A New Old Book (finally) arrives. A review."Guilia Coupe GT & GTA."

[McAnnik]

  As my title suggests, I have waited more than two years for this new revised edition of John Tiplers " Giulia Coupe GT and GTA. I had ordered it from Amazon way back in Jan 2011. It is a much larger and expanded version than the  earlier editions but 'Was it worth the wait'. I am inclined to think not! I will say that it is a beautifully produced book and a credit to the bookbinders art, (By Veloce Publishing House, UK).However, if you lust after more details on how and why the magnificent GTA's were so successful during their racing career, you will find little more than what was previously published. What this book is about is lots more never before published photographs of Alfa 105 GTA's doing what they do best, brilliant photography from all angles by people who know how to point a Leica.All in colour of course. Some information from the text maybe useful if you have never seen a copy before. but in general the history of Alfa Racing is so well documented elsewhere that this volume seems to repeat it but does include some not so well known successes at other race venues Otherwise  there is no information on what was essential setting up of the GTA even if the buyer had purchased the "Stradale" version from new.Perhaps you had to pay Autodelta much more for that!There is information to be gleaned from anecdotes by racing personalities of the era, which can be entertainig reading but not of any technical merit unless you read between the lines. It is not a bad book by any means, but I did expect more "meat" than what it provides.I thought a book laid out similar to an "Original" style series would have been much more informative considering the amount of "Replication" going on these days. If people want to build their own version of a GTA. then they should get the chance to get it right by having the correct information to hand. I feel added chapters on restorations by Specialist Experts in the UK don't tell us much but give only more photo's of rusted out sections of stuffed 105's, and most of us have seen enough of that in real life. My copy cost me around 70 bucks delivered from Amazon.you may do better by Google shopping.Supposedly only a short production run of 1500 copies so it maybe worthwhile to get one for your kids inheritance..............My two bobs worth....cheers.