Giulia (Type 105) 1962-1993

Chassis 1455493 started life rolling down the production line at the Arese factory north of Milan on the 15th of September 1970. It was shipped off with a batch of other cars to the dealer Motorama in Western Australia and supplied to it's first owner, an Italian expat, in mid January 1971, finished in gleaming silver with black trim. 

Unfortunately the Australian sunshine was a little too harsh for it and after a few years the top surfaces of the paint went a little dull, so he decided to repaint the car in gold - anfd it's been gold ever since. An inspired choice I think as the colour really suits the car. 

I purchased it in early 1989 from the 3rd owner, a University of Western Australia professor who had it parked under a tree at his house in a suburb in the Perth foothills as a going, but rather rusty example. It had large holes in the sills and floors, around the windows and generally all over. It's main advantage was that it was complete and going and not mucked about with. Also it was much straighter than my previous 1750GTV which had ended up upside down in a field...

After some essential maintenance and rust repairs I used the car daily for a couple of years before embarking on the first body repair and repaint, doing as much as I could afford at the time. Once completed it was used enthusiastically on all sortes of events and activites in and around Perth, Western Australia with fellow AROCWA members as well as still being my daily commuter car.  It was even used to drive 2700 km (1700 miles) each way from Perth to Adelaide for the Australian Grand Prix weekend for our honeymoon and was followed up with another trip back to Adelaide in 1995 for the last AGP held there.  Each time the car took the journey in it's stride. 

By 2005 I was planning another more comprehensive rebuild. I stripped the car to a rolling shell and embarked on a full rebuild amd repaint. While it was off being repainted I worked on various parts of the trim, mechanical sections etc, cleaning, repairing, restoring or replacing as required. Once it was back in my garage in mid 2006, I started the reassembly process and after a few months it was back on the road and ready to enjoy again!

After we moved to the UK in mid 2008, it was temporarily stored until early 2009 when it was loaded into a container and shipped to the UK to join us here. Since then it has covered plenty of miles, including a drive 'home' to Milan and the Arese Factory in 2010 for the 100th Anniversay celebrations for Alfa Romeo, two trips to the Nurburgring for the Oldtimer Grand Prix event, various trips in France and to countless events in the UK. In 2018 the speedometer clocked over 200,000 miles and I've done approximately 130,000 of those miles to date. 

The GTV still makes me smile every time I get behind the wheel. It's been a faithful and very reliable companion and has never failed to get me home or two a place where I can repair it. I look forward to the next road trip and the next rebuild with enthusiasm!