Special Alfa Romeo Juliet

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Purchasing classics there

Many years ago, your editors speared through the British landscape. Near York. In a bend – straight in the picture – there was a garage door wide ajar at the side of a nice house. It was visible from a great distance that it was an early one Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint designed in the studio of grandmaster Bertone. With a Lebanese license plate on it, neglected, thick with dust. The domain was closed with a large fence, no one to be seen, access impossible and therefore something to remember. Photo taken, marking and note made on the map and then off we go.

A restoration object of such Milanese beauty – mainly because of the left-hand drive in Great Britain – cost £ 500 in those days. In guilders it was barely 2 grand. So something to remember. Born on a Sunday, luck smiled at me again a few weeks ago. Driving on such a pretty and winding country road near Newbury (Berksire), the Alfa Romeo-of-then now outside. With a gentleman who deals with the trade in classics. A nice gentleman who is willing to provide text and explanation.

Dany Chamoun

By means of an impressive telephoto lens, we were able to take a picture of one thirty years ago near York Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint from the first series. With Lebanese registration…

He did his homework well. From the archives of Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, Italy, has turned out to be a Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint from the 750B series, which rolled off the assembly line on July 16, 1956 and was delivered to Beirut on August 7 of that year. Lebanon. Colour: grigio chiarissimo. Call it "light gray," the Alfa Romeo color code is AR 706 by the way. The car was intended for Dany Chamoun. If you have been around a bit longer and you already had 'worldly' interests and still a good memory, you will surely remember that the president of that then peaceful country was called Camille Chamoun. Dany must have been his son?

That is almost necessary, because he went to study in Loughborough, Great Britain shortly after and took the car… No, the car was not shipped, but was driven over there by road. Silent witnesses include an almost dissolved sticker of the Grossglockner Pass in Austria, a paper clip with gas, hotel and restaurant receipts that make clear how the route was then run. It can be deduced from the hotel and restaurant vouchers that Chamoun Junior did not make that trip alone, but with a companion. The duo took it well along the way, and the word "almost" also did not fit into their vocabulary. In terms of studies, Junior took it seriously.

In 1960 he achieved his'degree' and shortly afterwards married the Australian fashion model Patti Morgan. The couple settled in Lebanon and bought a new one there Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint. An Australian fashion model who had entered into a relationship with the son of the Lebanese president was 'news', especially for the Australian 'Women's Weekly', which in 1958 devoted extensive attention to it.

58901 LEBAN

You can see this not only under the hood Alfa Romeo came into the world as very light gray…

In one picture, Patti Morgan is leaning sloppily against one Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint in an unstable light green / blue color. Fortunately, the (front) license plate is visible with the number 58901 LIBAN. That number is still there. It also appears that an (elderly) volunteer spent months digging into the archives of the said university and indeed Dany Chamoun studied there and yes, had a reserved (!) parking space for his Alfa Romeo. During the stay in Great Britain, Dany Chamoun must have had a collision somewhere. Couldn't have been much damage, as there are no traces visible on the inside of 'the nose'. That may have been the moment when the car was repainted in its current color. Then the original grille was also replaced by one of a later type, at least from the Sprint after 1959. It may be that an original grille was not available or that the sheet metal worker / painter Alfa Romeo Giulietta wanted to 'modernise'. There is a soldered plate on the radiator showing that it was delivered, more likely repaired, by the company Northern Radiators or Leeds. According to the son of the owner of the radiator repairer, the repair must have been carried out in 1959 or 1960. He could tell from the picture.

Remained

Normally, the upholstery of a Sprint consists of imitation leather and 'blanket'. In the Lebanese car completely made of imitation leather. Was almost certainly delivered 'ex works', because on the inside of one of the seats the last four digits of the chassis number were written in (yellow) crayon. And… as is known, had such Alfa Romeo then standard steering gear. And a four speed gearbox!

The Alfa Romeo stayed behind in Great Britain when Dany Chamoun returned to Lebanon. What happened to it after that is not entirely clear. In any case, it was not put on a British registration. In August 2013, our interlocutor received a call from a relation of the now deceased owner, in whose garage we had seen the car many years ago. His name was John Robert Granville – Bob Long for intimates, a former member of the RAF, the Royal Air Force. In the garage, two (!) Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprints, a 750B and the later of the 101 series. It was delivered new in Great Britain in May 1960. Unfortunately, it is not clear how and why these cars have been there all these years. It is suspected that Bob Long bought the later Sprint in the late 1972s and drove it until the early XNUMXs. This could be deduced from the sticker still present on the window stating that motor vehicle tax had been paid valid until December XNUMX. It may be that he bought the 'Lebanese' Sprint for the parts… ?? The fact is that the original engine and gearbox are still mounted in the car, that - apart from the damage and repainting - the car has never been tampered with. Although the upholstery - completely skai - does not seem original, it may have been added in the past Alfa Romeo chose to make it that way for the African (?) market. As we know these cars, the upholstery should be half vinyl and 'sheet'. The upholstery - from the backrest - was very carefully peeled off on the spot and then it turns out that the last four digits of the chassis number have been applied on the inside - with yellow 'grease crayon'... Despite a sloppy half-century storage, it is a restoration object , at least a car-with-a-good-story. Demonstrably too.

Back on earth

Well then and then the selling party mentioned the price and we came back on earth: 35.000 pounds sterling and no penny less. With a British license plate of January 2014. Something has changed in this world in twenty years ...

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