Sprint - The 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA

If anyone was to say that a machine cannot have a soul, I’d show them an Alfa Romeo. From the earliest cars to the latest modern 4x4, never before have cars with so many “quirks” been accepted and called a Personality. For us, there’s one which is the greatest of them all. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA. 

The Giulia Sprint GTA began life in as a standard 105 series coupe, designed by Bertone, which was first built in 1963. In 1965, Alfa released the GTA. The Gran Turismo Allegeritta. The GT Lightweight.

So, what changed from a normal Giulia to a Giulia Spring GTA? Well, a lot. Most of the body panels were stamped from steel inside the Milanese factory. But, the GTA’s had theirs replaced with special aluminium pieces to save weight. Now, the standard car weighed just over 900kg. That’s really not a lot but, the GTA had to be lighter. Along with aluminium panels, the boys at Alfa got busy. The windows were replaced with plexiglass and if it wasn’t crucial in the interior, it went back on the shelf. And when all that was done, the road going GTA’s rolled out the door weighing just 745KG.

It wasn’t just the body that got the special treatment. That slightly wistful and romantic aggression of an Alfa Romeo engine is part and parcel of this little coupe. The 1.6 litre (officially its a 1570cc) 4 cylinder that lies at the heart of this playful Alfa, was given a host of upgrades. An uprated twin-plug cylinder head with a sportier camshaft was designed especially for the GTA’s. Along with those, the 4 cylinder now breather better through a set of Weber Twin-Barrel 45s, and out of its heavenly sounding aluminium exhaust. With all these new upgrades, the 4 cylinder would now buzz all the way up to 6000RPM. And, they sound f*cking glorious while doing it.

Between 1965 and 1969, around 500 GTA’s were built. Sadly, there’s very few original road cars left. No… it’s not because they rusted in the ground within 6 months. Well, not all of them. The GTA’s were built to Homologate for Group 2. Nearly every GTA at some point found it’s way into a race shop.

Still, with all the money? There’s be one in our collection. Front and centre.

Photos: RM Sothebys