The Italian Job Part 10

THE MIDDLE MAN

Upminster barber Marco Martino has been importing classic Alfas as a hobby business since the early ’90s. It all started on a family holiday in Ariano near Naples. “I saw this beautiful Bertone GTV and got the owner’s number,” he recalls. “I left instructions with my dad to chase it up -and he brought it back and kept it for himself.”

The incident gave Martino the idea of sourcing rust-free Alfas as a hobby and importing them for British enthusiasts: “In England the cars are either rotten to the core or poorly restored and full of filler. To rebuild a GTV properly is very expensive but there’s nothing like a rust-free shell and for that I’d happily live with left-hand drive. When you find good cars in Italy, the bodies are fantastic. No restored car ever looks or drives that good.”