Widely regarded as one of the most handsome sports coupes of its era, the 105 Series Alfa Romeo was first shown in 1963. Based on a shortened floorpan from the contemporary Giulia saloon model, the striking 2-door body was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at stylists Bertone. Initially only available with a 1600 cc version of the four cylinder, light-alloy Alfa Romeo twin cam engine, both smaller (1300 cc) and larger capacity variants (1750 cc and 2 litre) were introduced over the near 15-year model life, which ended in 1977.

The 1300cc GT Junior first appeared in 1965 and remained in production right to the end in 1977 with a little over 90,000 of the model built. Although considered the entry level model with the smallest engine size, it still had spritely performance, the claimed 86 bhp yielding a top speed in excess of 100 mph and 0-60mph acceleration time of 13.5 seconds. The model underwent a slight change in appearance during its life, with the original ‘step nose’ front end replaced in 1970 with the smoother lines already in use for the larger engined variants.

This GT Junior has both an interesting specification and history. It was supplied new in Bergamo, Italy as a home market, right-hand drive model and first registered in April 1969. In addition to the right-hand drive option, it was delivered with cloth and vinyl seating, unlike the full vinyl seats more commonly found. The first owner had the vehicle for just a few years, before it passed into the ownership of the Bellini family, who held onto the car for almost 50 years. For much of this time the vehicle has had very little use, being kept in storage, but it was subject to both a mechanical and bodywork ‘refresh’ in 2016.

In 2021, the Bellini family sold the Alfa to ‘Classics & Cabriolets Collection’ of Essex, who imported the car and re-registered it (with an age-related plate) in the UK. The GT 1300 was purchased by its current owner in late 2022.