I've lusted after a GTV since I was a kid. To my eye, that car is the prettiest design to ever flow from the pen of Giorgetto Giugiaro (done back in his Bertone days) and to my enthusiast's heart, possesses more soul than virtually anything else of its era. Having spent nearly a year with my '69 1750 GT Veloce, I still believe this is an apt description.
The car after adding Panasports and installing shorter springs. Click the photo for a higher resolution picture or click here to see what she looked like when I bought her.
When I first began looking for an Alfa to use as a combination track car and street toy, I set my sights on a '72-'74 Spider. Although I preferred the GTV, I thought having a convertible would be a lot of fun on those rare sunny days here in Seattle. Besides, asking prices for Spiders seemed a little lower, which meant I would have more budget left over for modifications.
After sitting in a Spider fitted with a roll bar, I realized that I simply wouldn't fit in that car. Although I am only 5'11", the roll bar stole precious inches of seat travel and my size 11-1/2 feet didn't have enough room to depress the throttle without performing an involuntary heel-n-toe maneuver. One option was to have my feet surgically shortened and a custom roll bar made that would still allow the seat to go all the way back, but after Thomas Moll took me out in his '74 Spider for some hot laps at Seattle International Raceway (SIR), I quickly changed my mind (besides, I have become
accustomed to my feet).
SIR is a beautiful venue with lots of elevation changes, some challenging turn combinations, and trees. Lots of trees. Lots of really big trees. Lots of really big trees sitting really close to the track. Somehow my innate ability to do something stupid at the wrong time seemed a bad combination with an open car and SIR. At this point, I began to rethink my plan to buy a Spider.
Fortuitously, that same day I was introduced to an individual who had 2 '69 GTVs for sale. He had placed the following ad in Iniezione, the official newsletter of the NWARC:
After sitting in a Spider fitted with a roll bar, I realized that I simply wouldn't fit in that car. Although I am only 5'11", the roll bar stole precious inches of seat travel and my size 11-1/2 feet didn't have enough room to depress the throttle without performing an involuntary heel-n-toe maneuver. One option was to have my feet surgically shortened and a custom roll bar made that would still allow the seat to go all the way back, but after Thomas Moll took me out in his '74 Spider for some hot laps at Seattle International Raceway (SIR), I quickly changed my mind (besides, I have become
accustomed to my feet).
SIR is a beautiful venue with lots of elevation changes, some challenging turn combinations, and trees. Lots of trees. Lots of really big trees. Lots of really big trees sitting really close to the track. Somehow my innate ability to do something stupid at the wrong time seemed a bad combination with an open car and SIR. At this point, I began to rethink my plan to buy a Spider.
Fortuitously, that same day I was introduced to an individual who had 2 '69 GTVs for sale. He had placed the following ad in Iniezione, the official newsletter of the NWARC:
The red car was gorgeous. The body work and paint were superb, but the interior was shot and the motor was an unknown commodity. Since I really was looking for more of a track sled, the white car seemed the better buy.
Although the body was marginal, the interior was in good shape and it had that LSD, rebuilt 2.0L engine and suspension.
After driving the car, it became apparent that the rebuilt suspension may have been an exaggeration. Given that observation and the fact that the seller had no receipts proving that the engine had been rebuilt (he was relying on the word of the previous owner), we agreed on a marginally lower price and the car was mine.
After purchasing the Alfa, three things became apparent: the suspension was shot, the motor burned oil like...well, like an Alfa Romeo in dire need of a rebuild, and I had paid about $1,500 too much for the car. I quickly took care of the suspension and hoped the motor would last until the next Fall. Unfortunately, a stuck throttle moved the rebuild schedule up by 6 months.
I ran into the car's previous owner a few months after buying her. At that time he explained that the motor wasn't rebuilt (gee, that's what the ad stated) but rather was a stock Euro motor from a later model car. Some of his new information seemed accurate. The block was from a Euro Alfetta, not a US 105-series GTV. Of course after looking a little more closely, I discovered that the cams were from a late 1600/early 1750 engine NOT a stock 2000 motor and the Dellorto carbs were generic off the shelf items, NOT Alfa factory units. To this day, I am not sure if I was lied to about the car, or if the PO was simply suffering from a severe case of short-term memory loss and unintentionally gave me the wrong information at time of purchase. Either way, he didn't make this year's Christmas card list...
Although the body was marginal, the interior was in good shape and it had that LSD, rebuilt 2.0L engine and suspension.
After driving the car, it became apparent that the rebuilt suspension may have been an exaggeration. Given that observation and the fact that the seller had no receipts proving that the engine had been rebuilt (he was relying on the word of the previous owner), we agreed on a marginally lower price and the car was mine.
After purchasing the Alfa, three things became apparent: the suspension was shot, the motor burned oil like...well, like an Alfa Romeo in dire need of a rebuild, and I had paid about $1,500 too much for the car. I quickly took care of the suspension and hoped the motor would last until the next Fall. Unfortunately, a stuck throttle moved the rebuild schedule up by 6 months.
I ran into the car's previous owner a few months after buying her. At that time he explained that the motor wasn't rebuilt (gee, that's what the ad stated) but rather was a stock Euro motor from a later model car. Some of his new information seemed accurate. The block was from a Euro Alfetta, not a US 105-series GTV. Of course after looking a little more closely, I discovered that the cams were from a late 1600/early 1750 engine NOT a stock 2000 motor and the Dellorto carbs were generic off the shelf items, NOT Alfa factory units. To this day, I am not sure if I was lied to about the car, or if the PO was simply suffering from a severe case of short-term memory loss and unintentionally gave me the wrong information at time of purchase. Either way, he didn't make this year's Christmas card list...
