With its enlarged twin-spark DOHC four-cylinder punching out a screaming 165kW at 7200rpm, Alfa Romeo’s race-focused 1750 GTAm dominated European Touring Car Championship of 1970, and remains one of the famed Italian marque’s maddest, most memorable machines.
Alfa Romeo won the first two Formula 1 World Championships in 1950 and ’51. Just two years later, after brief outings by the stunning but unsuccessful 6C 3000 Disco Volante sports car, its factory racing effort simply vanished for 14 years.
In the interim, Alfa Romeo produced some of its loveliest modern road cars: the 1.3-litre Giulietta (1954) and 1.6-litre Giulia (1962).
Privateer racers kept the Alfa Corse flag flying. One such was Elio Zagato, one of the two sons of coachbuilder Ugo Zagato. Elio designed and built several custom-bodied Giuliettas, twice winning Italy’s 1.3-litre GT championship with them.
Zagato’s SZ (sprint Zagato) specials and the subsequent, spaceframe TZ (tubolare Zagato) series reawakened Alfa Romeo’s racing pulse. In 1965, the factory appointed Autodelta as its off-site racing division, run by former Ferrari engineer, Carlo Chiti.
Chiti held the distinction of having designed Ferrari’s last front-engined F1 championship winner (1958) and its first rear-engined one (1961).
Autodelta wasted no time, from the basis of the lovely Bertone 105-series Giulia Sprint GT coupe, in building a 1.6-litre giant-killer called the GTA.
The GTA (alleggerita, lightened) was a homologation special, with 500 built to qualify for Group 2 racing – the forerunner to Group A. Aluminium body panels, alloy wheels, plastic side windows and a stripped interior took more than 200kg from the standard Sprint’s 950kg.
Equipped with a high-compression, twin-plug cylinder head, the stradale (street) GTA offered 86kW. Autodelta’s corse (racing) versions were even lighter and punched out 127kW at 7500rpm. The 1570cc GTA toppled Lotus Cortinas and Porsche 911s to nab the 1966 and ’67 European Touring Car Championships.
A GTA Junior 1300 followed in 1968, but with a new 1750 GTV coupe in production, Alfa’s eye was on the more prestigious 2.0-litre class.
The 1750 GTAm was strictly a racer. Only 40 examples were produced, built up from production-line steel shells. Crudely riveted fibreglass flares covered track width increases of 75/90mm front/rear. Despite the steel shell, around 120kg was shed from the 1750 GTV’s 1040kg.
Measuring just 3970mm long, 1640mm wide and 1320mm high, on a 2350mm wheelbase, the GTAm’s tacked-on guards accommodated 13 x 9.0-inch tyres, making it appear even stubbier than the 14 x 5.5-shod GTA. Front suspension was by double wishbones and coils, the rear by live axle with trailing arms and coils. Brakes were all-wheel discs, naturally.
Alfa’s little 1779cc twin-cam copped a bore increase (from 80 to 84.5mm), bringing the GTAm capacity to 1985cc. The “m” in the moniker is for maggiorata (enlarged). The twin-spark head featured larger inlet and exhaust valves and a lofty 11:1 compression ratio. Spica mechanical port-fuel injection could be homologated thanks to its fitment on US-bound 1750 GTVs.
All this helped the 1750 GTAm to a screaming 165kW at 7200rpm. In 1971, a facelifted (but still 1985cc) 2000 GTAm produced close to 180kW, with a top speed of 230km/h via the close-ratio five-speed gearbox.
So successful was the GTAm that the 2.0-litre class couldn’t contain it: Dutch phenomenon Antoine “Toine” Hezemans cleaned up the outright 1970 European Touring Car Championship for drivers. He was pipped by a Capri RS2600 in 1971 but still brought Alfa the manufacturer’s title, as well as driving an Alfa T33/3 to victory in that year’s Targa Florio.
All of this was enough to make Alfa Romeo see the red mist again. With success mounting for its V8 Tipo 33 sports-racer in the World Championship of Makes, Alfa directed its attention towards an old rivalry with a certain other, red racing team.
One of the most special GTAm machines was one was raced here in Australia by Sydney car dealer and racer Brian Foley who successfully ran a GTA for importer Alec Mildren, before acquiring a left-hook GTAm. Foley raced the 2.0-litre car in ’71, but in ’72 appeared with a (now right-hand-drive) GTAm, apparently converted from an earlier GTA – and fitted with the 2.5-litre, 235kW Tipo 33 V8 from Mildren’s Brabham-Alfa single-seater.
