by Karl Schnelle and Koen Beekmann
In Part V of this series, we looked at the Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint. Now, we will examine the Alfa Romeo 2-door Giulia GT series. The Giulia GT coupe first came out in 1968 as the GT 1300 Junior, (Rampini, Automodelli Togi, online Dec 2017). Rampini lists four versions of this Coupe : GT 1300 Junior, 1750 GT Veloce (1970), Giulia Sprint GTA Competitizione (1972), and Giulia GTV 2000 (1976). [All photos are by Koen or his colleagues.]
The Giulia GT Coupe story is probably the most complex of all the Togi Models. Rampini listed four versions, but we have identified six historically! Some seem to have overlapped in the market so even an exact release order might not be possible. The current company is currently selling 8 renditions!!!
In contrast to Rampini, the authors believe the first “Giulia Sprint GT” came out earlier, in 1965. Togi made good commercial use of this GT model because, to make the different versions, all they did was to alter the grill. In the 1960s, the first three types were produced:
- 1300 Junior with 1 horizontal strip in the grill
- 1600 with grill without a strip (not mentioned by Rampini)
- GT Veloce with 3 horizontal strips in the grill (not mentioned by Rampini)
Here is a better shot of the green GT Veloce – with 3 strips:
Up until that point, this might have been the Togi with the best fit and best lines. Perhaps that was because, as was customary with model car manufacturers at that time such as Mercury, the factory drawings were used. On all the versions, the doors, hood, and trunk open.
Here is the Giulia GT from the 1968 Togi catalog (it’s hard to tell how many strips are on the grill!):
Togi opted for its own solution for the door hinges, though. They hinge around a pin: a very nice system with which the door turns like the real car inside the body, more beautifully done than with almost all other toy cars. There is almost no resistance and the doors always neatly open and close.
On the baseplate shown below, you will find the end of the door pins behind the two small screws. These screws are used to attach the the bottom baseplate. All versions of the coupe use this baseplate so it does not help identify which one you have. Additionally, the baseplate shows a date of 8/65!
The build instructions that comes with every Togi shows the door construction. As with other Togis, many of the details are very similar to other model cars from that era.
In the next photo, an unsharp line up of early 1750 GT Veloces are shown with rare Veloce grills with 3 horizontal bars and their very rare little round stickers behind the window, that over the years fell of and disappeared after the glue dried out. As far as we know, only the first series of the GT Veloces had these little stickers.
Here is a red 1300 (1 strip) next to a green GT Veloce (3 strips):
A mustard GT Veloce is pictured below with no headrests on the front seats.
Later in the 1970s, three or four more versions were released:
- 1750 with double headlights, one smaller than the other
- 2000 GTV by using a sticker to rename the 1750
- GTA that is missing all the specific GTA details
- Cabriolet or convertible version.
Togi released the 1750 GT Veloce version in 1970. While the real 1750 was a restyled model with many new details such as the hood design, Togi just reused the 1300/1600 molds. The ugliest detail was the 4 headlights that did not fit into the recess for the previous two large headlights. This poor detail you would expect from a small Matchbox and not from such a large, expensive model!
In 1976, this model was renamed the 2000 GTV simply by means of adding a sticker. A much too easy choice because the 2000 had a lot more updated details in real life. We were very disappointed to see the 1750 grill used (on the 2000 GTV) with the strange design again underneath the double headlights that did not fit in the body. The lower round cutouts below are left over from the single headlights of a 1300 GT.
In 1972, Togi produced the GTA Competitizione, always in red and with racing numbers, and with wheels from the 2000 Berlina. This “lighter and faster” version is more rare than the rest of the Togi GTs and is shown in the photo below. (The other coupes in the photo are a white 1300 Junior with 1 horizontal strip in the grill and an ocher yellow 1750 with the double headlights.)
A GTA from a kit is shown next to the green Veloce GT below. the racing numbers have not yet been applied since it is a kit. Notice the double headlights, headrests, and different wheels from the 2000 Berlina. Of course, Togi calls this a GTA but in reality it is nowhere near to the actual light-weight Competizione version.
A Togi catalog page from the 1980s shows that they were selling the 1300, 2000, and GTV all at he same time. The photo seems to show a GT Veloce on the kit box that should have been obsolete by then!
In 1977 the last Togi version came out, a model that was converted from the Coupe to Cabriolet (with the roof sawn off) in a very limited edition. See the light blue example in one of the photos above. Not a very attractive conversion but because of the low production numbers, this is now very popular and expensive model. The interior was provided with some stickers to represent the side door panels. The folded back hood came from the Alfa Spider.
Finally, a scan of the ultimate Togi set: a Veloce, a Giulia Berlina and an ‘Osso di Seppia’ (Duetto) Spider are together in a rare dark red and yellow box.
Next time in Part VII, we will continue the Togi story with the Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider and Kamm-tail Spider.
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