Background
To the true Alfa Romeo cognoscenti, and we’re talking about people who go to bed wearing Alfa pajamas, the 105 series coupé of the mid-1960s is pure catnip.
And it’s easy to see why.
They are achingly beautiful cars, with superb engines, built to reward proper drivers.
They’re a distillation of the essence of Alfa Romeo.
The Tipo 105 and 115 series Alfa Romeo coupés were styled at Bertone by a young, relatively unknown designer named Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Forty years after designing these gorgeous cars he was named Car Designer of the Century.
What took them so long?
The 105 series, built between 1963 and 1977, all had GT or ‘Gran Turismo’ in their nomenclature and this included the Sprint GT, Sprint GTC, Sprint GTV, GT 1300 Junior, GT 1600 Junior, 1750 GTV and the 2000 GTV.
Each variant featured a free revving four-cylinder twin-cam engine sending power to the rear axle via a five–speed gearbox in a combination that achieved and delivered perfectly balanced handling. It also came with the added bonus of a twin-carb induction roar that made weak men swoon and strong women fight.
The 105 series coupés were nicknamed ‘step nose’ on account of the ¼ inch gap between the leading edge of the bonnet and the nose. Naturally, it sounds rather better in Italian - ‘scalino’.
In 1965 the Sprint GT Veloce was introduced.
Veloce, meaning speed in Italian, was deemed appropriate as the model suffix because the upgraded twin-cam engine produced a little more power and a lot more torque.
A five-speed gearbox came as standard, sending power to the rear wheels.
Disc brakes to all four wheels gave the GT Veloce superb stopping power.
Today, these cars fetch seriously good money. We know. We’ve auctioned some.
What we have here, then, might just be a shrewd investment for someone willing to put in the hard yards and spend some money.
Someone like you?
