‘SLEEPING BEAUTY’ 1965 ALFA ROMEO IN STORAGE SINCE 1987 & 1973 LANCIA FULVIA 1600 HF LUSSO, A THOROUGHBRED WITH RACE CREDENTIALS

This fabulously rare 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale is believed to be one of only 25 that Ruddspeed were commissioned to convert to right-hand drive when new by Alfa Romeo UK. Contemporary import duty meant that a standard Giulia Sprint Speciale had a far higher showroom price than a Jaguar E-Type so the RHD versions were only for real enthusiast. This is a true sleeping beauty with a mere 42,000 miles on the clock. The streamlined Coupe has been in the same family since 1972 and in storage for three decades. It will be sold by H&H Classics with an estimate of £30,000 to £40,000 at Duxford Imperial War Museum on June 19th.

Made even more collectable as it is a matching numbers car it comes with its original leather interior. This charming car has recently emerged from long-term storage and appears to be totally original and unmodified. It was put into storage in 1987 due to bereavement and not a mechanical issue and has remained unused since.

Upon inspection it was found to have a coating of wax on the underside and in the boot floor which explains the apparent lack of corrosion to the underside or on the body.

It has an excellent history file with tax discs from 1972 until 1987 and it still wears the dealer sticker from where it was purchased in 1972.

Roger Nowell of H&H Classics, comments: “Surely a unique opportunity to obtain an original car that obviously will require an amount of recommissioning for a return to the road.”

Unveiled as a prototype at the 1957 Turin Salon, the Bertone-penned Giulietta Sprint Speciale entered production two years later. Homologated for competition after 101 'low nose' cars had been made, the Sprint Speciale boasted a drag coefficient of 0.28 and evolved through Tipo 101.20 and Tipo 101.21 guises. Introduced at the 1963 Geneva Salon, the latter utilised more modern Giulia mechanicals and thus boasted a 1.6 litre engine, five-speed manual gearbox and front disc brakes. Only 1,366 Giuletta SS and 1,400 Giulia SS cars were built.

As Giulietta is the diminutive for Giulia in Italian, the Giulia name was a wordplay hinting that the newer car was a grown-up version of the Giulietta. In spite of a Giulia SS prototype, Alfa Romeo decided to retain the Giulietta-shaped SS in production. The 1570cc engine made up to 200 km/h (120 mph) possible. Fed by twin Weber 40 DCOE2 carburettors and taken from the Giulia Sprint Veloce, it delivered 112 hp (84 kW) of power. Production ended in 1965, with a last single Sprint Speciale completed in 1966.

Alfa Romeo interior

1973 Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF Lusso - a thoroughbred with racing credentials £12,000 to £16,000

And for those who prefer the Lancia marque here is rare and desirable 1973 Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF Lusso.

The Fulvia Coupe was among the best handling cars of the 1960s and 1970s. Using the same independent front suspension, well-located beam rear axle and four-wheel disc brakes as its saloon sibling, it sat on a 150mm shorter wheelbase. The work of Zaccone Mina, its narrow angle DOHC V4 engine ranged in size from 1216cc to 1584cc and was allied to four- or (later) five-speed manual transmission.

1973 Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF Lusso

Responsible for Lancia’s first official foray into motorsport since withdrawing from F1 during 1955, the Fulvia Coupe placed 8th overall on its competitive debut, the 1965 Tour de Corse. Winning the Italian Rally Championship every year from 1965-1973 (except 1970), the Works Cars fielded by Cesare Fiorio also scooped the 1972 International Championship for Manufacturers with two rounds to spare.

Brainchild of legendary engineer Antonio Fessia, the Fulvia derived its name from a Roman road that connected Tortona to Torino. Launched at the 1963 Geneva Salon as a four-door Saloon, the newcomer was styled in-house by Piero Castagnero who also penned a two-door Coupe derivative that entered production in 1965.

One of just 400 or so right-hand drive Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF cars made (from a total production run of 3,670), this particular example has been in the current family ownership since the late 1970s and as such is believed to have covered just 51,000 miles from new.

Treated to an extensive ‘bare metal’ restoration by marque specialist Paxton Garage of Wrexham in 1991-1992, the Lancia had its bodywork re-metalled as necessary and attention paid to the brakes, suspension, engine and gearbox (though, the original interior was mainly preserved). Covering some 1,600 miles over the next ten years, the Fulvia has been in dry storage since 2002. Recently it was fired up by feeding fuel directly to the carburettors, the engine recording strong oil pressure. Remarkably presentable given its inactivity, this rare RHD 1600HF is offered for sale with original handbook and history file.