This is one of the original rear side window catches for the GTV. The chrome is peeled and the plastic handle cracked and discoloured.
I bought a pair of reproduction catches from Classic Alfa – which are great, but it bugged me that the plastic handles were black.
So with a bit of research I found that the handles are a very close match to those on Karmann Ghias, and readily available from volks parts suppliers. Being too lazy to pick up the phone, I bought a pair online from karmannghia.com.au. I also bought a set of the rubber gaskets which fit the catches to the side windows.
They’re not a perfect match, but very close and easily done. A VERY minor detail, but one that makes me grin. Slow month for progress on the car – waiting for space in the workshop and for me to go and fetch the engine and gearbox.
April 21, 2012
I also bought the reproduction items and the black knobs bugged me too. I tried to remove the original knobs from the old catches, but that didn’t work. Classic Alfa could not explain why the knobs weren’t the right colour. I found the gaskets supplied with the new knobs were a very very tight fit – ie. it was difficult. I never though of looking for a substitute.
April 1, 2015
One of my very few memories from the early ’60s was when I was four, going for a ride in the back of my grand-mother’s Karmann Ghia, and fiddling with opening and closing those latches. How very strange that it comes back to me fifty years later when my 105 could also do with some of those same latches.