The ex-Autodelta
1970 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm Competition Coupé
Registration no. Not UK registered
Chassis no. AR1531034
Engine no. AR 68565

Introduced in 1965 at the Amsterdam motor show, the GTA (the 'A' stood for alleggerita - lightened) was the official competition version of the Giulia Sprint GT. The model was produced in road and race variants, the latter, as usual, being the responsibility of Autodelta. Visually almost indistinguishable from the road-going Sprint GT, the GTA differed by virtue of its aluminium body panels, Plexiglas side and rear windows and lightened interior fittings and trim. As a result the GTA tipped the scales at around 200 kilograms lighter than the stock steel-bodied car.

Alfa's classic twin-cam 1,570cc four underwent extensive modification for the GTA, the angle between the valves being reduced from 90 to 80 degrees and the valve sizes substantially increased; there no longer being room between them for a central spark plug, a change was made to twin-plug ignition. In road trim the revised engine produced 115bhp, with up to 170 horsepower available in race tune.

The GTA made its racing debut on 20th March 1966 at Monza, Andrea de Adamich and Teodoro Zeccoli triumphing in the Jolly Club Four-Hour Race. From then on the Autodelta-prepared GTAs enjoyed outstanding success, winning the European Touring Car Championship three years running from 1966-68.

The following year, Alfa Romeo updated the concept in the form of the GTAm, which was based on the Giulia 1750 GT Veloce export model for the United States market. Equipped with SPICA mechanical fuel injection, the engine was enlarged to 1,985cc, bringing it closer to the 2-Litre class limit, and the GTAm made liberal use of lightweight glassfibre body panels and Plexiglas for the windows. The 'm' is commonly supposed to stand for 'maggiorata' (enlarged) though some believe GTAm stands for 'GT America'. Autodelta built 19 GTAm 'works' cars plus 21 'customer' cars for Group 2 racing between 1969 and 1971.

This example was originally built by Autodelta to participate in the 1970 ADAC 6-Hour race at the Nürburgring in Germany, driven by Herbert Schultze from Berlin and Reinhardt Stenzel from Munich. After having achieved an impressive 5th place in the race after 36 laps, a puncture caused a heavy collision that led to the car's retirement. The race was won by Gianluigi Picchi and Andrea de Adamich driving a similar car entered by the Autodelta factory team.

This car returned to Autodelta after the race and was dismantled, and in 1971 was de-registered by the Italian registration authorities. The bodyshell remained at Autodelta and subsequently was sold on 25th March 1978 to the local Alfa Romeo concessionaire Tevar SrL in Termini Imerese in the province of Palermo, Sicily. A copy of a letter to Tevar signed by Carlo Chiti, Autodelta's famous director, is on file and confirms the bodyshell's identity.

Instead of embarking on a full restoration, Tevar only restored the body and then sold the project on to one Joaquim Nicodemos, owner of a workshop in Lisbon in Portugal, who in turn sold it to Fernando Vaz Pinto, an Alfa Romeo enthusiast and member of the well known Scuderia del Portello, the official Alfa Romeo racing club. Mr Vaz Pinto sold the car to another member of the famous Scuderia, and a comprehensive restoration by the official Alfa Romeo Club Scuderia del Portello's own mechanics was undertaken during 2012/2013. The car incorporates a correct 2.0-litre fuel-injected GTAm engine, prepared by Alfa Romeo specialist Chiapparini.

Since the restoration's completion, the GTAm has been campaigned in various historic races in 2014 and 2015, most recently at the Masters Series Trophy in Barcelona, Spain, driven by none other than former Autodelta driver Gianluigi Picchi, who had driven that other GTAm to victory at the 1970 ADAC 6-Hours at the Nürburgring. Mr Picchi has fond memories of these fantastic GTAm racers and has signed this example. Described by the private vendor as in generally excellent condition, the car is offered with current FIA papers and documentation relating to its history and restoration, and is ready to be used in anger again.