Auto Italia, 2021, Part 4: The Alfas

I've already confessed my ignorance of most things Lancia (please see https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2021/05/auto-italia-2021-part-3-lancias.html). Whilst I don't profess a deep knowledge of Alfas, I was at least able to recognise and name with a fair degree of certainty most of the examples of the marque that I saw at Auto Italia in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, in the early autumn of 2021.

This is a Berlinetta, which is just as well, because berlinetta is Italian for sedan but Alfa Sedan lends no cachet to the model at all. Neither does four-door, incidentally, which is probably why Maserati sedans go by the far sexier Italianesque moniker of Quattroporte! Everything sounds better in Italian! Even Scottish names, apparently.

As far as I can tell, this 105 series is probably a 1300 cc GT Junior. I'm not sure where it fits within the 105 timeline - whether it's before or after the "step-nose" version - but to my mind, it's by far the prettier of those two variants.

It's always tricky writing about sensitive subjects, especially they involve some tragedy or another. 100% of my mates who have owned 16 valve 33s - which is only two, admittedly - have lost them to fire, one of them nearly taking out my brand new work vehicle as burning petrol spewed from its ruptured fuel lines and ran down the gutter, only to be extinguished metres from a very difficult conversation with my boss. The demise of the other - the much lamented, self-immolating favourite child of the Alfa Male - can be witnessed here, via the following link: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2018/04/for-sale-alfa-33qv-no-rust-any-offer-be.html.

There were a lot of hugely desirable Alfas on display at Auto Italia: numerous 105s, some GTVs, a Duetto, a sublime Montreal and a lovely Giulietta Spyder, to mention but a few. However, it was this nifty Alfasud Giardinetta that really took my fancy, perhaps because I've never seen the wagon-version in the flesh before but also thanks to it being in such great nick. It was ostensibly stock, other than wearing a tasty set of alloys and having been fitted with a classy Nardi steering wheel and a set of 147 / 156 type leather bucket seats.

Strange fact but true: the sedan version of the 105 series - the Giulia, shown here - is supposedly more aerodynamic than its low-slung, sexy A-F GT and GTV siblings. It doesn't seem possible but, somehow, it is.

Yep! This car is not as slippery as the boxy white one shown immediately above.

The GTV and GTV6 is another thing entirely! Surely the sleek hatch version would have a better drag coefficient than the Giulietta? You'd think so but maybe not ... .

Could this Giulietta be aerodynamically superior to the GTV6 shown above? It seems improbable, but as precedent has shown ... .

Why Alfa dropped the Duetto's svelte "boat tail" in favour of the chopped off cam-back of the subsequent Spyder line is a mystery that only their design team is ever likely to know. It seems very, very odd to me, not that the later versions aren't nice but, seriously, are their derrieres as gorgeous as this version's?

Nice ar*e!

If you don't think that the Montreal is the most beautiful Alfa ever, please stop reading right now! You are unworthy of setting eyes upon such beauty and I do not wish to ever sully the pages of my 'blog with your perverted sense of aesthetics!!

Step-nose or plain? We all have our personal preferences!

Still to come: Auto Italia, 2021, Part 5: Italian Cars that Aren't Fiats, Lancias or Alfas.

Also well worth a look: Auto Italia, Parts 1, 2 and 3 (X1/9s, Fiats that aren't X1/9s, and Lancias, respectively).

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

Photos by Alastair and Angus.

EJ or EH Holden? (Up-dated December, 2022)

EJ or the later EH? Several years ago, I posed the question: Can somebody please explain the difference between an EJ and an EH Holden ute or van? The response at the time wasn't overwhelming, so I did a bit of Googling and ferreting through my photos and came up with my own rough guide to EJ and EH identification. Sedans and wagons are easy to tell apart ; the EH's vertical rectangular tail lights are a dead give-away. However, the workhorse versions of both models share the rear-end treatment of the earlier EJ, making it harder to identify one from the other. No super obvious hints here. Or here ... . It turns out that the main clues are in the placement of the front H O L D E N lettering and GMH lion emblems, the style of the radiator grille and the width of the vents in front of the windscreen, with all EJs - sedans, wagons, utes and vans - having one combination and the EH line-up having their own . So what exactly are those diffe

Vick Auto Prima Fiat X1/9 Brakes: An Owner’s Assessment

At the end of 2022, I fitted a set of Vick Autosport Prima front brakes to my mildly worked 1.5 litre Series 1 Fiat X1/9 . I was fortunate, having picked them up at a very, very reasonable price, brand new but surplus to the needs of a fellow X1/9 Australia member who had imported them from the US. The kit included: New single pot callipers , new vented rotors (standard X1/9 front rotors are smaller, non-vented items), DOT approved stainless steel brake hoses, and all the necessary mounting hardware. They are a value proposition, being particularly well priced compared to other manufacturers’ packages - even at RRP - with everyone I’ve spoken to saying they’re made to a high standard, too. Here's a link to a piece that I wrote about them at that time, including some costings: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-x19-gets-prima-brake-upgrade.html . Initial Assessment: I was a little underwhelmed by the brakes' performance, finding that although they had a tiny

Random # 301: Nanna-Spec KE36 Corolla

Once upon a time - six or seven years ago, actually - there was a lovely pale yellow GC Galant station wagon getting around Hobart. It was totally nanna-spec; its paint was umarked, the chrome work and hubcaps were immaculate, and its very original interior was pristine. Then someone stuck feathers in its dashboard. Next, the windows were adorned with Tibetan prayer flags. And a hubcap went missing. And the the rear bumper was pushed in, mangling the bodywork behind it. And a mudguard got dented. And rust set in. I fear for this sweet, innocent KE36 Corolla. Somebody please save it before it's too late. Nanna needs you to do it. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by GlamRock.

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