Massive storm clouds overhead held-off just long enough on the night of May 10th for “Your Most Italian Dealer”, Leith Alfa Romeo of Raleigh and Leith Maserati of Raleigh to welcome guests to their grand opening celebration. On hand for the occasion was a collection of fine Italian art you can drive.  Also in attendance, was the President of the Mid-Atlantic Alfa Romeo Club, Kevin Harper who played a role in bringing some of his club’s most cherished rides to show-off. Watch our video adaptation of my Zero to 60 podcast interview with Kevin as we discuss three very unique Alfa Romeo classics on display.

 

 

The Mid-Atlantic Alfa Romeo Club operates throughout Virginia and the Carolinas and is a chapter of the national Alfa Romeo Owners Club or “A.R.O.C.” The oldest car in the Mid-Atlantic club dates back to 1959 but the majority of Alfa’s represented were crafted in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s with an increasing number of newer models since the return of this storied brand to our shores. These numbers will surely increase now that we have Leith Alfa Romeo of Raleigh on Capital Boulevard, as newer Alfa models and their owners join the club.

 

 

You really need to see and hear these cars in person to truly appreciate the level of design and engineering that went into each one. Take, for instance, the “Rosso” Alfa Romeo GTA Junior parked at the end of the Leith Alfa Romeo and Maserati of Raleigh building during their grand opening celebration.

Cars like this 1300 GTA Junior and its more powerful, aluminum-bodied sibling, the race-prepped 1600 GTA, won numerous racing championships during the 1960s and early ‘70s competing in various Sports Car Club of America series.

The car pictured above is a replica of a GTA, the “A” standing for “Alleggerita”, the Italian word for lightweight, hence the aluminum body and other lightweight parts designed specifically for the racetrack.

 

 

This stunning example of an Alfa Romeo Zagato you see above — one of only 402 built — was driven to Leith Alfa Romeo of Raleigh’s grand opening by one of the members of the Mid-Atlantic Alfa Romeo Club. Even though this particular Alfa could be considered a museum piece, what would be the fun of locking it away in an exhibit? We all know Alfas are built to be driven — even after 40, 50, or even 60 years since they rolled off the Milan assembly line.

Of note to my eye was the vague resemblance of this 1600 Junior Zagato to the Datsun 240 Z car of the same period. When I asked Kevin when the Alfa Romeo Zagato, (1300 and 1600 series) was produced, he said, “from the late 1960s to 1975”.

Is it possible that the Alfa “Z car” ” and Datsun “Z car”, created around the same time period of the mid-1960s on different continents, by different designers, could end up with a similar shape and styling features? It’s fun to imagine the possibility that maybe these two long hood, Kammback style sport coupes could have shared an unspoken complimentary “tip of the hat” to one another.

 

 

The beautifully detailed yellow Alfa Romeo Spider I spoke to Kevin about on the night of the grand opening, is a 1993 4^th generation 115 series car. It was built in May of ’93, the final month of production for Alfa Romeo Spiders shipped to the United States. The original Spider roadster debuted in 1966 and stayed pretty true to its original form over the next three decades with only minor modifications along the way. It was the last design signed-off on by legendary automotive artisan, Battista Pinin Farina. As you can see he really nailed it.

Make your appointment to see the full-line of new Alfas or used cars in The Leith Collection at AlfaRomeoRaleigh.com and listen to the Zero to 60 Podcast at LeithCars.com.

 

Written by Mark Arsen for Leithcars.com.

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