Alfa Romeo Giulia GT and Giulia GTA the history of a great sport car

In 1963 Alfa Romeo presented the prototype for the Giulia Sprint GT coupé with the intension of replacing the Giulietta Sprint. Sales of the new automobile began in the second of 1964.
The body of the Giulia GT was designed by Bertone. Its engine of 1570 cmc was derived from the Giulia sedan.
In 1965 the modification of the Giulia GTA begins and it makes its debut in the uphill race of Trento-Monte Bondone. The car wins first place in the Gran Turismo 1600 category.
In 1966 Auto Delta merges with Alfa Romeo. Engineer Chiti is nominated general director and member of the board of directors.
From then on the activities of Auto Delta are concentrated on the modification of the turismo automobiles and from 1967 they construct the series 33 prototype. In the meantime, the GTA multiply.

Here they are in detail:
Initially, the Giulia GTA has the same engine as the TZ2 (1570 cm3 of piston displacement) that with the application of additional modifications manages to reach 175 CV. The standard engine as it was sold to the client has a power of 115 CV at 6,000 rotations.
The mechanics that unleash themselves on the GTA cars are notable names like Conrero, Bosato, Fecetto and Angelini.
The Giulia GTA in the 1600 version reaches a weight of 700 kg and a speed of over 200 km/h.
Thanks to the Chiti's modifications, the the car develops first-class road handling and drivability. Even if frequently it competes with the Porsche 911 with a rear engine, the Alfa Romeo cars do not experience any inferiority complex and in Germany in 1967 on the Nurburgring track the GTA classify themselves first, second and fourth.

There is a long list of affirmations from Alfa Romeo drivers and sport clients at the wheel of the GTA and the car becomes unbeatable in its class.There are hundreds victories (over 200 in the 1966 season alone), dozens of national titles (even in the USA and South America), three Europe Challenger for Turismo automobiles with Adrea Adamich (1966 and 1967) and Spartaco Dini (1969), a European Montain Championship with Ignazio Giunti (1967).
In 1967-1968 dozens of cars become modified according to the Group 5 regulations and at the GTA-SA race in Germany, Belgium and France they achieve extraordinary results. The supremacy of the Alfa Romeo in the Turismo competition continue up until the 1960s with the GTA Junior, "a small bomb of a car" on the street and on the track. Without any rivals in its category, the car begins to make life difficult even for automobiles with bigger engines and obviously superior power. The car enters the European championships first with the GTA 1600 and then the GTAm which is Auto Delta's GTA Junior and they dominate among automobiles of 1300 cm3 for four consecutive years.

In 1971 the house of Arese wins the European Contructor's Championships (thanks even to the pointing system) thanks to the results of Gianluigi Picchi's GTA Junior whose contribution determines the winning of the title.
In 1972 the GTA Junior wins all nine tests of the European Turismo Championships yet again because of Picchi's skill (in the two seasons he wins 9 races out of 17) as well as Facetti, Hezemans, Van Lennep and other noteworthy drivers.
The GTA Junior wins a number of national championships all over the world from Italy to the USA, from Belgium to Holland and from Czechoslovakia to Austria. The GTA Junior continues to race with success until the mid-1970s and at the end of its career its 4 cylinder double ignition of 1290 cm3 injection version manages to reach 165 CV at 8400 rotations per minute (against the 96 at 6000 rotations of the engine for the street version).
In 1974 a version with four valves and only one candle per cylinder is introduced and this allows it to reach 180 CV at 9300 rotations.
From the 447 GTA Juniors produced between 1968 and 1972, it is calculated that at least 300 were modified for racing.

source: Quattro Ruote - Mito Alfa Romeo



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