{"id":57130,"date":"2021-07-01T09:27:24","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T08:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/?p=57130"},"modified":"2022-06-21T15:52:21","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T14:52:21","slug":"imported-classics-the-rat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/","title":{"rendered":"Imported Classics: The Rat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rat typifies the wacky racer aesthetic: non-standard, full of texture and patina – and is the most spirited of specialist drives, as Charles Wright writes.<\/i><\/p>\n

This is The Rat. It\u2019s a 1966 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1300 TI Saloon, which was supplied new to the Italian market and imported to the UK in around 1972. Since then it has lived a fairly hard life, as you can see. It was rescued from a barn in Sussex by my friend and Alfa Romeo specialist Ian Ellis<\/a>, in around 2010. Ian is the leading expert in the 105 series cars. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Rat was in a real state when Ian found it in the barn, and for a while it lived outside near a brickworks. This is where it acquired this interesting patina that it has now. We have decided to keep it like that. I think it adds a kind of presence that you couldn\u2019t artificially create. You could bare metal it and take it back to super shiny, but as it is it has its own persona, a little ratty persona that has developed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The
The Rat looking as edgy as ever. Picture: CHARLES EVANS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, The Rat is well loved within the community. The car is non-standard, like nearly all my cars. It originally ran the 1300 engine. It then had a 1900 in it, which unfortunately let go. That was a bad day. But we went straight back with a two-litre Twinspark from a 75, which is what it runs now. It is a standard spec engine, so it produces about 150 BHP, which makes it a very interesting drive indeed. <\/span><\/p>\n

It has got a full Alfaholics<\/a>\/Classic Alfa break and suspension kit, and a full Limited Slip Differential Alfaholics set up on the rear axle. It may look scruffy, but it goes very well!\u00a0 I ran it recently at Goodwood on the classic Alfa track day and it embarrassed a number of far more powerful cars. Thing is, this is such a unique car that I know from the ground up – so I am able to drive it with total commitment. It went all day and then I drove it home. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is nothing more you can ask from a car. Like many of my cars there is a very loyal following attached to them. The Alfa enthusiasts are very keen – and they are very much drive-your-car type of people. I have a cluster of guys that I know who really believe as I do that if you have an interesting car it should be driven – otherwise it becomes a relic, something just to look at.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An
Charles Evans’ Alfa parked proudly. Picture: CHARLES EVANS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rat typifies the wacky racer aesthetic: non-standard, full of texture and patina – and is the most spirited of specialist drives, as Charles Wright writes. This is The Rat. It\u2019s a 1966 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1300 TI Saloon, which was supplied new to the Italian market and imported to the UK in around 1972.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":57131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1779,1928],"tags":[2721,951],"class_list":["post-57130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cars","category-edition","tag-alfa-romeo","tag-italian","manufacturers-alfa-romeo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nImported Classics: The Rat - Influx<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Rat typifies the wacky racer aesthetic: non-standard, full of texture and patina - and is the most spirited of specialist drives, as Charles Wright\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Imported Classics: The Rat - Influx\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Rat typifies the wacky racer aesthetic: non-standard, full of texture and patina - and is the most spirited of specialist drives, as Charles Wright\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Influx Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-01T08:27:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-21T14:52:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"999\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John M Drake\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@influxmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@influxmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John M Drake\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John M Drake\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/person\/d891eea3a03fe2077d5463a1502bc97a\"},\"headline\":\"Imported Classics: The Rat\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-01T08:27:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-21T14:52:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/\"},\"wordCount\":457,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alfa Romeo\",\"italian\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cars\",\"Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/\",\"name\":\"Imported Classics: The Rat - Influx\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-01T08:27:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-21T14:52:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Rat typifies the wacky racer aesthetic: non-standard, full of texture and patina - and is the most spirited of specialist drives, as Charles Wright\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg\",\"width\":999,\"height\":920,\"caption\":\"The Alfa sits in front of a graffiti-adorned wall\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Imported Classics: The Rat\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/\",\"name\":\"Influx Magazine\",\"description\":\"Cars, Bikes, People, Culture\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Influx Magazine\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2016\/06\/influx-logo.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2016\/06\/influx-logo.gif\",\"width\":300,\"height\":60,\"caption\":\"Influx Magazine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/influxmag\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/person\/d891eea3a03fe2077d5463a1502bc97a\",\"name\":\"John M Drake\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2deda01ef102e15be82846f18aba0e48?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2deda01ef102e15be82846f18aba0e48?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John M Drake\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Imported Classics: The Rat - Influx","description":"The Rat typifies the wacky racer aesthetic: non-standard, full of texture and patina - and is the most spirited of specialist drives, as Charles Wright","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Imported Classics: The Rat - Influx","og_description":"The Rat typifies the wacky racer aesthetic: non-standard, full of texture and patina - and is the most spirited of specialist drives, as Charles Wright","og_url":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/","og_site_name":"Influx Magazine","article_published_time":"2021-07-01T08:27:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-06-21T14:52:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":999,"height":920,"url":"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John M Drake","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@influxmag","twitter_site":"@influxmag","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John M Drake","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/"},"author":{"name":"John M Drake","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/person\/d891eea3a03fe2077d5463a1502bc97a"},"headline":"Imported Classics: The Rat","datePublished":"2021-07-01T08:27:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-21T14:52:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/"},"wordCount":457,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg","keywords":["Alfa Romeo","italian"],"articleSection":["Cars","Edition"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/","url":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/","name":"Imported Classics: The Rat - Influx","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg","datePublished":"2021-07-01T08:27:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-21T14:52:21+00:00","description":"The Rat typifies the wacky racer aesthetic: non-standard, full of texture and patina - and is the most spirited of specialist drives, as Charles Wright","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2021\/07\/INFLUX-14.jpg","width":999,"height":920,"caption":"The Alfa sits in front of a graffiti-adorned wall"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/imported-classics-the-rat\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Imported Classics: The Rat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/","name":"Influx Magazine","description":"Cars, Bikes, People, Culture","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#organization","name":"Influx Magazine","url":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2016\/06\/influx-logo.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk\/uploads\/2016\/06\/influx-logo.gif","width":300,"height":60,"caption":"Influx Magazine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/influxmag"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/person\/d891eea3a03fe2077d5463a1502bc97a","name":"John M Drake","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2deda01ef102e15be82846f18aba0e48?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2deda01ef102e15be82846f18aba0e48?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John M Drake"}}]}},"Feature Image":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57134,"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57130\/revisions\/57134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}