Giocattolo Group B - just bought one. Possibly Australia's ultimate supercar.

Mondie · 23-09-2007, 11:06 PM

Back in 1988 when 17 l remember walking through the entry gates at World Expo 88 held in Brisbane and being awestruck by a pair of exotic cars on display. l had no idea what they were but l knew they were the horniest cars l had ever laid eyes on. There was a red and yellow car on display plus a large glass cabinet containing an engine/transaxle which looked like something out of a science fiction movie to a mechanically inept 17yo. l had no idea what l was looking at nor how to pronounce their name "Giocattolo" But l knew that one day l would own one.

And as of this weekend, l do. Here she is, less than 5000kms on the clock, 2 owners, original tyres, Logbooks and in absolutely brand new condition. The Giocattolo runs a mid mounted VL Walkinshaw 304 V8 through a 5 spd ZF transaxle and features F! type suspension, Magnesium Brembo brakes, extensive use of Kevlar and weighs in at only 1085kg. Stock the cars had 230kw, mine has been stroked out to 355 and now has 300kw. It is absolutely exhilarating to drive, the acceleration is lethal and the noise with that engine sitting right behind you like nothing l have ever experienced. However the handling is what really makes this car extra special, the Giocattolo feels welded to the road. The mid mount engine and perfect 40/60 weight distribution combined with the huge rubber really does make it feel like a road registered go kart.

Only 3 prototypes and 12 production cars were ever made. Selling these at $90k+ in the late 80's as the economy headed into meltdown proved to be too hard. The Giocattolo was so far ahead of its time, remember this car was released at the same time as the VN Commodore!!

If anybody has any old magazines or other information on the Giocattolo, please drop me a PM as l am chasing down as much history and background on these cars as l can. There are only a couple of pages on the net and not much else l can find so any help would be appreciated,

Here's some pics ....

philstoj · 23-09-2007, 11:13 PM

Awesome car mate, i remember them well and saw them at the motor show at that time.

Hard to believe someone would make one of those out of an Alfa romeo!!!!

Sam_Boss260 · 23-09-2007, 11:19 PM

I loved those in the 80's.....

Where the hell did you find one in such good nick?

XCSEDAN · 23-09-2007, 11:28 PM

mate thats friggin awsome!!!!!

pitty theyre a holden engine though :P

nah great car mate, would love some videos of it! (though you might want to change the wheels if you intend to keep driving it around alot!)

asusdragon · 23-09-2007, 11:31 PM

well very different, i quite like it sits in bout the same boat as the deloran i think very nice find and looks in mint condition too

cowboy · 23-09-2007, 11:42 PM

Sweeeeet. Like a go kart with a lunar rocket attached!

outback_ute · 23-09-2007, 11:44 PM

Fantastic! Incredible that the car only has 5000km - why would you own one & almost never drive it??? Good for you though of course.

I can help with some magazine scans - I have some Motor mags with Giocattolo articles as Barry Lake was quite keen on it, and there was also a review in Aust Muscle Car mag which gave the story of why the venture closed down.

Originally the cars were going to have an Alfa V6 but obviously a bit more grunt is never a bad thing. The biggest obstacles were that they had to go through the same approval process as Ford & Holden - there weren't any low-volume concessions back then as there are these days, and also they had to pay import duty on all components which made the ZF transaxle ridiculously expensive ($25k from memory!) for one example.

Sick EB · 23-09-2007, 11:47 PM

jeez thats pritty tough. where did u get it from?

Mondie · 23-09-2007, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XCSEDAN

though you might want to change the wheels if you intend to keep driving it around alot!

Your not wrong there, the tyres seem very hard but suprisngly it grips ok. Getting my hands on a pair of 285/40/15's for the rear is proving very difficult though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by outback_ute

I can help with some magazine scans - I have some Motor mags with Giocattolo articles as Barry Lake was quite keen on it, and there was also a review in Aust Muscle Car mag which gave the story of why the venture closed down.

That would be great, l am buying mags as they come up on ebay but so far l have only managed to find a May 87 Wheels, a couple of Sports Car World Mags and an Australian Clasic Car mag that have Giocattolo articles. Do you know what issue of Australian Muscle car mag these got a mention in?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sick EB

jeez thats pritty tough. where did u get it from?

l bought it from Bob Roman in Sydney, he had owned it for about 8 yrs and originally got it from the 1st owner.

Cheers Mondie

fordel · 24-09-2007, 12:05 AM

I am jealous.

That thing is amazing, i remember then when they were new, congrats on an awesome purchase.

Ruger · 24-09-2007, 12:05 AM

wow that is an awesome buy congrats on the purchase and enjoy it! imho a much better buy than the 5, 6, 700,000$+ gtho's

XCSEDAN · 24-09-2007, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mondie

Your not wrong there, the tyres seem very hard but suprisngly it grips ok. Getting my hands on a pair of 285/40/15's for the rear is proving very difficult though.

i'd be interested to see where you get those tires mate!

SpoolMan · 24-09-2007, 12:15 AM

Wicked car, congrats on the purchase.
Will you be driving it much and was the insurance easy to set-up?

schnoods · 24-09-2007, 12:15 AM

Reminds me of Aus's other supercar, the Detomaso Pantera.

What a pearler indeed, reminds me of the yellow one in the shannons ad.

carnutt · 24-09-2007, 12:47 AM

"Bluddy Beeutiful" Mondie , you only 1 chance in a lifetime to find a car like that . Sure it's done 5,000 k's , looks more like 500 k's

:

(Keep it like that or "I'll Rip Your Bluddy Arms Orff)

Congrat's , mate

carnutt

(PM sent)

dallasv8 · 24-09-2007, 04:22 AM

on the yokohama site you can get the radial 352 in 295/50/15 about the closest i could find

even google searching the size you want doesn't show up much lol
seems the de-tomaso pantera had that same tyre http://www.pim.net/28.1pim.html

colossus · 24-09-2007, 07:33 AM

That is one cool car. Do you mind saying a ballpark figure on what it set you back?

Ringo · 24-09-2007, 08:23 AM

Excellent pick up!

I know that one of these bit the dust at Eastern Creeka few years back. I'm sure someone knows more about it than I do.

Some wealthy computer programmer guy put twin turbos on his engine and was at eastern creek taking part in a track day. Something wnet wrong and he didn't turn left and the end of the main straight and ended up in the wall at some horrendous speed and died.

BadMac · 24-09-2007, 08:25 AM

Great buy. I also saw them at Expo in 88 as a wide eyed 20 year old.

Street machine had an article at design and prototype time following all the history and the various turns and troubles (Alfa wouldn't sell them the body only so they were buying whole cars and stripping them). Anyway I don;t remember which issues it was, but it had a yellow one on the front cover. Would have been 87/88/89 sometime.

ratman · 24-09-2007, 08:53 AM

Good stuff mate, used to be a yellow 1 here in Canberra, awesome machine - any pics of the tool kit? that was a classic with the shot glasses.

cowboy · 24-09-2007, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ringo

Excellent pick up!

I know that one of these bit the dust at Eastern Creeka few years back. I'm sure someone knows more about it than I do.

Some wealthy computer programmer guy put twin turbos on his engine and was at eastern creek taking part in a track day. Something wnet wrong and he didn't turn left and the end of the main straight and ended up in the wall at some horrendous speed and died.

His name was Todd Wilkes. The engine was the twin turbo stroker from his VS ute/showcar, had a true 1000hp. Could smoke the tyres at 100kph apparently. From memory I think he was running the circuit in reverse for some reason and missed the turn at the end of the straight due to a slight downhill slope. ie braked late. Was a beautiful car, yellow. So there's one less Giacottolo in the world. Was a sad day for the car world to lose the car and a man like Todd.

BROCKYB8 · 24-09-2007, 09:10 AM

yeah it was todd willkes and he was doing a display of power on the day . IT was a early version of what we now call powercruise. I had my 302 cortina at the event . He hit the wall at about 150km ph . THat car however i believe was modified the hell out of . THey had to rip alot out. There was a write up on them in street machine b4 and after his death at eastern creek .

THe main problem that said was that he had a standard seat belt and he went throught the window when the accident happened.

flappist · 24-09-2007, 09:26 AM

Think I might have driven that car. Look if one of the owners was Bill Nioa. It was a truly nifty toy.

HSE2 · 24-09-2007, 09:55 AM

well done mondie

Rev28K · 24-09-2007, 10:08 AM

Does it still have the bottle of Bundy rum in the tool kit?

I’ve got some articles stacked away somewhere – Sports Car World, Modern Motor and Wheels had quite a bit on it. I’ve got articles for the preliminary design when they were talking about a twin turbo Alfa V6. Holden Engine Company was pushing to export the 304 (they were also talking to TVR about replacing the Rover V8) and when the rear bulkhead was redesigned with the new wonder carbon composites it fitted in the Alfa Sprint shell. They were also talking about reviving the design in a new body after things started getting shaky.

I knew a guy who had a white one – he loved it to bits. There was a website somewhere that was devoted to all of the facts, build history of individual cars and maybe magazine articles too. Some guy still has the moulds.

Re: The Todd Wilkes crash was an event with a top speed run where the organizers elected to run it with not enough run-off area and finishing at a concrete wall running 90 degress to the track. It seemed a dumb idea at the time to me (still does) and the crash looked very ugly on TV

Mondie · 24-09-2007, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rev28K

Does it still have the bottle of Bundy rum in the tool kit?

Sure does, l have included a few engine pics and one of the toolkit. Let me know if you would like to sell any of those mags, while l have some l dont think l have all the ones you have mentioned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

Think I might have driven that car. Look if one of the owners was Bill Nioa. It was a truly nifty toy.

No, must be a different car Flappist. The first owners name was George, the second who l bought the car from was Bob Roman.

Quote:

Originally Posted by colossus

That is one cool car. Do you mind saying a ballpark figure on what it set you back?

Lets just say it cost less than most GT's these days ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallasv8

on the yokohama site you can get the radial 352 in 295/50/15 about the closest i could find

even google searching the size you want doesn't show up much lol
seems the de-tomaso pantera had that same tyre http://www.pim.net/28.1pim.html

Yes they are proving impossible to find. North Terrace Tyres in Adelaide may be able to help, apparently Pirreli and Yoko do small runs of odd sizes once they have enough orders. Paul Halstead, the creator of the Giocattolo was also the DeTomaso importer so he must have had a thing for this tyre size!

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnutt

"Bluddy Beeutiful" Mondie , you only 1 chance in a lifetime to find a car like that . Sure it's done 5,000 k's , looks more like 500 k's

:

(Keep it like that or "I'll Rip Your Bluddy Arms Orff)

Congrat's , mate

carnutt

(PM sent)

Thanks Carnutt, PM replied to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpoolMan

Wicked car, congrats on the purchase.
Will you be driving it much and was the insurance easy to set-up?

Insurance with Shannons was easy, less than $700py.

Cheers Mondie

superpursuit83 · 24-09-2007, 05:23 PM

[QUOTE=Mondie]
Lets just say it cost less than most GT's these days ...

I gather you mean old school GT's... lol. WOW, nice pick up there mate. Do you plan on putting her on a track or something?

xbgs351 · 24-09-2007, 05:45 PM

Stuckey advertise tyres to suit them.

Fair302 · 24-09-2007, 05:54 PM

Very, very nice

Wardo · 24-09-2007, 06:08 PM

I remember reading an article about these saying that they handled ok, but not as well as the front wheel drive 1.5l boxer engined car they were based on the Alfa Romeo Sprint.

A friends dad had one in Canberra (silver with green wheels) when I was growing up and was, if not still the best handling car I have ever driven, it when pretty well to for a 1.5. Gee I loved that car, we never could find the little box of magic that Italians place in their cars that make them perform above their specs. We couldn't find it in his dads replacement a Maserrati Biturbo either, 2.7l even with twin turbos just shouldn't be that fast!