1975 Alfa Romeo 1600 GT Junior

Built on the 15th of January 1975 and imported into the United Kingdom in 2017 from the sunny climes of Australia, it has been freshly resprayed in its original colour of Azzuro Le Mans, work that has left it looking wonderful.

It’s been recently mechanically restored too, and we are told that it’s had around £12,000 spent on it in total in the past four years. As a result, it now drives as well as it looks, something that isn’t always the case with some of the ones we’ve seen…

Being offered with a very sensible reserve, this is your chance to get your hands on a reasonably priced example that’s also finished in an unusually attractive colour.

The Alfa benefits from a full respray in its original colour of Azzuro Le Mans. Carried out in September 2020, it looks utterly terrific and the blue certainly makes a change from the more usual red. The panel alignment is pretty good too, and the flanks are free of the sort of ripples and dinks sported by cars that have been less carefully curated and restored than this.

And, we’re told that that careful curation was aided considerably by the fact that it spent the majority of its life in Australia, which means it won’t have seen salt for the first 42 years of its life. This is, as you’ll doubtless appreciate, a huge bonus given the propensity of the model to rust with an even greater alacrity than most cars of the era.

The chromework is good too, sitting straight and shining nicely. An awful lot of trim bits and bobs were replaced in 2018 as well including many of the light lenses, seals, and rubbers.

The steel wheels look absolutely terrific; alloy wheels are all very well but you can’t beat a set of steelies to give a timeless, purposeful stance, can you? The tyres are matching 185/70R14 Goodyear Efficient Grip too, which is always reassuring.

Because, as we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

There is some tidying to do but given you’ve just spent 12 months locked-down with your family, that’s good news, isn’t it? Especially when you see just how minor the work needed is: the new paint has a few blemishes and some orange peel (most notably on the bonnet and driver’s door; please see photos #102 and #238 respectively for details) that could do with polishing out; the driver’s door could do with easing into position a bit more accurately; the HUGE rear numberplate is a bit wonky; the wheelnuts are rusty; and the rear numberplate lamp and wiring could do with tidying up.

The front valence is also a little crusty, even if it looks to be solid. That’s a job for another day though but given how solid and straight the rest of the car is, it does let the side down a little.

The simplified interior of the Junior yields nothing to its more expensive and larger engined siblings in terms of design or quality. The three-spoke Alfa Romeo ‘Hellebore’ steering wheel, for example, is utterly glorious both to look at and to hold. The throttle pedal is as elegant as you could ever hope to caress on a sports car of the Junior’s delicacy, and equally subtle chromed door release handles make every door opening an occasion.

The two angled gauges in the centre console relay information of fuel level and water temperature while the speedometer and rev counter dominate the driver’s view, the latter containing an oil pressure gauge. There’s a delightful trapezoidal switch panel to the right of the steering wheel too, as well as the very of-the-period rubber floor covering.

The pleated cream vinyl seats are lightly patinated and no more; still looking terrific and very comfortable, they are easily good enough to leave as they are for the next decade or so. The rear seats are even better but considering that there’s next to no legroom back there, that isn’t the biggest surprise of 2021 so far, is it?

The wooden veneer on the dashboard was replaced in November 2018, at which time the driver’s door seal was also replaced. There is still a little work to do in areas such as the handbrake lever, which needs painting, but the overall impression is positive.

The boot, which is home to the freshly painted spare steel wheel and matching new Goodyear tyre, is utterly solid and as well painted as the rest of the car with the exception of the underside of the boot lid, which is a little industrial in appearance.

The boot is lined with the usual factory rubber mats, some of which have a few small splits in them. The result doesn’t look bad but we can see you might want to keep an eye out for replacements given how good the rest of the Alfa is.

Speaking of which, as with the exterior, the rest of the cabin could do with some light work, work that’s pretty much limited to the need for a deep clean. A fastidious owner might like to take a look at the lining on the C-pillars too as they’re a little glue-stained, and the door pull, which is a little mangled.

A new fuel tank and sender, and clutch slave cylinder and hose were fitted in 2018, along with many other parts including what appears to have been a full overhaul of the heating, braking, suspension, and steering systems. All-in-all, we’ve totted up the bills you see here from Classic Alfa and Auto Britalia came to well over £4,000 for the parts alone.

These invoices, taken in conjunction with the handwritten notes you’ll find in slide numbers 321-324, point towards an unusually thorough mechanical restoration.

The underside is worth examining if for no other reason than to admire the finned engine sump. That aside, the metalwork appears to be strong and solid. Neatly undersealed too, and while the exhaust does look a little battered and rusty, that’s just the excuse you need to replace it with something a bit fruitier, isn’t it?

The underbonnet area is nicely presented without being prissy; most won’t find anything there to worry about but those with a more fastidious nature might like to invest some time and a little money in detailing it.

Other faults? Well, the only thing we’ve identified is a slight steering knock.

The Alfa doesn’t have a current MOT certificate, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have the car re-MOT’d at the earliest. The cost of an MOT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic car, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

That said, the Alfa’s MOT certificate only expired in October 2019 and given the two UK tests it’s had were both free of any advisory points whatsoever - which isn’t a surprise given the extent of the mechanical fettling it’s enjoyed -we can’t see that getting a new ticket would be unduly onerous.

It has a couple of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the past couple of years. It also has a letter from the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club confirming its build date.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been restored to a very good standard.

We’re huge fans of the 105-series Alfas and while most have historically preferred the full-fat GTV, we find ourselves being increasingly impressed by the simpler Junior. Neat and understated, they offer the classic enthusiast a beguiling combination of the likelihood of greater future appreciation as well as the prospect of being under-estimated by all but the cognoscenti.

And yet, the fear of rust (understandably) puts many off buying what it almost certainly one of the best sporting saloons of the era – but even that is not a problem in this case thanks to the car’s Australian heritage, a heritage that manifests itself by way of a rot- and rust-free shell, thereby eliminating the only obstacle to buying a car that you, like us, have probably lusted after for decades.

And that delay in achieving your ambitions might not be as costly as you fear because, while the price of the GTV has now risen to what is frankly silly money, this Junior is likely to go for less than £31,000 and maybe as low as £24,000.

This not only makes it a bargain now but also means that there are probably few safer, or potentially more lucrative, places to store your money now that the banks and building societies are paying such a derisory rate.

Inspection is always encouraged (within Govt. guidelines of course), and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.