Overview
The Dulux GTV6 was Australia's first GTV6 being imported in 1981 by Alfa Romeo Australia as a pre-release press car. The car was used by the press for road tests and can be seen in Modern Motor and Wheels articles from 1982.
Above - Bathurst 1986 with the Toy Shop entry close behind
Ray Gulson, the Canberra Alfa dealer, purchased the car at the completion of its press car duties and readied it for Bathurst 1982.
For both 1982 and 1983 the car ran in Group C trim although not built or developed anywhere near the extent allowed by the Group C rules of the period. Amazingly the car remained road registered until the end of 1983!
In 1984 and the start of the Group A era Ray decided to put more into developing the car. The engine was rebuilt and Ray sourced factory (Autodelta) components through sources in Italy and the USA.
Above: Bathurst 1985
For 1985 the car underwent a full rebuild and weight reduction to bring it closer to minimum allowed weight.
It continued to be improved in 1986, and with some assistance from Alfa ending up very similar to the factory cars in specification and pace.
The car competed in Group A endurance races through 1985 and 1986 including the 1986 Australian Grand Prix, three Wellington 500’s, two Pukekoe 500’s, two Sandown 500’s, and trips to Surfers Paradise, Oran Park and Amaroo before being retired after the Wellington 500 in early 1987 to the Bathurst Race Museum.
I’ve been able to document most of the competition history which can be found here.
Five Years at Bathurst
The car is one of the few cars to have competed at Bathurst 5 years in a row, over both the Group C and Group A categories. Incredibly the car has completed over 650 actual race laps of the Bathurst track annot including practice and qualifying sessions.
At Sandown in 1986
Wellington NZ
The car ran in ANZ colours for the 1986 Nissan Mobil 500 in Wellington New Zealand. The car was painted in an acrylic which was washed off with water after the race. You can see the original red paint around the doors.
