This Saturday's DT had an interesting article about Paul Hudson's Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV, and it brough back a lot of fond memories. My dad had several Alfas, including two GTVs - one 1600, and the other a 1750 (about the same vintage as Paul's, and in lovely dark green). I drove and worked on all of them.
What a lovely car the 1750 GTV was - the engine was fabulous, and the drive was exhilarating. However, in true Italian fashion, they did rot. All dad's Alfas needed metal transplants by the time they were 4 or 5 years old, but we forgave them.
The GTVs were not the easiest to work on under the bonnet, being inherently designed as left hookers. I hope for his sake that Paul Hudson never needs to change a starter motor. The offside of the narrow engine bay contained a pair of double choke Webers (on top), the steering box (somewhere underneath), and the starter motor in between. I changed one and it was an all day job - just like some modern cam belt and clutch changes you hear about.
The most horrible moment I remember was when my uncle and I had just put the cylinder head back on (I honestly can't remember why it had to come off). The fuel line and carbs neede priming and my uncle thought that the easist way was to disconnect the fuel line at the carb into a pot, and spin the engine on the starter (mechanical pump, I think). The trouble was that fuel spurted and missed the pot, and a spark from the distributor ignited the engine bay.
What a panic. I've never seen the old fellow run so fast for the extinguisher, and it worked first time - and for a dry powder jobbie that was a surprise. The shame was that the cam covers were still off and the powder went everywhere. I won't repeat what he said!
I'd love to drive another one today.
Ian
(Fishpond move completed 16.40 today)
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I was in Plett Bay 2 weeks ago. They had a 1970ish spider in a forecourt for R70 000 - repsrayed baby blue. It was in &^$^& condition otherwise, with rust already bubbling through, chrome bent and patchy, doors and bonnet out of true. The underebonnet was filthy, and obvioulsy hadn't been worked on for a while.
(BTW, my 1995 Astra 180i AT cost me R55 000 2 years ago...)
Spoke to the guy, and he was giving it the wank about a classic, collectors's item, etc etc . I offered him R35K cash - it would cost R30 to put it back together properly...
He said no, as there would be a punter long any minute....
Go figure ...
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I ran a 1600 Junior in the 1970's. The sandwich type petrol tank rotted through by the end of its third year. But the engine was brilliant and the handling balance was perfect. If you lost it the trick was to let go of the steering wheel and let the car sort itself out. I once saw 6,800rpm in 5th, which, since it equated to nearly 130mph, wasn't bad at all for a 1970s 1.6.
HJ
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Honest John wrote:
>
I once saw 6,800rpm in 5th,
> which, since it equated to nearly 130mph, wasn't bad at all
> for a 1970s 1.6.
>
> HJ
And I bet that your 1600 Junior weighed well under a ton, giving it a very useful power to weight ratio. If only we had that today - well, there's always Lotus.
Ian
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I recall, whilst hitch hiking in Belgium in the 70s, being given a lift by the Belgian Manager of British Leyland (Belgium) in a GTV - spoke volumes bout BL's porducts.
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There was a GTV in the historic touring car race at Silverstone last weekend - looked and sounded absolutely gorgeous, although it couldn't keep up with the front runners (two Mk2 Jags, a Mini Cooper and a Lotus Cortina). Brilliant race, the best of the day, especially the battle for last place between a Renault Dauphine and a Sunbeam Rapier in full roadgoing trim. I think the leaders lapped those two three times in a 12 lap race, and the Dauphine left the track at least once every lap, but wasn't going fast enough to get into any trouble as a result. I quite fancy having a go in a Triumph Herald - they were quite popular in this sort of event in the early 1960s, and the handling can't be any worse than a Dauphine. But I'll have to finish some of my other projects first.
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