Last week we ran an And How! article that featured several green Alfas, the real car, a bubble gum card and this tinplate Alfa, of which we wrote:
“…tucked away on another shelf is a tin plate Alfa Sprint. A child’s toy, really rough and almost hideous. But one just doesn’t throw things like that away. By the looks of the grille is is a 101 series model, maybe a 1600, with a front drive friction motor. It does not even have a manufacturers name anywhere on it, but it’s totally original. The color always put me a bit off but the toy was worth saving.”
Found hidden away on shelf…
We safely assumed that we possessed the only extant example of this rather poorly done tinplate toy.
But again, we underestimated our readers. We really didn’t think there could be another, exact same Alfa tin toy out there. But then Marc Zeboni submitted a comment:
Pete I have the same tin green Alfa but it came without wheel hubcaps so I made some from thumbtacks to fit in my toy repair home shop. They look exactly like the real ones.
These tin Giuliettas were made in Japan.
As you can see by the photos below taken by Marc, his Alfa is nn much better shape than mine, it begins to look more like an Alfa Sprint.
Our thanks to Marc Zeboni.
Photo by Alessandro Gerelli
Then there was the question of the color. That green, mint green. We asked our readers if they knew more about it. Here are a few of the responses:
-Peter, This color was offered both by Alfa and Fiat in the US. I distinctly remember an early 105 GT in that color as well as a 1900 Series IV Sprint that lived in Milwaukee. We referred to it as “bathroom tile racing green”.
Jim Weber
-Pete, light green was a Factory colour on the early 750 Sprints, AR201 Verde Chiaro, offered from late ’54 to early ’58.
Ciao
Greig
-The colour is Verde Chiaro (pale green) AR201 and available from 1954 to 58.
Paul Gregory
-I have seen green 750 Sprints in Alfa books but have never seen any green 101 Sprints (1960-1964).
John Wakamatsu
-Verde Chiaro has also been offered on the new Cinquecentos, may still be available…
Terry Quilico
Good work! Ok, now, what about those bubble gum cards? How many different Alfas were included in the run?
sfsf
How about 3 …. very similar, same color, but I think it is a 1900, not Giulietta. Taillights are barely noticeable, no color. Orange / yellow plaid interior. No manufacture info on black painted bottom
Ok, if we’re going to compare tin mint green Alfa Sprints, I have one also. It’s just like the two here. It is missing the left headlight, has some rust on the plated trim and has the hubcaps that seem to simulate wire wheels. Motor runs good. This is left over from my collection of four full size Sprints and one Spider. None of the Sprints were mint green, but one did have Borrani wire wheels, factory fitted I think (maybe??). They were very unique and made for the Giulietta brake assemblies.
Well, make that 4. I have one too in my display cabinet in Switzerland … but it came from the US originally.