Review by Pete Vack
Read Review of Book 1: Berlina
Book 2 of 7 volumes on the Tipo 105
This is detail: a single book of 262 pages focusing ONLY on the Tipo 105 Alfas produced with right hand drive. Every model is described, most with a list of changes from the previous model. Variations in the types of dashboards, interiors, engines and bodywork are, in many cases, illustrated. The exceptions are the rare GTC model and the RHD version of the Montreal, for which there are no photos.
Right Hand Drive? Been there done that
Although all Alfas were RHD until about 1950 with the introduction of the 1900 Berlina, there was so little demand for a RHD Giulietta that it was not until 1960 that the Giulietta T.I. was built as a RHD drive variant (according to Fusi). Perhaps another reason was that, according to Dasse, it was too expensive to tool up the necessary linkages for the column shift for a few RHD models. We bet, however, that a few of our readers will tell us about early RHD 1900s and Giuliettas!
Charting the differences
We can’t possibly check all the specs and figures, particularly since we’ve never even driven a RHD 105, but one we could check on, the 1300 Spider, was complete and correct; the differences between that and the 1600 even include an ash tray which does not have a cigarette lighter, which bodes well for the data on the rest of the models being accurate. In the description for the GTC (C for convertible) Dasse gets into detail about the additional material needed to reinforce the chassis to compensate for the lack of the roof.
Production figures are given after each 105 section and are both complete and interesting. While they can be found in Fusi (look for G. d. after the model number) Dasse does the math as well; for example the GTC was only made in RHD for two years, and 54 were produced in 1965, 45 in 1966. Handy stuff when shopping for one!
Dasse was busy compiling the 105 data with Dr. Marco Fazio and realized that there were only a few photos of the 105 RHD models. He wrote, “Regardless, I was determined to fill this gap.” Dasse found what he was looking for in the Motorsport Images Archives, which in fact make up the majority of the photos in this particular volume. Additional images came from the Alfa Storico, the collection of David Wright, the Grand Prix Library, REVS, and Maurice Louche. Most then, are taken by motoring journalist and photographers of the time, but are nonetheless taken when the cars were newly delivered to the dealers.
It is another excellent volume in a complete set of 7 (but wait, there are more!) on the 105 Alfas. We’ll review each volume in turn in the weeks to come so stand by.
Book Details
This book focuses exclusively on the right hand drive model variants of the Tipo 105 series. All the photographs contained within the 264 pages are contemporary, most of which are published here for the first time, documenting the different variants of the model. In the respective chapters the modifications to each model of the cars that Alfa Romeo made over the years are documented in detail.
The documentation covers the following models produced by Alfa Romeo between 1962 and 1977 in Arese:
Tipo 105 Giulia
Tipo 105 Giulia GT
Tipo 105 Spider
Tipo 105 Berlina
Tipo 105 Montreal (Sadly there are no photos of this model in this book)
Also included is information concerning the vehicle identification numbers and production numbers of the models.
264 pages, 147 black and white photographs and 10 color photographs.
Size: 25,7 x 22,9 cm
Weight: 1,5 kg
Language: English – German
Author: Patrick Dasse
ISBN 978-3-87166-096-2
Free shipping within Germany.
A selection of photos from this volume.
What I’d like to see in my garage. A case of engines ready for shipment to South Africa, in CKD (completely knocked down) state. The UK was not the only market for right hookers.
A ribbon type speedometer and floor shift were typical for this Tipo 105.40, Giulia 1300 T.I. as it arrived in London in 1967. Dealer or importer photos are just as good as the factory shots.
The 1968 version had a more sporting dashboard but the same steering wheel. The model number was still 40, but identified as “Edizione 1969.”
Radford in the UK offered a custom version of the GT, 105.04 line but numbers built is not listed.
Rear seats of a GT Junior, Tipo 105.31, in 1967. Note the attachment for shoulder belt harness.
A more luxurious interior for the 1969 Tipo 105.45, the GTV 1750. Yes, you are seeing correctly, only the passenger seat had a headrest.
A different type of engine shot; alternators were coming into play with the 1750 models and here is how to keep the slack correct.
The Tipo 105.22, GT Veloce 2000 was updated from the 1750 models with a new grille and new dashboard and was one of the best selling of the RHD Alfas.
1972 UK version of the 2000 engine with twin brake boosters.
In my two Alfa Romeo Montreal books there are numerous photos of the exterior, interior detail and engine compartments of RHD UK and Australian Montreals. They include rally and race cars, a sunroof model, and a photo of the Alfa GB demonstrator Montreal being driven by the late Jon Dooley at Silverstone in September 1973. Also included is a photo of one of a small number Montreals with 00564 LHD engines that were converted in the UK from LHD to RHD before the production RHD cars were made. An illustration in the December 1970 edition of the Montreal sales brochure apparently shows a RHD car, but this is due to lateral inversion of the photo to suit the page layout, as no such vehicle had been built in 1970!
Sometimes I could just kick myself for some of the less than bright things I did in my teens and early twenties. I bought a rusty 64/65 Step-Nose, decided I couldn’t weld in new metal so we cut it up and threw it in the trash, literally. I did keep the interior, instruments and driveline though.
I also had a RHD Alfa sedan which I had picked up in D.C. Supposedly it had come to the U.S. from South Africa having been brought into the country by a diplomat and then sold here. Another rust bucket which I simply stripped for parts and sent the rest to a scrap yard.
If nothing else it would have been nice to have recorded the serial numbers…
Although Fusi does not record them, two 101-series Giulia 1600 Sprint coupes (101 Giulietta body with the new 105 Giulia mechanicals) as factory RHD cars. These were built in the second half of 1962 and sold into the UK early in 1963. It’s not known if or how these prototypes influenced the development of the RHD version of the 105 Giulia Sprint GT, which first appeared in 1964. My car, AR382001, shows how much trial-and-error work was involved in adapting a standard LHD coupe to RHD – the bulkhead at the back of the engine has many holes filled in with discs tack-welded into place.
A member of my Detroit Chapter AROC in Michigan has a gorgeous RHD Montreal. He had it in Australia and when he moved o the US, the car came with him. The color is the mustard yellow (don’t know the official name).