1970 Alfa Romeo GTAM Evocation | SOLD
- Jan 6, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 31
MODEL HISTORY
In the 1960s, Alfa Romeo was deeply involved in motorsports. Autodelta, the company’s racing division, developed a competition version of the Giulia, closely modelled on the street model. Designated GTA, the “A” was for alleggerita (lightweight). The first GTA was produced in 1965 as a 1600; later, a 1,300-cubic centimetre “junior” version was added. GTAs were made in both stradale (street) and corsa (competition) form.
The essence of alleggerita was outer body panels in aluminium, rather than steel. Magnesium alloy wheels and Perspex side windows were fitted, and aluminium was used for some suspension components. The engine featured twin ignition with dual spark plugs and a Ferrari Dino Marelli distributor. Carburettors were 45-millimetre Webers, and magnesium was used for the camshaft covers, sump, timing cover, and bell housing. A close-ratio gearbox, machined for lightness, allowed faster gear changes. The GTA 1600 weighed some 1,640 pounds dry in stradale form and produced 113 horsepower. In corsa form it could reach 170 brake horsepower.
The “m” in GTAm is subject to disagreement. Some suggest that it’s for Alleggerita maggiorata (lightened enlarged), while others argue for America maggiorata (it was derived from the U.S. version of the GTV 1750). The GTAm had a full steel body, with some aluminium and plastic components, allowable because competition rules had raised the minimum weight for the class. Reportedly, some 40 GTAms were built by Autodelta, and others were built by privateers.
Introduced in 1965 at the Amsterdam motor show, the GTA (the 'A' stood for alleggerita - lightened) was the official competition version of the Giulia Sprint GT. The model was produced in road and race variants, the latter, as usual, being the responsibility of Autodelta. Visually almost indistinguishable from the road-going Sprint GT, the GTA differed by virtue of its aluminium body panels, Plexiglas side and rear windows, and lightened interior fittings and trim. As a result, the GTA tipped the scales at around 200 kilograms lighter than the stock steel-bodied car.
Alfa's classic twin-cam 1,570cc four underwent extensive modification for the GTA, the angle between the valves being reduced from 90 to 80 degrees and the valve sizes substantially increased, however, as there was no longer enough room between them for a central spark plug, a change was made to twin-plug ignition. In road trim, the revised engine produced 115bhp, with up to 170 horsepower available in race tune.
The GTA made its racing debut on 20th March 1966 at Monza, Andrea de Adamich and Teodoro Zeccoli triumphing in the Jolly Club Four-Hour Race. From then on the Autodelta-prepared GTAs enjoyed outstanding success, winning the European Touring Car Championship three years running from 1966-68.
The following year, Alfa Romeo updated the concept in the form of the GTAm, which was based on the Giulia 1750 GT Veloce export model for the United States market. Equipped with SPICA mechanical fuel injection, the engine was enlarged to 1,985cc, bringing it closer to the 2-Litre class limit, and the GTAm made liberal use of lightweight glass fibre body panels and Plexiglas for the windows. The 'm' is commonly supposed to stand for 'maggiorata' (enlarged) though some believe GTAm stands for 'GT America'. Autodelta built 19 GTAm 'works' cars plus 21 'customer' cars for Group 2 racing between 1969 and 1971.
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