Alfa Romeo 1600GTA + Austin Lancer Series 2 - The Ones That Got Away

By: Cliff Chambers

Date: 29.03.2017

The cars we should have bought or are just glad we didn’t...

Look for the upcoming Lloyds classic car auction

ALFA ROMEO 1600GTA - November 2003

The 1.6-litre lightweight GTA actually came in a lot of 500 cars but of those just 50 were supplied to RHD markets. Australia’s most famous GTA was a white coupe campaigned in 1960s Touring Car events by Alfa distributor Alec Mildren and driver Kevin Bartlett. GTAs remain rare on the international collector market and sale prices are hard to verify. However based on available information and the pre-sale estimate for a car being offered at auction in early 2017, the $125,000 being asked here would have ballooned into a very substantial investment.

Then: $125,000. Now: $400,000-450,000

AUSTIN LANCER SERIES 2 - July 1995

Twenty years ago we might have tagged this Aussie- built Austin as a ‘starter classic’. Today, its survival would be deemed a ‘bloody miracle’. Based on the Morris Minor but with smart finned bodywork and a 1.5-litre engine, the Lancer was a popular family car - until almost all of them went rusty or the fragile rear end self-destructed. Then the verdict was ‘too dear to fix’ and down to the scrap merchant went almost all the Lancers and similar looking Series 2 Morris Majors. This one at under $2000 offered good value and as the years passed by would have earned its keep.

Then: $1850. Now: $5000-6000 

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