1972 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super 1.3 Saloon

• 105-series Giulia - the original light-weight sports-saloon
• One Italian owner for almost 50 years, original paint and interior, never been apart nor welded
• High-revving double overhead cam dual-carburetted alloy 1300cc engine, all-round disc brakes and a 5-speed gearbox
• 1972 model with attractive metal grille and distinctively shaped boot lid
• Recent specialists’ report confirming its originality, plus £4,000 expenditure to recommission it for driving excellence; UK-registered and a full MOT
• A very rare find in this preserved state

BMW is often credited with inventing the modern sports saloon. By stuffing the potent 2-litre engine from its 2000C/CS coupes of the Sixties into a little Neue Klasse two-door, BMW created the iconic 2002. However, as with dentures, thermometers, and the carburettor itself, the origin of this new vehicle class may be better traced to the fertile land of da Vinci and Galileo: Italy.

Some might credit the Alfa Romeo 1900 of the Fifties with starting the trend, but we submit that the requisite components didn’t really come together until Alfa’s subsequent release of the Giulia Super, which pre-ated BMW’s bite-size ‘bahn-burner by at least half a decade. And while the Bavarian made do with rear drum brakes, a single overhead-cam, single carburetted engine, two doors and only four forward speeds, the Alfa brought four-wheel discs, a high-revving double overhead-cam, dual-carburetted alloy engine, four doors and a standard five-speed gearbox.

“So, it looks like a family saloon, but underneath the skin, it’s really a super touring car” says Santo Spadaro, a marque specialist and incurable ‘Alfisti’. Though the Giulia Super’s body may seem to follow the three-box paradigm, its aerodynamics were honed in a wind tunnel. “It actually has a lower coefficient of drag than the teardrop-shaped Porsche 911 of the same era,” Spadaro notes.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia (105 Series) weighed about 1,000 kg and was equipped with a light alloy twin overhead-camshaft, four-cylinder engine, similar to that of the earlier Giulietta models range. Engine capacities offered were 1.3-litre or 1.6-litre. Various configurations of carburettors and tuning produced power outputs from about 80 to about 110bhp. Almost all Giulias made had a 5-speed manual gearbox and were noted for their lively performance among saloons of that era, especially considering the modest engine size. No wonder the Mini Coopers had trouble evading the chasing Giulia police cars in The Italian Job!

The styling was quite straightforward, but with a great amount of detail. The engine bay, cabin and boot were all square shaped, but the grill, the rooflines and details on the bonnet and boot made for an integrated design from bumper to bumper.

The car presented here is a second series (1972-1978) ‘Super 1.3’ example, being manufactured in 1972, so still features the more attractive metal front grille, characteristic centre spine, and shaped boot lid. In 1972 a rationalisation of the Giulia range saw the Super 1300 (Tipo 115.09) and the Super (Tipo 105.26) re-released as the Super 1.3 and Super 1.6. The two models featured the same equipment, interior and exterior trim, differing only in engine size (1290cc and 1570cc) and final drive ratio. A small Alfa Romeo badge on the C-pillar is a distinguishing feature, as are hubcaps with exposed wheel nuts. In 1974 Alfa dropped the Giulia name, with the model now being coined either a Nuova Super 1.3 or Nuova Super 1.6 which both featured a new black plastic front grille and a flat bonnet without the characteristic centre spine.

This particular car has a fascinating story - AR 2275939 was delivered new from Milan to the Italian city of Pesaro in Marche to Senor Olimpio Gunnella on 30th June 1972. Olimpio adored his car, ensuring it was always garaged, literally only using it to go to church on a Sunday, notching up less than 2,000km a year, and taking it to a recorded 88,000km in 2021. The story goes, that on one of these weekly trips, it started to rain, so Olimpio simply turned the car around and drove it home, with church having to wait another week. Some 48 years later, and approaching 75 years of age himself, Olimpio took the decision last year, that it was finally time to part company with his precious car.

Stories of such “auto-monogamy” are indeed most rare, not least when they are preserved so carefully in this way, but they are reflected in the immaculate originality of the car, from the underside to the interior, to the boot, and duly supported by a service history that includes 11 service stamps. The car is matching numbers, still in its factory Beige Cava paintwork, and has never required any form of welding.

In 2001, the Alfa also received the formal Italian ASI Historical status and Certificate. In September 2020, our vendor managed to persuade Olimpio to sell to him the car, and on arrival in the UK immediately placed it with renowned Surrey based ‘DTR European Classic Car’ specialists, who carried out an independent and rigorous report across every aspect of the car from mechanical, bodywork and interior (copy available). Every issue identified, however minor, was addressed, costing c£4,000, and rounded off with a full service and MOT, again all on file. The car was then fully registered in the UK as ‘JMA 788K’, and nearly 50 years on, is fully prepared to embrace a second relationship.

This ‘super’ Super 1.3 is everything an original and unmolested ’70s Alfa should be – full of character, style and lively to drive. Finding cars in this state of originality is still just possible in the quiet corners of Europe but is getting much harder. This really is one for the true ‘Alfisti’ – the passionate fans of these very special cars.