English
Nederlands
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Русский
Español
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Car Tales: By The Car Designer Of The Century, Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce
‘My father would tell me how his best friend had one of those models, in mustard yellow: together in their Swinging England finery they would cruise the streets of northern English towns on weekend nights, looking to strike lucky with local mod girls. With some success, to all accounts.
‘The Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce is most easily distinguished by its unique grille: horizontal chrome bars that feature protruding blocks which form in outline the familiar Alfa heart. The model was introduced in 1971, together with the 2000 Alfa Romeo Berlina sedan and the 2000 Spider, the replacement for the 1750 range. Throughout the series the engine was rationalized; SPICA fuel injection was only fitted to cars destined for the United States and Canadian markets; carburetors were retained for other markets, producing officially the same power.
‘At the moment we have a stunning example of this model, an amazing 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 available in Rosso with a sand beige interior; the interior of the GTV 2000 had also been changed from the previous range, with the introduction of a separate instrument cluster, instead of the gauges installed in the dash panel in earlier cars.
‘This GTV at Beverly Hills Car Club comes equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission, air conditioning, wood steering wheel, front-wheel disc brakes, Cromodora wheels, and spare tire. Also included are service documents and receipts, with copies dating from 2016 to 2021 totaling over $26,000 that has been invested into this beautiful Italian sports car, an extremely desirable original California car that is mechanically sound.
‘Much of the GTV’s desirability, of course, is due to its provenance as the design prodigy of Giorgetto Giugiaro, himself a product of Bertone, the Turin-based master designers and coachbuilders. And it is worth musing on Giugiaro to comprehend the GTV as a piece of art.
‘Born in Garessio, Italy on August 7th 1938, Giorgetto Giugiaro’s grandfather Luigi painted church frescoes, and Mario, his father, produced religious art and oil paintings. So it is perhaps no surprise that Giorgetto would follow in his family’s artistic footsteps. In 1952, at age 14, he moved to Turin to enroll in the city’s design school.
‘There Giugiaro studied fine art by day, and technical design by night, a blend that signaled his future career. At an end of school year exhibition in 1955, some of Giugiaro’s automotive drawings caught the eye of Dante Giacosa, Fiat’s chief engineer. Giacosa signed seventeen-years-old Giugiaro to Fiat’s Special Vehicles Styling Center.
‘But during his time at Fiat none of Giugiaro’s designs was approved. Accordingly, Giugiaro presented his work to design luminary Nuccio Bertone, who assigned Giugiaro a test design, and then hired the young designer. The test piece that he came up with became the Alfa Romeo 2000, Giugiaro’s first car. The balance of glass and metal, the influence of the shape of the front and rear glass on the design of the cabin, and the flat grille with incorporated headlamps were groundbreaking styling features for the era.
‘At Bertone Giugiaro was among stellar names, including Marcello Gandini, who created the look of the Lamborghini Miura, Lancia Stratos, and BMW 5 Series, among many others; and Franco Scaglione, who conceived the Porsche 356 B Abarth Carrera GTL, and Lamborghini 350 GTV, plus much more.
‘Giugiaro’s earliest cars, like the 105/115 Series Coupes, often featured tastefully arched and curving shapes: in this vein was also his De Tomaso Mangusta, Iso Grifo, and Maserati Ghibli. In 1999 he was named ‘Car Designer of the Century’ by 130 international automotive journalists; and in 2002 was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.
‘Always broad-visioned, Giugiaro also designed the navigation promenade at Tuscany’s Porto Santo Stefano; the 7000 pipes of Lausanne’s cathedral; and – quintessentially Italian – the Marille pasta shape.
‘With a top speed of 118 mph, and 0 to 62mph in 9.7 seconds, the beautiful Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV was one of the most enduring designs from the marque during its time. It was fitted with the largest engine ever offered by the factory in this model family. And thanks to Giorgetto Giugiaro – among many others – the Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV is an archetypically and stunningly beautiful car.
‘Like I said, a piece of art.
-Alex Manos, Owner
Get Started!
Welcome!
join our inventory newsletter
Sign-up for our e-mail alerts
join our newsletter
Sign-up for our e-mail alerts
Learn More
or
we buy classic cars
Looking to sell yours?
Contact us
Sell us your car
Pick up from any USA location - Any condition - Top $$$ Paid
