Giulia 105 Register
Registro Ricambio
June 2008
Giulia Ti Super # 415
I am grateful to John Bennett who has written to the Register about his incredibly rare Giulia saloon.
Photo Credit John Bennett
Last year, I bought an original Ti Super in Italy that had been race prepared. Back in the UK it was reworked by Bob Dove to put it back to FIA spec. In particular the brakes had to be changed back to Dunlops though we did a pile of other work as well to bring it up to scratch! We raced it at the Spa 6 Hours in October and came in 56th of 86 cars with only 4th gear and no brakes whatsoever! It has since been fettled and is ready for racing in 2008, I think mostly in the U2TC series. The car is now road registered in the UK under 650 XUA. Colour is white of course!
Just 501 units of the Ti Super were produced and it was designed to offer even more sparkling performance than the already brisk Giulia 1600 Ti. The car was fitted with the 113hp engine from the Giulia Sprint Speciale coupe with two twin-barrel horizontal carburettors. A five speed gearbox featured a floor change. Front bucket seats were fitted along with a three-spoke lightweight steering wheel. In an effort to lighten the car even further, mark one versions had perspex side glass and no window winders. This resulted in the car being 100kg lighter than the standard Ti. The most noticeable detail is the single headlamp set-up, the inner units being replaced with mesh grilles to aid cooling.
Bob Dove continues:
If my memory is still working, the Ti has a matching engine number as well. The car had been rallied or something in the last ten years and lost Dunlop brakes etc which was the first thing I had to find to restore car back to FIA spec. It still has glass but will eventually get perspex I guess. My firm brief from John was to retain all original instruments etc. So I fitted extra Stack tacho and supplimentary gauges. An original TZ type close-ratio gearbox is now back in it after the Spa debacle which was correct as per homologation. Engine is the correct type, modified in Italy, I think, by Faccetti but blew up on arrival in UK due to foreign body in number four cylinder. I rebuilt the unit with new pistons etc and we had 152 fully-grown horses with loads of midrange torque. The German-built megahorse motor we originally fitted blew up after three laps of Castle Coombe due to number three rod welding itself to the crank. I never liked the motor as it felt awful when I first ran it. The block had been beed-blasted and there were no signs of the oil passage plugs having been replaced so I suspect foreign bodies in the oil. Original mag wheels were suspect but have been retained for show.
Auto Italia Comparison Test
I am indebted to Register member David Millar, who at very short notice, kindly volunteered his 1300 GT Junior for a recent comparison test organised by journalist Chris Rees for Auto Italia magazine. The Junior was pitted against a Fiat 124 Sport and a Lancia Fulvia 1.3.
After his day at Bruntingthorpe David told me “As you can see from the picture, it was a glorious day and we also has the added bonus of a Vulcan bomber taking off in the afternoon. Chris took all the cars round the circuit and there's no doubt the Alfa made the best 1300 engine in the late 60's. The Lancia Fulvia was probably the best handling - my Alfa has completely standard suspension.”
My thanks again to David for giving up his time to assist with this feature. I understand the article will appear in the forthcoming issue of the magazine.
The Register at Spring Alfa Day
Photo credits: Andrew Brown, Jeremy Kitson and Hannah Regan.
Diamonds on a Jewel
The Historic Dockyard Chatham made an impressive backdrop for our display of cars. A decision had been made by the event organisers to allow a certain number of Giulia 105/115 Spiders to be parked on the old Helipad fronting the impressive former Commissioners House. Charles Holden expertly guided cars into position until by lunchtime the area was full of gleaming Giulia’s.
Barry Love’s rare S4 Beaute
All the cars were beautifully presented and a credit to their owners. Notable examples were the rare ‘Beaute’ S4 of Barry and Linda Love, the immaculate S2 2000 Veloce of Ray Skilling, and the highly polished S4 of Crippen and Ali Jarman.
Ray Skilling’s 2000 Spider Veloce
Crippen & Ali Jarman’s S4 heads the Spider line
The event marshals on the gate had picked out several gorgeous Giulia’s for the Special Display area. A beautiful black S3 Spider sat alongside the helicopter.
An immaculate silver 1750 GT Veloce Mark 1, a pristine GT Junior and the menacing white GTAM-replica all drew considerable attention.
Rusper Alfa Romeo had a remarkably tidy burgundy metallic 2000 Berlina for sale on their stand. On offer at just £2650, for anyone looking for something rare and unusual, this Giulia has to be a bargain.
Berlina bargain!
Over on Museum Square, later arrivals included Des Clare’s familiar yellow Giulia Super, Mark Grimshaw’s splendid S3 Spider and where the trio of Hannah Regan’s 1600 GT Junior and Graham Heeps 2000 Berlina and a Bertone GTA replica where book-ended by a 939 Spider and 147.
Trio of 105’s - Hannah Regan
Towards the middle of the afternoon, we were joined by members of the Dutch www.alfaspeed.nl group who were returning from their weekend at the Alfaholics Castle Combe trackday.
The Dutch return to Chatham
The five Giulia convoy headed by Charlotte Coolen’s dark green Super, took a breather at Chatham before continuing their onward journey to the Channel ports and back to Holland. Fantastic to see an original white Squadra Bianca race car at a club event in the UK, albeit on a trailer!
Squadra Bianca Giulia racer
On the day, sunshine finally outdid the April showers. The Register now looks forward to June 1st. Fingers crossed for a warm sunny day and the National Concours at Stanford Hall, where a we hope to have an area set aside for Giulia 105/115 parking.
Register Gathering at Cotswold Alfa Day
Many thanks to the Cotswold Section for inviting the Register to join them at Broughton Castle near Banbury on Sunday 29th June.
The day kicks off with a scenic drive through the Cotwolds starting from The Roman Court Hotel in Stow on the Wold, where tea and coffee will be served, arriving in good time for a picnic in the Castle grounds.
I understand entry to the event is by advance tickets and the fee is £8.00 per adult, children between 5-14 are £3 and under 5's are free. The ticket includes the route plan, morning refreshments at The Roman Court and entry to the Castle.
Tickets may be obtained from Matthew Willmott or at Cotswold Section meetings or events.
See the Section website www.aroc-uk.com/cotswolds for further information.
I am looking forward to seeing a good representation of Bertone coupes, Spiders and Giulia saloons on the day!
Costwold Committee cars at Boughton Castle - Photo Mark Grimshaw
Stuart Taylor