A rare 1960s Alfa Romeo racing car is expected to sell for £240,000-280,000 (plus buyer’s premium) when it comes up for auction in the Motor Car, Motorcycle and Automobilia Sale at Tennants Auctioneers, North Yorkshire on 14th May. Once used as a getaway car in Italy, the GTA 1300 Junior has been carefully restored for use as a road car and retains the distinctive ‘Alfa Rosso’ red livery with white detailing.
Alfa Romeo is a marque long associated with excellence in motor racing. The company was founded in Milan in 1910 as A.L.F.A (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili), which in 1915 was taken over by Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo who would change the name to Alfa Romeo in 1920. Alfa raced its first car, the 24HP, in 1911 and went on to build sports orientated vehicles and be heavily involved in Grand Prix racing, Formula 1, sports cars, touring cars and rallies.
From the 1960s Alfa Romeo raced with cars modified from general production models, and their legendary Gran Turismo Alleggerita (GTA) was a reworking of its successful Giulia coupe into a lightweight race car, using special materials and highly developed engine modifications. The GTA 1300 Junior, of which the present car is a fine example, was made to enter the race categories for smaller displacement engines where is saw much success. The GTA 1300 Junior was a more affordable and cheaper to run sports car, available as a standard road car or modified for the racetrack. It is thought that only 450 such cars were made between 1968 and 1975.
Whilst the early history of the present car is unknown, it seems to have been initially raced in Italy, the base retaining evidence of race modification. However, it was later converted back to road use. After being used as a getaway car, it ended up in a police pound in Rome, where it was spotted by GTA specialist Richard Banks in 1987, who acquired the car on behalf of the present owner.
A piece of Italian racing history, the Alfa Romeo GTA 1300 Junior offers the chance to own a classic road car, or easily converted into a historic racer for use on the track.
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