I love the Alfa Romeo 105/115 Bertone coupés. Who doesn’t? I caught a couple in quick succession around town recently, both of which will grace these pages eventually. They’re both pretty different, though they’re essentially the same car and from the same late ‘60s era: one is stock, the other is modified for racing. One is white, the other red. One has quad headlamps, the other not. Let’s start with Junior, then.
The 105/115 Alfas are a complicated bunch. There were a plethora of variants – saloons, spiders and coupés – as well as coachbuilt specials and wagons. The saloons were usually called Giulia; the spider was originally known as Duetto and then just “Spider.” The Bertone coupé, for its part, was sometimes called GTV, but had a myriad of official appellations, depending on the variant of the DOHC 4-cyl. tucked under its hood. I for one never remember what these are called – to me, they’re just the Bertone Alfa ‘60s coupés. But I guess nowadays, folks refer to these as the 105/115 coupés. So be it.
What we have here is the smallest of the bunch: the 1.3 litre, formerly used on the Giulietta. When that legendary model was pensioned off in 1965, the GT 1300 Junior was introduced to replace it. The Bertone coupé, at that point in time, consisted of the original 1600, the GTC convertible and the GT 1300 Junior.
Things started to evolve in 1968, when the 1750 arrived, ushering in a revamped front end that the GT 1300 Junior only received (albeit in dual headlight form, of course) in 1970. The 1750 begat the 2000, and this merry family carried on through to 1977 with a few changes here and there, but on the whole, the 105/115 coupé’s decade and a half of production was pretty stable.
Compared to the Spider, which had an extremely long life and therefore felt the ravages of time pretty acutely, the 105/115 coupé never had to endure the indignity of rubber bumpers or plastic grilles. Of course, in the present case, bumpers were deemed superfluous. As was the right windshield wiper, for some reason.
Most of the interior was stripped away as well, for good measure. Rollcage, Recaro seats, Momo steering wheel – about as ready for the track as any car I’ve ever seen, possibly except the Autobianchi I caught a few months ago. The only thing that seems to have escaped unscathed is the gear lever.
I’m not really a fan of these transformations from an esthetic point of view, but at least I understand the principle – peak performance. And it does mean that this little Alfa gets raced every once in a while, which is more than some classics, like the ones that lay dormant in museums or slowly rust away in their owner’s yard.
This Alfa is still alive and kicking, bringing joy to its owner and providing much-needed decibels of twin-cam awesomeness to the world. Might even show that Subaru it’s sharing its sleeping quarters with a thing or two on tarmac (but not on anything else).
Cohort Classic: 1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1300Ti – Nice Alfa!, by Roger Carr
Dash-Cam Outtake: Alfa Romeo GT 1600 Junior, by Yohai71
Who doesn’t love these? Me.
I don’t dislike them, mind, as that would just be a contrarian’s affectation in the face of their considerable virtues. As sweet roadcars, as successful racers, as employers of THAT engine, and, to a point, as aesthetic champions. But it is in the last that, to me, they fall short.
The roof is too high at the back, and too long: the rear window appears to end past the rear of the rear wheelarch. The tail, a wee too short, then sags as if tired of arguing with the overbearing top, ending the show in a meek and slumped affair.
Now, I know of a fix for all of this. Have a look, if you will, at the 105 GTC (this car sans roof). Freed of the hat, the lines instantly begin to straighten up. The panel line just under the side windows asserts itself, and ends in a lump of folded roof (or a canvas C-pillar if raining). By some sorcery, the boot stops sagging and instead just slopes elegantly to its conclusion. It is quite transformed, now an eye-catching expensive little exotic of pedigree – the front was always sweet, only declining over facelifted time – instead of being an expensive car whose slight incoherence might make one question if the pedigree was as pure as the badge worn might suggest.
Sadly, the GTC, wholly beautiful and a true rarity, cannot be raced or rallied, and isn’t much good for security or safety (or probably weather, all things Alfa being equal), so it cannot ever claim to be what its brothers rightly can, and I am sure that if ensconced behind the wheel of even this Tokyo fiddled-up 105 coupe I would forgive any lesserness outside.
But I would not forget it.
A good early 105 coupe is now worth $80-$100KAUD, and any of the 100 RHD GTC (out of 1000 total) were always worth multiples of the coupe, so now only a car for the properly rich. If I was, I’d pay the difference in a moment.
The right windshield wiper would create extra drag, so was not needed on a track car.
This shape is classically beautiful.
Quite a find for a multi storey car park, and looks to be being truly cared for and enjoyed. You’re right that navigating these to the precise mode is not a quick process.
One question – what is the protuberance at the rear that I trust is not a remnant of a tow bar/hook arrangement?
Looks like the bumper with the license plate lights went away and this is an awkward way of pointing two lights at the plate.
It *might* get raced every once in a while. Or it just sports the look in the same way as many other vehicles do. But it sure looks good doing so, whatever the actual case! And looks better to me now than the Subaru will once another 40 years pass.
It has the look of a car that does get raced.
anybody know what’s up with the wheels and studs ?
They look like Alfaholics upsized “re-pro” in 15’
I lived in Italy for several years in the late 1970’s through the early 1980’s. I owned 2 of these Alfas. One thing I found out about them, besides the ever persistent rust problems, was the two levers for the heating and cooling system to the left of the gear shift. There was a little plastic guide that kept it aligned. It would break rendering the climate system almost worthless. I spent many weekends at the local scarica (junkyard) taking Alfas apart looking for that part. I finally came across an Alfa whose owner had machined that little piece out of aluminum. Problem solved. It never failed again. I just had all the other little issues that drive all Alfa owners crazy.