While the 'GTA' badge has been seen on Alfa Romeos in the 21st century, it's been affixed to the rump of a few 156s and 147s. Not bad cars, but far from brilliant ones, either. Certainly not of the calibre to have fans talking about them half a century in the future. That's the impact that GTAs of the 60s and 70s had, and one that we're all hoping the new Giulia GTA will recreate.
It couldn't be anything else this week, could it? Just five years ago Alfa was in a proper old slump, without a recommendable performance car in years. And now we have a Giulia Quadrifoglio that was so good out of the box it's given Alfa the confidence to make a barmy special edition. It feels like an entirely different brand.
Furthermore, it appears to pay proper tribute to the badge. While power is up nominally, the focus has been on weight saving and dynamic finessing, just as it was for those original GTAs. (Interestingly, way back then the GTAm was made from steel and heavier, the earlier Giulia GTA the lighter car using aluminium panels. But we digress.)
So Pic of the Week had to feature one of those lovely old Alfas. This particular car, pictured at Goodwood a couple of years back, is a 1970 GT Am owned by Alfa Heritage. That's 'Am' as in America, because these racers were based on the fuel injected US-market 1750 GTV that actually made them better suited to motorsport. The iconic look was achieved through fibreglass wheelarch flares on the steel body, and its place in Alfa history secured by Toine Hezemans' European GT Championship in 1970, driving a GTAm just like this one.
Motorsport rules have changed so that this new car won't have the track success, which is a pity - but the potential for a sublime road car in the GTA is enormous. Here's hoping...