primotipo…

Kevin Bartlett explores and exploits the laws of physics in the Alec Mildren Racing Alfa Romeo GTA , Lakeside, Queensland, Australia circa 1966…

Some years later American F5000 driver, Sam Posey while competing in the Tasman Series and observing KB’s Lola  at close quarters described Bartlett as the ‘master of opposite lock’. It was an aspect of his driving which worked for him and we spectators throughout his career regardless of the cars he drove – sedans, sports cars or single seaters.

Alec Mildren Racing and Kevin Bartlett…

AMR was one of Australia’s first professional teams, the basis of the team was formed around a nucleus of talented people who fettled Alec Mildren’s cars during his own single seater campaigns. He won the Australian Gold Star Championship and Australian Grand Prix in a Cooper T51 Maserati in 1960.

Shortly thereafter Mildren retired from driving to concentrate on his business interests which primarily involved the retail car trade. He was the first Alfa Romeo dealer/distributor in New South Wales and his race team employed great drivers including Frank Gardner, Kevin Bartlett and Max Stewart.

Mildren’s passion was single-seaters but the team also raced Alfas, notably two GTAs, a TZ2 and later 105 Series coupes of various capacities in Series Production events as those grew in stature in the late 1960s.

Kevin Bartlett started racing in his mother’s Morris Minor and very quickly the young mechanic made a name for himself as a fast driver with strong mechnical knowledge and sympathy. By 1965 he was driving an Elfin Imp FJ owned by the McGuire family and an Austin Healey Sprite and TVR for others. He recalls that ‘Alec and Glenn Abbey (Mildren’s engineer/mechanic) were always on the lookout for talent, Ralph Sach and Charles Smith who drove for them at the time were getting older and I performed well against them in cars with much less capacity. They also took into account that I could drive different types of cars and do as well as I could’.

‘ I got to race the Alfas’ and then the little Brabham BT2/6 which was powered by a pushrod Ford engine, and in mid-1965 the Mildren Maserati, which was the first really powerful car I drove, racing it at Lowood and then winning the 1965 Victorian Sportscar Championship in it at Sandown’.

The Mildren Maserati was built by Bob Britton of Rennmax Engineering, essentially a Lotus 19 clone, it used some of the running gear from Alec Mildren’s 1960 Gold Star Championship winning Cooper T51 Maserati, particularly the gearbox and 2.9-litre 250S Maser engine.

KB made his presence felt in that ’65 Victorian championship race beating Bib Stillwell’s Cooper Monaco Buick V8 and Spencer Martin’s Scuderia Veloce Ferrari 250LM amongst others. He had well and truly arrived…

Mildren GTAs…

There were two, first a LHD and later a RHD car, Bartlett drove both in their competitive heyday and both ended up racing in Western Australia.

Autodelta…

The original step-front Alfa Giulia Sprint GT was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone and has to be one of the most beautifully balanced, delicate designs of the 1960s.

Autodelta was the factory Alfa racing subsidiary formed by famed ex-Ferrari engineer, Carlo Chiti, and Ludovico Chizzola in 1963 after the closure of ATS, the Grand Prix team formed by ex-Ferrari staff after a purge by the Commendatore in 1961. In 1964 Alfa acquired Autodelta and moved it to Milan, near its HQ.

The Giulia sedan was race developed and did well in Australia winning the Sandown 6 Hour in 1964, but it was too heavy against the Lotus Cortinas so development started on the Giulia Sprint GT coupe in 1964.

This ‘GTA’ was built to compete in sedan racing globally, in Group 2 under FIA rules, which boomed in the 60s. On 18 February 1965 the first Giulia Sprint GTA was unveiled at the Autosalon in Amsterdam, it was followed by the GTA Junior 1300 in 1968 and later the 1750/2000 GTAm.

GTA 1600 Tipo 105.32 specifications…

The car featured lightweight bodies utilising Peraluman 25, a light alloy comprising aluminium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc. The superstructure remained steel, including the sill panels. The roof, bonnet, boot lid, rear inner support panel and spare wheel well, dash, parcel shelf support panels and rear seat support were all made from P25. The lightening continued with minimal sound deadening, Perspex side and rear windows on Corsa (race) cars. The GTA lost 205kg compared to the Giulia Sprint GT, for a total weight of 820kg.

Alfa had to build 1000 cars to qualify for the FIA’s Group 2 Touring Car regulations, the Stradale (road) version helped, being built on Alfa’s normal, Arese production line. Race prepared cars were taken after completion at Arese, to Autodelta, the exact specifications of each car was built customer order.

The car’s engine was a twin-plug, highly tuned version of Alfa’s famous DOHC engine. The head was ported and polished, higher compression pistons, high lift cams and lightened flywheel were fitted. All reciprocating parts were balanced,  increasing power to in excess of 175bhp. An oil cooler and deeper sump aided reliability.

A limited slip diff and sliding-block rear axle locating system was fitted. The standard five-speed gearbox had a greater range of ratio choices, similarly the diff ratio was to choice from homologated alternatives. The front suspension was modified with adjustable top arms to allow negative camber to driver’s choice.

The cars were immediately and immensely successful winning the first round of the European Touring Car Challenge in March 1966. Andrea de Adamich won the Division 2 Drivers Title and Alfa the European Manufacturers title. In the US, Jochen Rindt won the SCCA Trans American Sedan Championship race at Sebring, many championships followed throughout the world. The GTAm won Alfa’s last championship for the 105, the ETCC Manufacturers Championship in 1971, the cars were competitive for a long time with ongoing development.

Arnaldo Tonti, Autodela mechanic attributed the success of the car in Octane magazine to ‘… a perfect balance between a very good chassis, with a very low centre of gravity, and a very strong, powerful and reliable engine. The Autodelta sliding block for the rear suspension was a work of art lowering the car and making it quicker and more stable through the corners and giving its characteristic raised front wheel. The engines were capable of 6800/7000rpm…’

In Australia Mildren’s LHD car landed in mid-1965…

The car was raced in the Sandown 6 Hour race in November 1965 by Alfa factory driver Roberto Businello and Ralph Sach. Businello tested the car at Balacco before it was shipped to Australia, it was a trick-GTA, very light having the aluminium floor relatively few had.

It led at Sandown until lap 99, with victory going to Bartlett and Gardner in the Mildren Giulia Super Ti which was also victorious the year before.

Gardner and Bartlett then raced it in supporting events during the 1966 Tasman Series, Gardner winning outright at Warwick Farm and Sandown with Bartlett first in class at Longford.

‘It was a pleasant car to drive, KB recalled recently. We ran the car at Bathurst, had a win there against Bob Janes’ Mustang on that power circuit. I preferred the LHD car (to the RHD car) as it had the right-hand change which was what I was most familiar with given the sports-car and single-seaters I was racing. There was not much difference in the performance of the two cars, although the LHD was a semi-works spec car. We could knock off the big cars at Warwick Farm but it was much harder at Sandown and the like’.

‘The under 1600cc closest competitors to the GTA were the Mini Coopers who were giving away capacity to us, they were great handling and very quick with the right guys such as Brian Foley and Peter Manton at the wheel. The LHD was sold as it was getting a little long in the tooth in terms of miles, Alec sold it to a guy named Stephenson in WA.’

Used mainly in State level events the car also contested the one-race Australian Touring Car Championship in 1966. Held at the Easter Bathurst meeting, Bartlett did well to finish third to the big V8s of Pete Geoghegan and Norm Beechey aboard Ford Mustang and Chevy Nova respectively. Run over 20 laps – 75 miles – of Mount Panorama, what the GTA lacked in top speed up and down the mountain was largely made up across the top and under brakes.

KB was victorious at Warwick Farm in May and that month also won the Queensland Production Touring Car Championship at Surfers Paradise. He took a race win at Lowood, Queensland in June before  the car was sold to Frank Cecchele, a Perth Alfa dealer and raced for him by Gordon Stephenson. It was rolled at Caversham in 1967.

‘LHD’ competed regularly in WA state events and the annual 6 Hour race held at Caversham ; ’67 DNF Stephenson, ’68 DNF Stephenson, and at Wanneroo Park ’69 DNF Stephenson/ Cooper,  ’70 seventh Ricciardello/Zampatti, ’71 DNF and finally in 1972 fourth outright and first in the 1600 class for Ricciardello/Cooper.

The car was all but destroyed at Mt Brown Hillclimb, from the remains, Ricciardello built a V8 engined sports sedan, initially Ford 302, and later Chev 350 powered. Cooper bought the ‘RHD’ Mildren Alfa, which he later owned in partnership with Ricciardello. Current ownership is unknown.

The Mildren RHD GTA, chassis # 752 561…

The LHD chassis number is lost in the mists of time, but RHD was built in July 1965 and first raced by Gardner at Warwick Farm in December 1966. He then raced the car in numerous ’67 Tasman supporting events, winning at Warwick Farm and Longford. Bartlett then took the car over and had wins at Bathurst and Surfers Paradise.

Bartlett again contested the ATCC, this time a one race event held at Lakeside, another power circuit in 1967. Pete Geoghegan’s Mustang won again, this time second and third places were secured by the Cooper S’ of Brian Foley and Peter Manton.

The car was sold to John French in Queensland in 1968 who raced the car and continued to develop it until it was bought by Brian Foley in 1972.

Foley had raced an Alfa GTAm in 1971 in the ATCC and in 1972 as a sports sedan.He converted the car from LHD to RHD and fitted with an Alfa Tipo 33 2.5 litre V8 into the engine bay which had previously housed the 2-litre, twin-plug DOHC, Lucas injected four cylinder engine fitted by the factory.

The T33 V8 was left-over from Mildren’s Brabham and Mildren ‘Yellow Submarine’ single seater program raced by Gardner and Bartlett. I will write about the GTAm separately. The GTAm was a pork-chop compared with the GTA, as it lacked the earlier cars aluminium panels, it was around 200kg heavier.

Foley, a Sydney Alfa dealer reasoned that a more competitive 1973 mount would be a lightened and modified GTA, so off to Bowin Designs in Brookvale, Sydney the car went for major surgery by John Joyce to its suspension, structure, brakes, engine mounting etc. When completed, the car was powered by a 16-valve 2-litre Alfa engine developing 225bhp and weighed 636kg.

See the Bowin Website for P9 the Foley GTA Project; http://www.bowincars.org/mediawiki-1.6.12/index.php?title=%28P9%29

The car was fast but V8s were coming into the category in increasing numbers, so after a prang at Oran Park in late 1973 the car was sold to Peter Brown in Canberra. Foley essentially retired from racing after a fine career.

Brown, an Alfa racer from way back, fitted a Mazda Rotary engine then sold it to Neville Cooper in Western Australia, where all exotic Alfas seem to end up! The ‘LHD’ Mildren GTA having been damaged too much in race accidents to continue. A Ford V8 was fitted, then the car was sold to Peter Gillon who raced it for two years before being acquired by Ricciardello and Cooper in partnership.

It was raced very successfully including a win by Cooper in the 1979 Wanneroo 300km race, the car was always competitive in WA Sports Sedan competition during this period.

Ultimately the much raced GTA was acquired by a Sydney enthusiast who had owned GTAs before and was aware of the car’s provenance, a long restoration followed, the car is now a regular entry in historic events across Australia.

For the Sake of Completeness…

It appears there were two other GTAs which raced in Australia in period. The ‘MW Motors GTA’ was raced by Syd Fisher and Frank Porter for MW who were the Victorian Alfa distributor and Melbourne dealer. Sold to Mario Marasco, he raced the car as a Sports Sedan and wrote it off at Hume Weir, it is presumed lost.

The ‘Gulson RHD GTA’ chassis #75247 was restored from a fire-wreck in Western Australia, Vin Sharp, long time Alfisti and owner of the ex-Foley GTAm last had contact with the owner in Scotland about ten years ago.

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Etcetera…

Etcetera ‘LHD’…

Etcetera ‘RHD’…

Special thanks to Kevin Bartlett

For his recollections of the two cars

Sources and Photo Credits…

The Nostalgia Forum, Alfa Bulletin Board, John Stanley, autopics, Bruce Wells Collection, The Roaring Season, Howard/Wilson ‘History of The ATCC’, peterwindsor.com, Paul Boxsell, Roderick MacKenzie, Neville Cooper Collection, Yen Yoshikawa cutaway, Dale Harvey, Ellis French, Ray Bell, ‘Allegerita’ by Tony Adriaensens, Vin Sharp, Perry Drury

Finito…

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