For nearly 40 years, many of the world's outstanding classic sports car designs have flowed from the drawing board of Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design. One of the most fluent, indeed a true post-war classic, was the Alfa Romeo GTV (Gran Turismo Veloce) Coupe of 1967, which he designed during his rime at Bertone.

Evolved as a sports version of the four-seater Giulia saloon, the GTV remained in production for 11 years from 1965. Under the shapely shell was a superb four-cylinder twin-overhead camshaft engine offered in sizes ranging from 1.3 to 2.0 liters, mated to a crisp five-speed gearbox.

Very much a drivers' car, the GTV handled like the thoroughbred it was, helped by well-engineered front suspension and a positively located lightweight live rear axle.

By the time the GTV was introduced, Alfa Romeo was involved in sports car and GT racing with their Autodelta team. With the arrival of the new model, it was time to campaign cars closely related to the production models, and the GT"A" ("Allegerita" is Italian for lightened) made its bow.

A batch of about 450 of these 1300 Junior GTAs was manufactured in either street (Stradale) or pure race (Corsa) trim. Overall design was not greatly altered, although the front suspension could be adjusted to fine tune the racing handling. But the car was also simplified, leaving it almost 700lb lighter than standard. A GTA Junior gave an impressive 96bhp; Autodelta's miracle men extracted 160bhp. GTA Juniors joined their bigger sisters in races and rallies, lifting that outside front wheel during spirited cornering in a manner unique to the breed. The European Touring Car Champions were GTAs three times from 1966, and the Junior was the car to beat in its class.

This competition version of the GTA junior was prepared by Autodelta for a privateer owner to drive in the 1972 and 1973 Monte Carlo Rallies. It has full-alloy bodywork with riveted wing flares and a roll cage. After its Monte Carlo adventures, it was shipped to the U.S., where it went into storage. An original Halda Speedpilot is still fitted.

The car has about 55,000 km on the speedometer. It was used successfully in the Tour de France historic event in 1997. Only 200 Autodelta GTA Junior 1300 Corsa were built, and many were heavily modified for competition work. This car represents a low-mileage, original example of a significant historic sports racing car that is up to correct specification. It has full FIA papers, copies of the homologation form and documentation from its Monte Carlo Rally days.

{analysis} The car described here sold for $32,844 (at the exchange rate of U.S. $0.68 to 1SFr) at the Christie's Auction held May 18, 1998 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The GTA Junior, like its older cousin from the mid-Sixties, the GTA 1600, was a lightened version of a production model built in numbers to satisfy homologation requirements.

The more popular class in the early Seventies was the 2-liter class, where Alfa's GTA went chasing BMW and Porsche in sprint and endurance races.

The 1300 class did exist but was just as often won by Renault Alpines and Lancia Fulvias as the baby GTA. The first two cars were also effective rally cars with the superior traction of the rear-engined, rear-drive Alpine and the front-engined, front-drive Fulvia.

Still, despite any historical shortcomings, the availability of knowledge and special parts for the Sixties Alfa chassis/drivetrain makes them very quick and reliable on both historic races and rallies. This makes them much more desirable than, say, a rally-prepared Renault R-8 Gordini.

The sale price of $32,844 falls right in the middle of the SCM Price Guide. At first glance that might appear to be simply a fair price. But if the Autodelta history and preparation is taken into account(look at the price difference when new), we have a car that, if genuine and tidy, was a bargain.-Michael Duffey
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