Maxim Vintage Car Shopper: 1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spring GT

If you’re going to dance with an Italian, dance with the prettiest. 

The Year: 1964

The Model: Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT

The Drivetrain: The Sprint GT runs the famous, 1.6-liter Alfa twin-cam, putting out 122 horsepower through a manual five-speed transmission. The Spring GT is rear-wheel drive, for fantastic balance and handling.

Favorite Five Points:

1.       These Giulias are nicknamed “Stepnoses” for their jutting, cliff-face noses. The twin round headlamps and famous Alfa grille mean this car always leads with its strengths.

2.       The proportions: it’s trite to call a coupe from the 1960’s tidy, the footprint of this Spring GT is thrillingly compact. No two-door should be bigger than this.

3.       The Alfa yelp: four-cylinders aren’t known as the most sonorous lumps, but this engine has a pleasingly feisty exhaust note.

4.       Because this is an original, Italian car, the gauges ar  marked “olio” and “acqua” and “benzina” (gasoline)—it’s the immersion method of Italian car ownership.

5.      The wheels: even working in the medium of steel wheels, Alfa Romeo managed to make four chrome-hubbed works of art.

Quirks:

–       The Spring GT is a very early version of the Giulia—those inclined to more power should look at later GTV and Veloce variants with the two-liter motor.

–       A few non-original parts (shift knob, steering wheel) and some slight corrosion under the rear windows disqualify this car from show events.

–       The odometer has exceeded its mechanical limits.

Good Buy?

            The asking price ($36,200) is high for an unrestored, early model Sprint GT, but the seller is happy to negotiate. For thirty grand, even, you’d get a car that looks as fantastic as its faster, later brothers at a big discount. This is a looker, not a racer, so for that price, why not snag one of the most beautiful shapes in automotive history? Find it here, on Hemmings. 

Photos by from Hemmings