Essay—Alfa Romeo: Track-Bred, Road-Ready
It’s hard not to love Alfa Romeo, a marque commonly heralded—even in the 21st century —as a marque for drivers. That may seem an obvious objective of any car manufacturer, but technology has advanced rapidly in the past five decades, and with it the disconnect between pilot and machine.
Lot 6. 1970 Alfa GT Junior. EST. $100,000—$120,000
The experience of driving an Alfa Romeo, especially a classic, is one of emotion—as though the machine you operate has a soul. Increasingly, this ‘soul’ is lost in the modern cars we are all accustomed to, but in Alfa’s heyday—the 60s and 70s—each one built had a convincingly tangible feeling of being living and raw. It helps too, that the legendary engines which powered them were wrapped in beautiful and evocative designs, stamped with names like Giugiaro and Gandini.
It’s commonly thought that this somewhat rare pairing of analogue aggression and classic Italian styling is what most contributes to the intense romanticism that surrounds Alfa’s today and drives the ‘Alfista’ (Alfa fanatic) to such bold declarations of love for the little cars from Milan.
Undoubtedly, it’s true, though this can be put more robustly—Alfa Romeos are track-and-road weapons made gorgeous.
Two particular points of evidence reign supreme in this judgement. Contemporarily, and in contradiction of the present trend, even modern, 21st-century Alfa Romeos retain the gene-seed of their forebearers— think the good looking, high-performance Giula Quadrifoglio, and its meaner GTAm evolution.
Slightly less modern, and more palpably analogue, is the 2011 Alfa Romeo GT, offered as lot 36 in this catalogue. Despite its comparative affordability, this car has been led to collectability primarily by the legendary ‘Busso’ 3.2 V6 engine it harbours. The ‘Busso’ is known for the amazing sound it emits when run in anger, and for injecting a touch of the old school into some of the more modern cars it has graced, providing an aggressive driving experience to cars otherwise perfectly suited to daily driving. Many modern Alfas, of all shapes and sizes, can even be seen at track-days here and throughout the world.
Lot 36. 2011 Alfa Romeo GT 'Busso'. EST. $25,000—$30,000
The ‘Busso’ itself was made famous as it propelled Alfa Romeo 155’s to 38 victories in German Touring Car racing between 1993 and 1996. This golden era, unfortunately, stands as the brand’s last serious foray into motorsport to date, not counting a five-year stint in Formula 1, which boiled down to a naming rights deal with Sauber.
Though Alfa Romeo has retreated from the motorsport spotlight, its heritage of competition lives on and motivates many privateers. Even younger car enthusiasts and fans of racing can quickly recall an image of the spectacularly liveried DTM 155 V6s, though they may not have lived to watch them. Older generations have for their muse the dominant 158/159 Alfetta or the aggressive Tipo 33. These cars may be true titans of automotive history, but they do not represent the everyday motorist and their urge to drive fast.
That is where the legendary 105/115 Coupes come in—the bread and butter of Alfisti, darlings of Italian motoring and campaigners of present-day historic racing around the world. These machines—from the GT Junior to GTA—are the quintessential Alfas for spirited driving. They are light, they rev and are beautifully balanced. Their agility and reliability make them favourites in historic racing across NZ’s SKOPE Classic, Australia’s Touring Car Masters, and the UK’s HSCC and Goodwood Revival. This is to say nothing of their omnipresence in continental Europe. Accessible yet evocative; they keep Alfa’s racing soul alive for everyday enthusiasts.
Alfa Romeo’s infamously successful ‘Busso’ powered DTM cars in 1993.
This catalogue’s very own 1971 GT Junior lot 6—upgraded to a 2.0-litre engine with a number of Alfaholics improvements—is itself a candidate for such historic competition. Further than that, it’s evidence that the spirit and soul of motoring are well and truly alive, even if modern design seems to have shifted away. It’s hard not to think about Alfas romantically, and if you let yourself, you’ll realise the fun isn’t over yet.
Lot 40. 1986 Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint QV
EST. $25,000—$30,000
Collectors’ Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia
Live Auction | Sunday 7 December, 2.30pm
Auction Details
Launch Event
Tuesday 2 December, 6—8pm
On View
Wednesday 3 December, 10am—5pm
Thursday 4 December, 10am—5pm
Friday 5 December, 10am—5pm
Saturday 6 December, 10am—4pm
Sunday 7 December, 10am—12pm
Location
33a Normanby Road
Mount Eden, Auckland
Contact
Chris Wiseman
Specialist, Collectors’ Cars
chris@webbs.co.nz
+64 22 187 7693