![While their British coupé contemporaries made do with pushrods and stolid visuals, this Italian trio combined sophistication and style Classic & Sports Car – A cut above: Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior vs Fiat 124 Sport vs Lancia Fulvia Coupé](/sites/default/files/styles/article/public/2019-08/classic_and_sports_car_Fiat_124_lancia_fulvia_alfa_gt1300_LL_lead.png?itok=l4nQEgb_)
Forget your homegrown tin today, for what’s that coming over the hill? Not one, not two, but three Latin beauties.
Back in the mid-’60s, with the Mini helping the British motoring public get its groove on, it was to the Continent that coupé man turned if he wanted something a little extra special.
![Understated perforated steel wheels Classic & Sports Car – A cut above: Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior vs Fiat 124 Sport vs Lancia Fulvia Coupé](/sites/default/files/2019-08/classic_and_sports_car_Fiat_124_lancia_fulvia_alfa_gt1300_LL_alfa_wheels.png)
Alfa Romeo’s little corker, the Sprint GT, was released hot in the tyre tracks of its 105-series sibling Giulia TI saloon. It offered the 1600’s same all-alloy 1570cc twin-cam engine and five-speed gearbox, but now with servo-assisted disc brakes all round and independent front suspension – heady stuff for 1963.
However, it was the delectable Bertone styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro that banished all thoughts of its comparatively boxy progenitor.
‘Our’ car was kindly supplied by Southwood Car Company, where it is currently for sale, and is a later GT Junior, complete with period tax-rate busting – in Italy, at least – 1290cc powerplant.
![Plush and classy cabin combines with a driver-focused binnacle Classic & Sports Car – A cut above: Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior vs Fiat 124 Sport vs Lancia Fulvia Coupé](/sites/default/files/2019-08/classic_and_sports_car_Fiat_124_lancia_fulvia_alfa_gt1300_LL_alfa_interior.png)
![Italian dials for the left-hooker Classic & Sports Car – A cut above: Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior vs Fiat 124 Sport vs Lancia Fulvia Coupé](/sites/default/files/2019-08/classic_and_sports_car_Fiat_124_lancia_fulvia_alfa_gt1300_LL_alfa_dash.png)
![Southwood’s GT is a later 1290cc car Classic & Sports Car – A cut above: Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior vs Fiat 124 Sport vs Lancia Fulvia Coupé](/sites/default/files/2019-08/classic_and_sports_car_Fiat_124_lancia_fulvia_alfa_gt1300_LL_alfa_engine.png)
As a 1970 example, this entry-level model has the simpler pre-’74 bodyshell – and what a body it is. Its proportions work beautifully from any angle; the subtle step of the bonnet frames a moody-looking front end with its single headlights either side of the large central Alfa grille. The tail is simplicity itself.