, though instillation of the engine may have also been undertaken) was carried out in Alfa’s factories in South Africa. The result back then of this 2 stage production process was a far more favourable rate of tax and hence a more competitive retail price but today the bonus for the UK based Alfa enthusiast is potentially rust free right hand drive cars from warm and dry South Africa.
This GT 1600 Junior is an amazingly solid, bright car that was sourced and imported by a UK domiciled Alfa aficionado during one of his frequent business trips to South Africa and he personally oversaw its most comprehensive of restorations. We would stress this was not a car bought ‘sight unseen’ or sent over by a third party knowing that the ultimate owner would be many thousands of miles away should anything prove to be sub-standard; the owner imported it for his own personal use and take it from us, he knows his Alfas. You might like to check out his other, very similar GT Junior also in this sale; remarkably only some 28 chassis numbers separate the two cars. In fact, so similar are the two cars that their descriptions should ideally be read in tandem.
This car’s shell, again resplendent in ‘Rosso’ is in truly excellent condition and is amongst the best we have seen both structurally and cosmetically and again inspection on the ramps is recommended to appreciate the cars quality at first hand.
During the comprehensive engine rebuild, which included new pistons and liners, the cranks main and big end journals were measured and found to be within tolerance and they were simply polishing with no need to resort to regrinding and the fitting of oversized bearings.
The rear axle and gearbox were inspected and refurbished where appropriate before being reinstalled complete with a new full Sachs clutch kit. The suspension was stripped, sand blasted and refinished to a high standard before being fitted with new bearings and bushes as required along with a new set of dampers. The braking system was rebuilt from pedal to discs with new pipework, refurbished twin servos and re-plated callipers. Indicative of the attention to detail and engineering excellence applied to this restoration, the steering box was stripped and any wear to the appropriate parts was removed by hard-chroming and re-machining back to factory specification.
The GT wears its correct steel wheels and centre caps, again refurbished to a high standard and these are fitted with new Hankook tyres. The correct, single, Alfa logoed mirror is present and good order. The chrome-work is very good with only very minimal pitting to the cast items such as rear lights, front grill and door handles.
Inside the car is in very good shape having been fully re-trimmed in gorgeous pale cream leather with new contrasting black carpeting. The interior is topped off with a desirable ‘Personal’ wood rim, Alfa Romeo logoed steering wheel. The only minor issue is that there are a couple of cracks in the dash top. The boot is freshly carpeted and contains a rare factory ‘long range’ fuel tank and original jack.
The engine and its bay are as you would expect, very clean and tidy – refreshingly simple compared to modern machines too, all the better to show the purity of the classic Italian aluminium twin cam engine.
Fully restored and sorted, this lovely GT 1600 Junior Deluxe is ready to be enjoyed on the open road exactly as it is.
