Under 2-Liter Grand Touring Cars – 2013 Market & Price Guide

The under 2-liter Grand Touring (GT) cars have always had a place to compete within the ever-changing regulations of international motorsports; the World Sports Car Championship from 1953-1961, the Speedworld Challenge of 1962-1963, the International Championship of Makes from 1964-1971 and the World Championship of Makes from 1972-1981. This included racing in the great endurance races such as the Le Mans 24 Hours, Nürburgring, Spa and Monza 1000Km and the Targa Florio. Not to mention national races throughout Europe and SCCA races throughout the U.S. Alfa Romeo, Lotus, Porsche and Triumph all designed very lightweight and successful competition cars. Abarth, an Italian specialty tuner, modified small-bore GT cars from Fiat and Simca, all with great success. These under 2-liter GT cars filled up the racing grids on both sides of the Atlantic and provided some exciting automobile racing.

Today, under 2-liter GT cars qualify to race in many great historic events worldwide, from the Monterey Motorsport Reunion to the Tour (de France) Auto because they are dual-purpose race and street cars. Due to their technology, great designs, eligibility and low production numbers, legitimate GT competition cars have steadily been increasing in value.

The value today of an under 2-liter GT car is determined by many factors, including the car still having its unique competition features available on a race version that were not available on a production version, the quality of restoration and good provenance.

1965 Alfa Romeo GTZ2

Alfa Romeo in Milan was well known for its racing heritage and beautifully constructed competition cars from the 1920s, 1930s and 1950s. They had won with Grand Prix cars and sports cars, and were one of very few manufacturers to build all of the components of their cars in house. For the 1965 season the beautiful GTZ2 was built to compete in the sports car category of the World Championship of Makes. The GTZ2 was an evolution of the GTZ1. This stood for Giulia Tubolare Zagato, the Giulia series of Alfa Romeo with a tubular chassis and Zagato coachwork. It continued the aerodynamic design philosophy of the Kamm tail previously pioneered with the SZ2 and TZ1. Although the GTZ1 had been built from aluminum, the GTZ2 was constructed of lightweight fiberglass. About 12 cars were built. They used the 1.6-liter, twin-cam, 4-cylinder engine with a new twin-spark-plug cylinder head producing 170 bhp. Magnesium and alloy was used wherever possible to save weight. The engine had a deep finned magnesium oil pan, valve cover and bell housing. The rear casing of the 5-speed, close ratio gearbox was also magnesium. The rear differential had limited-slip. The brakes were four-wheel discs, with the rear inboard. Wheels were magnesium Campagnolo 6×13 and 7×13, front and rear, respectively. The overall weight was down to a very light 1364 pounds. The GTZ2 was a success, with numerous class wins at the Targa Florio, the Sebring 12 Hours and the Nürburgring 1000K races, to name but a few. Alfa Romeo was again successful in displaying their design and engineering excellence with a stunning car that had enormous potential. Today, they are highly sought after, not just as investments or a collector’s dream car, but also for their eligibility in historic race events.

1967 Lotus 47

By 1966, Colin Chapman’s Team Lotus had won the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500-mile race. Meanwhile Lotus Cars was busy building lightweight sports cars and racing cars for its clients. In 1966, the Type 46 or Renault-powered Europa road car was produced. In true Lotus fashion, its competition-bred sibling, the Type 47, was then quickly developed for racing by Lotus Components with a similar design but many competition improvements learned from the success of Team Lotus. It retained the center, backbone chassis, but now used the 1.6-liter Lotus twin-cam engine mated to a Hewland FT200 gearbox. The lightweight uprights of the Formula Two type 59 were used, and wishbone suspension with upper and lower trailing arms and rose joints was adapted. The driveshafts now had inboard rubber doughnuts and outboard universal couplings. Girling brake calipers and discs were used on all four corners. Wheels were magnesium alloy center lock 8×13 front and 10×13 rear. The bodywork was much lighter, and had air ducting for cooling and wheel arches to allow for the wider wheels and tires. Lotus components formed its own racing team and the Type 47’s first success was at the Boxing Day event at Brands Hatch in 1966, where John Miles won overall. Miles went on to win eight British events during the 1967 season. Miles, teamed with Jackie Oliver, went on to win the class against the might of Porsche at the 1967 Brands Hatch round of the World Championship of Makes. About 55 Type 47s were built. They are an example of the design genius of Lotus and how well a lightweight, excellent handling sports car can do overall against all competition. Today, they have race eligibility in most historic grids worldwide, and are still exciting to watch compete.

Criteria Used For Assessing Valuations for this Guide:

• Degree of Originality
• Overall Condition, Restoration
• Technology, Design, Coachbuilder
• Production Numbers/Rarity
• Competition History
• Ownership History, Documentation
• Modern Event Eligibility

Regional Variances

The prices stated in this guide are based on U.S. values. The values of historic racing cars can vary as much as 25%-35% in other countries, depending on local market appeal, currency rates, import duties, and VAT. Most of the time, we are able to document known sales or closed escrows, as they say in real estate. When this is not possible, a logical estimate of the car’s value is given, based on its sales history and relationship to cars of its type.

The prices stated in this guide are based on U.S. values. The values of historic racing cars can vary as much as 25%-35% in other countries, depending on local market appeal, currency rates, import duties, and VAT.