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Motoring: Alfa Romeo 130 Series coupe - 1963


Alfa's mainline sports coupe during the 1960s and early 1970s, the 105 Series coupe began its life as the Giulia Sprint GTV. It is generally regarded as the prettiest sports coupe ever to wear the four leaf clover. The Giulia Sprint GT, introduced in June 1963, was an all new two door coupe designed by Bertone, with similar lines to the bigger 2600 Sprint and based on the mechanicals of the TI Berlina but with 106bhp. The 105 replaced the 1600 Sprint in production. In 1965 the roofless Giulia GTC Cabriolet was introduced. Unfortunately only about 1000 of these very attractive cars were built and this model never made it down under.

In the same year the Giulia GTA was released. It was a Sprint GT with a light alloy bodyshell and an engine with two spark plugs per cylinder, a higher compression ratio and twin 45DCOE carburettors generating 115bhp in standard trim and up to 170bhp in competition. A total of 500 GTAs were built for motorsport and scored numerous successes in1966, 67 and 68 including the European Touring Car Championship in all three years.. A smaller number (10!) were supercharged for use in Group 5 racing in the UK, Belgium and France in 1967 and 1968. Producing around 220bhp these were known as the GTA-SA (sovralimentato).




The Giulia GTV (Veloce), introduced in 1966, coupled the Sprint GT with a 109bhp engine and various other small changes. Another new addition was the GT 1300 Junior which fitted a 89bhp 1300 with twin carburettors and a five speed gearbox into the Sprint GT bodyshell. A lightened version of this appeared in 1968 as the 1300 GTA which incorporated most of the earlier GTA modifications. The engine still displaced 1290cc but with a different bore and stroke, two spark plugs per cylinder, and in competition trim produced some 160bhp, or 165bhp with fuel injection. In total 447 examples of this car were produced.

When the 4-door Giulia was replaced by the 1750 Berlina in 1968, its new, enlarged engine was fitted to the coupe resulting in the 1750 GTV. As well as the new 1779cc engine with 118bhp, the 1750 GTV also gained two extra headlights, an extra 30mm length in the wheelbase and a raft of smaller modifications. The 1750 was also destined for motorsport, but since the rules allowed for up to 2000cc the engines were bored out to 1985cc and fitted with fuel injection. Only 40 of these were produced during 1970 and 71, enough to score a significant number of victories, including the European Touring Car Championship in 1970.



1966 Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior Spider

Similarly, in 1971 when the new 2000 Berlina was introduced the new engine (now 1962cc with 132bhp) was again fitted to the coupe, making the 2000 GTV which was produced alongside the 1300 and 1750 cars. Minor changes were made both externally and to the internal trim. Some of the 2000 GTV cars were also fitted with a limited slip differential. The GTAm's were also renamed 2000 GTAm to relate to the new model. Simultaneous to the 105 series, Alfa produced the larger 2600 series which comprised of a Berlina 4 door sedan, a spider (convertible) and a coupe. The latter (below) used the same styling as the 105 series coupe but was considerably larger.

The main production models in the 105 series were produced in the following volumes:
Giulia Sprint GT: 1963 to 68 - 21,542
Giulia Sprint GTV: 1965 to 68 - 14,240
1750 GTV: 1967 to 73 - 44,269
2000 GTV: 1971 to 76 - 37,459
GT 1300 Junior: 1966 to 76 - 91,195
GT 1600 Junior: 1972 to 76 - 14,299












Alfa Romeo 2600 Coupe

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