An ultra rare 1976 Alfa Romeo Sports Coupé owned by celebrity chef James Martin will cross the block in RM Sotheby’s inaugural Woodcote Park Auction at the RAC Concours on 8 July. It’s expected to fetch between £250,000 and £350,000.
Based on a steel tubular chassis built to Alfa Romeo 2000 Sportiva specification, Martin’s curvaceous Alfa is one of only eight cars produced by the Lake Como-based coachbuilder Autotecnica del Lario between the 1960s and the end of the 1970s.
Autotecnica del Lario specialised in one-off designs and bespoke commissions, and kept hand-building sports cars even after monocoque construction and declining demand had seen off most of its rivals. Each of its Alfas featured hand-formed aluminium coachwork over a tubular frame.
Martin’s two-seat berlinetta was inspired by the marque’s coupés of the 1950s and ‘60s – the 1900 Sport Spider and 2000 Sportiva in particular. Weighing in at just 810kg, the coupé is powered by Alfa’s legendary 2.0-litre twin-cam four-cylinder engine, producing more than 100bhp. It features independent suspension all round, alongside disc brakes and Borrani wire wheels.
The car’s early history is murky. Like all ATL machines, it carries the identity of its Alfa Romeo donor: a 1976 2000 Spider Veloce with the chassis number AR 247482. Documentation from ATL founder Giorgio Greppi indicates the car was built in October 1976.
Martin purchased the Alfa in 2018 and promptly commissioned Cars International Heritage to begin a six-year restoration costing nearly £90,000. The car was stripped to bare metal and completely overhauled, then fitted with a Zagato-inspired double-bubble roof, bespoke Perspex screens, new centre-lock wire wheels and twin Weber carburettors.
‘It sounds fantastic and is a great car to drive,’ said Martin, who oversaw the restoration work. ‘It’s been a challenge because we did it properly, with total attention to detail. Everything that needed replacing had to be tailor-made for this car. It holds a very special place in my heart.’
Martin’s Alfa joins a catalogue that includes a 1998 Williams FW20 Formula 1 car (£190,000-240,000), a 1955 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback Sports Saloon by H.J. Mulliner (£420,000-460,000) and one of just two 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.8 ‘Strassenversions’ (£1.85m-2.2m).
View the listing here.
