[mp.ab]

Good evening fellow members,
I would like to share my thoughts after reading your anwsers.

Tour de France 19th to 27th of September 1970.
Five Alfa Romeo GTAms participated in this race.

1. entry #56 driven by Verrier/Vanson chassis AR 1531212 registration plate number L47391 MI
2. entry #57 driven by Barallier/Fayel chassis AR 1531230 registration plate number L47393 MI
3. entry #58 driven by Pianta/Alemani chassis AR 1530671 registration plate number K97829 MI
4. entry #59 driven by Darniche/Demange chassis AR 1531222 registration plate number L47392 MI
5. entry #60 driven by Dieudonee/Curien chassis unknown registration plate number L26447 MI

So all of the GTAms that participated had registration plate numbers, my guess is that it should be mandatory since the Tour de France took place on public roads also.

Some facts...

1. The unknown chassis cannot be AR 1531042, since it participated at the ETCC race at Jarama on 27th of September 1970.
2. We also know that it cannot be AR 1531034 since it crashed at Nurburgring on July 1970.
3. We are searching for a red GTAm with a yellow front right corner as the frame from the video is showing.

A logical thought...
Since the registration papers were for chassis AR 1531034, it would be convenient that the unknown chassis that participated is close to AR 1531034... meaning AR 1531039, AR 1531042, AR 1531068, they only differ in one or two digits. AR 1531042 is ruled out, so we are left with AR 1531039 (one digit difference and a registration plate L26448 MI which it received the same date as AR 1531034) and AR 1531068 (two digits difference).

Of course I stand corrected as this is digging into history, and everything must be proven.

A big thank you for your help.
Takis.

Takis, my thoughts regarding the #60. Look at the racing number of the car, it is round, however all other cars (at least pictures I've checked) of the event had square racing numbers. I tried to find the answer and seems like the car #60 was added to the racing grid in the last moment.
As you can see by the screenshot from Autosprint #36, 1970, only four official AR supposed to participate in the race. So the #60 was added in the last moment, it probably was a spare car of SOFAR. Also in the final results of the race #60 was called Alfa Romeo GT
Also Giorgio Pianta raced with Gian Battista Alemani and not with Miracolo as was announced.

 

[quadrifolio]

hello Takis, AR 1532307, never had license plates. How that was done in the day I don’t know.
The owner, Juncadella, told me that he had a friend that would drive it from Italy to Spain on a trailer for him to race, albeit it was only for a year, then it was exported to El Salvador.
Funny businesses in those days. Very creative. 😁

So at least this car, no license plate.
And, it still has no license plates, as being a race car, in El Salvador there’s no law that requires a race car to have license plates

Regards, Alberto

Back in those days in Spain it was a common practice to give to car a that was inported to race, a provisional license plate that expired after some days so the car didnt need to be road registered for that prupose if after the race they were leaving the country again so that could explain the no license plate to that particular car

 

[martinue]

To avoid customs duties, several GTAms purchased by SOFAR were registered in Milan under Autodelta or Alfa Romeo. All costs were covered by SOFAR. Since these vehicles were not owned by Autodelta, no race report from the 1970 Tour de France exists. However, there is a report from the touring car race in Jarama on September 27, 1970. Gianluigi Picchi drove the number 1531230.

A handwritten note from mid-1972 is located in the Alfa Romeo archives and clarifies the status of some vehicles: Numbers 1530879 and 1531039 were registered under Autodelta, while numbers 1531212, 1531222, and 1531230 were registered under Alfa Romeo Milan. After car 1531034 was destroyed in Herbert Schultze's fatal accident at the Nürburgring, Autodelta needed car 1531230, already owned by SOFAR, to participate in the Francorchamps 24-hour race. Meanwhile, car 1531042 was rebuilt using usable parts from Schultze's car. Since the cars were no longer new after the 24-hour race, Autodelta restamped 1531042 to 1531230 and sent it to SOFAR to match the existing paperwork.

When car 1531230—then white—was offered for sale in France in 2005, both stamps were clearly visible on the vehicle identification number (VIN).

I do not have a photo of the vehicle identification number (VIN) of car 1531042, which was offered for sale in the USA at approximately the same time.


The story of 1532307 is also somewhat more complicated: Autodelta had sold the car to Vincenzo "Pooky" Cazzago, who had it registered for road use in Brescia. In fact, he had already loaned it to Javier Juncadella at that time, apparently without "Pooky" having driven it. In June 1971, Cazzago wrote to Juncadella that the car had to be returned to Italy immediately, otherwise the Carnet ATA would expire. A copy of the letter was found in the Alfa Romeo archives in Arese. Apparently, the car had been registered in Italy to avoid customs duties in Spain. "Pooky" then drove his GTAm in the Coppa Carri in Monza at the end of September before the car returned to Juncadella in Spain. In mid-1972, the car's registration was revoked in Brescia because it was being exported. I do not know whether Juncadella then bought the car from Pooky. Enrique "Jamsal" Molins reportedly won a national championship with the car in El Salvador in 1972. "Pooky" was a regular driver for Scuderia Brescia Corse until Autodelta signed him as a factory driver.

 

[vsharp]

Hi Martin,
It is apparent by studying particular cars and events, that the same car could be entered by Autodelta one week, then say SOFAR the next, or Benelux or even Alfa Romeo itself. You can see this by following the entries in ETCC and various national championship races. There seemed to be a 'pool' of cars that rotated through the events as needed.
At Zandvoort for instance, you may see a car entered for the ETCC race one weekend perhaps by AutoDelta, then with different race number and sponsors stickers competes in the Dutch national championship the following weekend entered by another entity.
Do you know if Alfa Romeo actually retained ownership of some cars:- as in if you checked the build/first owner of one of these cars, would it say Alfa Romeo S.p.a, not AutoDelta? Or maybe if Alfa Romeo retained ownership, it was not recorded in the beginning? The reason I ask is because 1531068 was in the Museo Alfa Romeo basement, well worn out sometime in the 8 previous months, yet first owner is listed as Foley in December. Could it be that Alfa Romeo themselves owned the car up to the time of sale to Foley?
Regards, Vince.

 

[Sergio105]

To avoid customs duties, several GTAms purchased by SOFAR were registered in Milan under Autodelta or Alfa Romeo. All costs were covered by SOFAR. Since these vehicles were not owned by Autodelta, no race report from the 1970 Tour de France exists. However, there is a report from the touring car race in Jarama on September 27, 1970. Gianluigi Picchi drove the number 1531230.

A handwritten note from mid-1972 is located in the Alfa Romeo archives and clarifies the status of some vehicles: Numbers 1530879 and 1531039 were registered under Autodelta, while numbers 1531212, 1531222, and 1531230 were registered under Alfa Romeo Milan. After car 1531034 was destroyed in Herbert Schultze's fatal accident at the Nürburgring, Autodelta needed car 1531230, already owned by SOFAR, to participate in the Francorchamps 24-hour race. Meanwhile, car 1531042 was rebuilt using usable parts from Schultze's car. Since the cars were no longer new after the 24-hour race, Autodelta restamped 1531042 to 1531230 and sent it to SOFAR to match the existing paperwork.

When car 1531230—then white—was offered for sale in France in 2005, both stamps were clearly visible on the vehicle identification number (VIN). View attachment 1900230

I do not have a photo of the vehicle identification number (VIN) of car 1531042, which was offered for sale in the USA at approximately the same time.


The story of 1532307 is also somewhat more complicated: Autodelta had sold the car to Vincenzo "Pooky" Cazzago, who had it registered for road use in Brescia. In fact, he had already loaned it to Javier Juncadella at that time, apparently without "Pooky" having driven it. In June 1971, Cazzago wrote to Juncadella that the car had to be returned to Italy immediately, otherwise the Carnet ATA would expire. A copy of the letter was found in the Alfa Romeo archives in Arese. Apparently, the car had been registered in Italy to avoid customs duties in Spain. "Pooky" then drove his GTAm in the Coppa Carri in Monza at the end of September before the car returned to Juncadella in Spain. In mid-1972, the car's registration was revoked in Brescia because it was being exported. I do not know whether Juncadella then bought the car from Pooky. Enrique "Jamsal" Molins reportedly won a national championship with the car in El Salvador in 1972. "Pooky" was a regular driver for Scuderia Brescia Corse until Autodelta signed him as a factory driver.

Only one word: WOW!!

 

[martinue]

This varies from case to case. SOFAR and Alfa Romeo Deutschland operated their own racing teams. Vehicles were ordered from Autodelta, often serviced at the first event, and then remained in France or Germany, where they were loaned to racers. Alfa Romeo Inc. did not have its own racing team, but supported local Alfa Romeo dealers. The entry of a Tipo 33 in the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona was registered to Alfa Romeo Inc. only so that Firestone tires could be used, outside of a supply contract with Dunlop.

Maurizio Siena was one of the technical directors at Autodelta at least until 1969, and then at Scuderia Brescia Corse. Copies from Autodelta have survived from his estate, showing that drivers and customer teams repeatedly complained to Autodelta about the lack of preparation of their vehicles. Carlo Chiti therefore instructed his directors to thoroughly test each vehicle after completion on the Balocco test track by Teodoro Zeccoli before it was delivered.
Herbert Schultze's racing mechanic, Michael Heine, wrote that Schultze's GTA was returned after an overhaul at Autodelta with significant body damage. Apparently, the car had been driven off the road during testing.

Many of the early GTAms were produced as early as 1969 and did not enter racing until months later in 1970. However, so far, only #1530671 has photos from the winter of 1969/1970, before the racing season.
Patrick Dasse has not found any documents for #1531068 in Arese. No racing participation in Italy before the sale to Australia is known to date.
The 50 RHD GTAs were all produced in 1965, and some did not find buyers for more than two years.