・Rare Giallo Ocra colour

・Low milage
・Rare Right-Hand drive

・South African import 

It's a well known fact that the Italians are renowned for their flair and style and Alfa Romeo have certainly delivered over the years with some now iconic cars. The Alfa Romeo 105/115 series coupes were designed by well known car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, who at the time was working on his first major project for Italian design house Bertone.

Produced from 1963 to 1977 the 105 and 115 series were based on a shortened floor pan from the Giulia saloon. The first model introduced was the Guilia Sprint GT, fitted with Alfa Romeo’s all aluminium twin cam inline 4-cylinder 1570 cc engine. Twin-choke Weber 40  DCOE fed the engine with fuel and helped produce an impressive 105 bhp. 

After the huge success of the Sprint GT, selling just short of 22,000, the production came to an end in 1965. Alfa then introduced the newer and improved Sprint GT Veloce (Italian for fast). The engine used was Alfa’s type 00536 which featured larger exhaust valves. This enabled the engine to produce an extra 3 bhp and more torque over the previous model. Some other changes included the addition of a limited slip differential and different gear ratios. There were also changes to the interior with different trim options available and a few changes to the exterior trim.     

The production of the Sprint GT Veloce lasted for just 3 years when there was another revamp on the cards with the release of the 1750 GT Veloce known as the 1750 GTV. Manufacturing began in late 1967, with the car first shown to the press in 1968. The GTV used the same engine as in the 1750 Berlina and the 1750 Spider which was a first for Alfa Romeo. The 1779cc displacement engine kicked out an impressive 120 bhp and 137 ft-lb of torque. Together with larger front brakes, dual circuit braking system and rear anti-roll bar, the car handled and stopped as well as it went. The exterior of the car didn’t get left out either, with the addition of four headlights, higher rear wheel arches and the 1750 badge on the bootlid. Changes to the inside included a new style dashboard that gave the driver a clearer view of the instruments and the other gauges were also angled to point towards the driver. 

This lovely 1970 Alfa Romeo 1750 GT Veloce (105.45) has been owned by the seller for just under 1 year. He imported the car from South Africa and so is the first UK owner. Before the car arrived in the UK, the previous owner in Cape Town was an Alfa Romeo enthusiast and had previously owned the car in 2013 when it had some restoration work carried out along with an engine overhaul. The Alfa was then sold where it fell into slight disrepair, so the owner bought the car back in 2020 with a view to keep it and proceed to carry out a full respray on the 1750. When Covid-19 hit Cape Town the owner needed to sell the GTV, which when it came to the UK. 

Having been in the UK less than a year the seller now has his eye on another classic, so the Alfa is being let go to make room for the new arrival. 

    

The V5 is present and shows 0 previous keepers in the UK and it currently has an MOT certificate until the 16th December 2021. 

The 1750 GT Veloce comes with an Alfa Romeo production certificate confirming the production date for the car. Also included is the export clearance paperwork from the South African Police Service. The seller has spent around £1,500 on parts since getting the car and there are a number of receipts showing what parts have been purchased.

Inside the Alfa is all original and is in nice condition. The dashboard does have a couple of splits, but is what you would expect in a car of this age coming from a hot climate country. The wood trim on the dash and centre console is again good for its age and a quick sand and revarnish would see it brought up nicely. The odometer is showing a reading of just 3,898, please note this is still reading in kilometers. Yes the mileage shown is low and you never know with any car the true mileage, especially an import. All you can do is go on the condition of the car. The seller does have compression readings for the engine, which are all good. Next to the speedometer is the rev counter which does have a slight cloudy appearance to the plastic cover, but you can still see everything absolutely fine. The seller reports that all the switches and gauges work as they should apart from the radio which is not connected up and so it can’t be confirmed if this works. 

The 1750’s seats are in brilliant condition and dont show any real signs of wear. There is some plastic trim and the backrest adjuster missing from the drivers side, which could easily be replaced. The carpets again are in good condition throughout, as is the headlining. The boot area of the Alfa holds the spare wheel and fuel tank, there is no boot carpet.

2020 saw Alfa Romeo get a fresh coat of Giallo Ocra. The owner in South Africa tried to retain as much originality as he could by refitting as many of the original parts as possible. 

Starting at the front, the four headlamps are free from cracks and the surrounds are in nice condition. The 7 bar heart grille is the original and still holds the original Afla badge, which just has some slight patina. The bumpers on the car have been sourced by the seller as it came with no bumpers on and these are in good condition with no noticeable pitting to the finish. The front edge to the nose of the Alfa is free from any stone chips that we could see. 

Around to the flanks of the GT Veloce and the classic shape and design looks fantastic. The door gaps are uniform, there are no dings or dents to be seen. The driver’s door is sitting a little lower than it should be. As mentioned, the car has retained most of the original parts and the window rubbers on the front quarter windows are slightly perished, but easily replaced. The door mirrors and door handles do have some very slight pitting to the chrome finish but this is only minor. This is the same on the front and rear windscreen chrome trim. 

The rear of the Alfa is nice and straight, with the original rear light clusters crack free. There is some age related wear to the 1750 badge, it is slightly tarnished and the Alfa Romeo badge has a split in the clear coat. The bumper has a couple of small dinks, but nothing overly noticeable. The wheels on the Alfa have been refurbished and come with two new tyres. Also fitted are new wheel nuts and the finishing touch is a set of Alfa Romeo hubcaps. Included with the sale are four later style GT alloy wheels.

Alfa Romeo fitted the 1779 CC engine to the 1750 GT Veloce, producing 120 bhp, which made it a very appealing car to own. The engine had an overhaul in 2013 although there is no paperwork to back this up, but the seller comments that it has good compression on all cylinders. The gearbox comes with a limited slip differential as standard. It does have a slight issue on the 1st to 2nd synchro and has a slight whine. With that said, the seller reports that the car does drive fine and pulls like a train through the gears.

Since getting the car the seller has replaced both brake servos, the master cylinder and replaced some hoses with braided ones. It also received a full service a few months ago which included plugs, oil, filters, HT leads, points and the twin 40 Weber carburettors have been stripped, cleaned and balanced and do sound fantastic when the throttle is blipped!

     

Perfect 1960’s/1970’s Alfa Romeo styling has seen the interest in this era of car gradually rise in recent years. This particular one is from a warmer climate which usually means less in the way of rust. With a revvy 1779 cc Twin-cam engine, twin 40’s and excellent handling what's not to love about this Italian classic. 

It may need a few odd jobs if you want to iron out everything. But to a lot of people and those who enjoy driving a classic, isn’t that all part of the fun with owning such a car?



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