Description
Details:
Oldtimer Australia is delighted to offer for sale this magnificently restored Autodelta prepared 1968 Alfa Romeo GTA Junior 1300.
According to documentation on file from Centro Documentazione Alfa Romeo, this particular car has a production date of the 7th May 1968 with a delivery date of 31 December 1968. It was finished in ‘biancospino’ (white) with a ‘skai nero’ (black) interior.
This US market car was part of a batch of Autodelta prepared cars sold by distributor Don Black Alfa Romeo in New Jersey. The car was sold through dealer Tom O’Brien to its first owner Eugene Strandberg from Iowa.
The car was raced at over 50 SCCA meetings between 1968 and 1980 at tracks including Road America (Elkhart Lake), Road Atlanta, Daytona, Indianapolis, Mid Ohio, Bridgehampton, Summit Point, Mid America (Wentzville), Brainerd (Donnybrooke), Phoenix, Nelson Ledges, Blackhawk Farms and Lake Afton.
In 1969 Strandberg won the SCCA ‘C’ Sedan class in this car in the Mid West division, setting several lap records. The car competed three times at the SCCA National ‘Run Offs’ – the American Road Race of Champions with three different drivers. Strandberg was 10th in this event at Daytona in 1969, Bobby Henson was 4th at Road Atlanta in 1971, and Jerry Wannarka (later SCCA Board Chairman) was 7th at Road Atlanta in 1974. The car was also raced by Gerry Strickfaden, George J Cichon and Larry Sterenberg.
After being campaigned throughout the 1970’s at various race meets, the car was involved in an accident at Indianapolis in May 1980. After being (poorly) repaired it raced again at Indianapolis in April 1981 and for a final time at Elkhart Lake in June 1981. It is understood that the car was painted red after it was repaired. With its racing career concluded, the car was acquired by collector John Murphy (of Alfa Legends). Murphy’s collection went to auction in Atlanta in 2004 from where it was acquired by ‘Judge’ Parker of Richmond, Virginia, who then commenced a restoration. In 2013, Parker sold the partially assembled car and parts to New York classic car dealer, Daniel Rapley.
The current owner acquired this Alfa Romeo GTA Junior 1300 from Daniel Rapley in September 2014 and subsequently imported it into Australia. There is an Import Approval on file dated the 9th September 2014. The car arrived into Sydney in April 2015.
The current owner made the decision to restore the car to present exactly as it was when it first raced.
He engaged the services of highly respected Alfa Romeo restoration specialist Tim Doyle from Zoo Autocraft in Bowral to restore the car. Tim was ably supported by Mick Mitchell from Corse Automotive who did all the mechanical works, AA Panelcraft who painted the car and Steve Busitill who did the trim.
Where possible the original parts from the car were repaired and reused, however, as a second choice original replacement parts were sourced. As a last resort replica parts were acquired from the likes of Classic Alfa and Alfaholics in the UK.
Unfortunately, the car had been separated from its original engine which was sold off from Murphy’s auction in 2004. By an incredible stroke of good fortunate Tim Doyle had purchased a number of parts from the Murphy auction, including what turns out to be the original engine block from this very car! There is a document on file, provided by Don Black, listing both the chassis and engine numbers for the Alfa Romeo GTA’s that he sold. Alfa Romeo did not record engine numbers for the 105 series cars making Black’s list, confirming this car’s original engine number, as very rare and unique. The owner decided to restore the car with a replacement block to preserve the original block which will accompany the car.
As the car was to be used on the track, the current owner decided to install a high quality roll cage. In his words “ . . . the alloy body doesn’t provide much more protection than cardboard”. An FIA approved kit built by Custom Cages in the UK was purchased from Alfaholics.
One of the many challenges was to quieten the car to comply with track noise limits while still using the correct side exhaust. The Corse Automotive team came up with an ingenious solution whereby a hand built muffler runs laterally underneath the car – another work of art!
The restoration was finally completed in November 2019, just in time for the Alfa Romeo Owners of Australia’s (AROCA) annual concorso. The end result is just spectacular and a credit to the current owner, Tim Doyle and everyone who was involved with the project.
Later that month, the GTA returned to the track at the Historic Sports and Racing Car Association’s (HSRCA) Summer Festival at Sydney Motor Sport Park. The car was presented in the livery in which it first raced some 50 years earlier. It ran in regularity and true to the HSRCA motto “As it was it shall be”, it ran on the correct Dunlop CR65 cross ply tyres! The car looked spectacular and to the relief of its owner it ran faultlessly.
The car has been used sparingly since it was restored. It has been driven very carefully in regularity at various track days. Today it presents essentially as a fresh restoration. The ‘biancospino’ paintwork is in excellent condition. The devil is in the detail and all the pop riveted aluminium panels are the giveaway that this car is not your ‘every day 105 series’. The panel gaps are excellent. The external trim is minimalistic, however, it is all in good condition. We love the delicate door handles which are a real feature on this car and fit for purpose to open the feather weight doors! The interior is beautifully presented and in excellent condition.
The beautiful Alfa Romeo GTA wheels are shod with Dunlop Racing 5. 50 M-14 tyres all around.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get the opportunity to drive the car as it is not road registered, however, the owner reports that it drives every bit as good as it looks. When rebuilt, the engine was tuned on a dyno and it develops 140 bhp at 7700 rpm, with torque of 91 lbs/ ft. This is similar to the original Autodelta cars. The car weighs 800 kg, which is slightly more than the original, mostly because of the roll cage, hidden muffler and alloy wheels instead of mags. The power to weight ratio is still impressive and this little Alfa Romeo performs exceptionally well. According to the owner, the engine really comes on song above 5, 000 rpm and it makes a wonderful noise. The car is light and nimble on the track and it handles, steers and stops as you would expect.
This car was shown Auto Italian in Canberra in 2022 where it won Alfa Romeo ‘Best of Marque’ and it was also one of the four finalists selected for Best of Show. It was also shown at Motorclassica, Australia’s leading concours d’elegance and classic car show later in 2022, where it was one of the two finalists in the fiercely contested Bertone class.
There is substantial documentation on file which includes a SCCA Vehicle Log Book, period race results and car magazines, documented ownership from new, period documentation, restoration receipts, photos and more.
Importantly, this car has its correct tipo number (10559), stamped in the boot drain channel.
Highlights:
- Magnificently restored Alfa Romeo GTA.
- Known history from new.
- Numbers correct car.
- Well documented.
- Ready to show, use and enjoy.
Price AUD $399, 950
Background:
The Alfa Romeo story began in June 1910 when A. L. F. A. (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili) was founded in Milan, Italy. Their first car, the 24hp, was a great success and the Alfa name became synonymous with motor racing in the early years. In 1915 Nicola Romeo took over the company and during war time its focus was on military equipment, however, it wanted to build cars. Soon after the very first Alfa Romeo motor vehicle, the Torpedo 20-30hp, was built.
On February 3, 1918, with World War I slowly drawing to a close, the new company called Alfa Romeo was officially registered.
In the early 1920’s Alfa Romeo quickly made a name for itself in motor racing. Drivers like Ugo Sivocci, Antonio Ascari and Enzo Ferrari won several races driving various Alfa Romeo race cars.
Through until the 1950’s Alfa Romeo was responsible for some of the most exclusive road cars and most successful race cars ever built. Some of the cars produced by Alfa Romeo in the 1920’s and 1930’s could be purchased as either a road car or a race car.
The Alfa Romeo 6C is one of those cars. Introduced at the 1925 Milan Motor Show, the Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 was the first model to carry the 6C name. The nomenclature of the model designation 6C 1500 refers to the engine, where 6C = the number of cylinders, in this case six and 1500 refers to the engine capacity, in this case 1500cc. As was quite common in those days, the bodies were provided by various coach builders such as James Young, Zagato, Touring Superleggera, Castagna, and Pinin Farina.
The legendary Alfa Romeo 8C, took the 6C to another level and was one of the world’s most exclusive and successful road, race and sports cars of the 1930s.
Following the Second World War the company was in financial difficulty and it decided a change in direction was necessary to survive. The Alfa Romeo 1900 Series cars effectively replaced the 6C range and whilst it was a success, rather than hand build luxury sporting cars it decided to focus on mass production. Hence, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint was born. Alfa got the formula right and as testament to the success of this model the car was in production for over a decade from 1954 through until 1965.
Throughout the 1950’s and 60’s Alfa built a number of different models including four door sedans, two door coupes and convertibles, however, regardless of model their cars always had a sporting edge. They were a ‘driver’s car’ first and foremost.
Launched in 1963 the Alfa Romeo 105 Series was introduced to replace the very successful 101 Series Giulietta. Designed by Bertone (Giorgetto Giugiaro) the shape was purely Alfa with many styling cues taken from the Alfa Romeo 2600 and 2000. The first model introduced was known as the Giulia Sprint GT which was powered by Alfa’s proven 1, 600cc engine. A convertible version known as the Giulia GTC and more powerful Giulia Sprint GT Veloce were subsequently introduced. Other standard models in the 105 Series range that evolved from 1965 were the 1750 GT Veloce, 2000 GT Veloce, GT 1300 Junior and GT 1600 Junior.
Alfa Romeo’s rich motorsport tradition continued into the 105 series cars. Under the direction of the legendary Carlo Chiti, Autodelta (Alfa Romeo’s racing division) developed a car for competition that closely resembled the road going model. These cars were named GTA, the ‘A’ standing for ‘alleggerita’, Italian for ‘lightened’. The GTA was produced first in 1965 as a 1600 Sprint (1, 570 cc), and then in 1968 as a 1300 Junior (1, 290cc) version. GTA’s were manufactured in either street (stradale) or pure race (corsa) trim. 1, 000 had to be built for homologation. It is understood that approximately 500 Sprints and 450 Juniors were built, of which less than half were corsa spec. All cars were built in the Alfa Romeo factory at Arese and for a considerable price premium clients could have their car race prepared by Autodelta.
The outer body skin of the GTA was made of Peraluman 25, a light aluminium alloy, containing magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc. The inner steel panels were also of thinner gauge with the inner and outer panels bonded and pop riveted together. Magnesium alloy wheels, clear plastic side windows, an aluminium rear upper control arm, lightweight door handles and quarter window mechanisms as well as lightweight interior trim were other GTA features.
The engine had a new double ignition, ‘twin plug’ cylinder head, high compression pistons, high-lift cams, lightened flywheel, a Magneti Marelli distributor, 45 mm carburettors instead of 40 mm as well as magnesium camshaft cover, sump, timing cover and bell housing. A limited slip differential was standard and a special sliding-block rear axle locating system could be specified. The 1300 had a short-stroke, oversquare version of the GTA 1600 engine.
