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Random # 297: Giocattolo


Things I know about the Giocattolo:  

 The company that made them - oddly enough called Giocattolo, which is Italian for toy - was a mid-80s Australian venture that sadly went broke.  The car started out as a front wheel drive Alfa Veloce Sprint running a 1.5 litre, front mounted boxer motor, mated to a five speed manual gearbox.  A great little car but nothing startling.

 The Giocattolo engineering team swapped the four-pot, front-mounted donk for a stonking 5.0 litre Holden engine, mounted amidships, and bolted it up to some sort of heavy duty transaxle driving the rear wheels.  The Alfa shell was significantly strengthened and bolstered, presumably with a fair bit of fibreglass (too early for Carbon fibre, I reckon).

 Oh, and I realy, really want one!  This is fantasy, of course, but a bloke's allowed to dream, isn't he?


The one shown here, captured outside Hobart's uber-chic MacQ1 hotel, is every bit as fabulous as it looks in these photos.  Better, actually; as good as a current iPhone camera might be, some things deserve the full photographic treatment!


My interior shots weren't up to par, taken as they were through the windows.  The cabin was equipped with beige leather Recaros (not dissimilar to those in the UMPH Galant, although they're black), matching leather trim - including the cover that separates the mid-mounted engine from the car's occupants - and a timelessly designed Momo Monte Carlo steering wheel (the Galant has an equally classic Momo Corse).  


It's on Victorian club plates, so it's reasonable to assume that its owner is touring Tasmania, living the high-life by driving our famous Targa Tasmania stages, eating our lovely food and drinking our magnificent wines, spirits and beers.  I know that's what I'd be doing if the car were mine!











Here’s a fabulous video from Retromobile that tells the Giocattolo story even better:  https://youtu.be/WKmtz0N-yCk?si=OS_2pdfX_2edv0Zj.   There’s this one from Wasabi Cars, too:  https://youtu.be/_ihMq52uHoo?si=Km_bHz0zs7S-YBm8.   It details a Giocattolo reunion in Queensland, Australia, near where they were built, and features most of the remaining examples.  





U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

All iPhone images

Comments

  1. Gregor Watson13 January 2020 at 09:01

    Kevlar, not fibreglass as I recall from some '80s ABC infotainment show. It gave a strength and weight advantage.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15 December 2023 at 09:34

      I’m tipping that you’re correct.

      Delete
  2. Gregor Watson13 January 2020 at 09:46

    This isn’t the right episode (just a supercar special), but the show was Beyond 2000: https://youtu.be/uIzltXE3wP0

    ReplyDelete

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