Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

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Lightweight_911
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Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by Lightweight_911 »

So, with the 356 sold & no sensibly-priced 'interesting' old Porsches on the market, it was time to look elsewhere to see if there was another car that could be 'ticked off the list' ...

There were 2 cars in particular that had been on my list for a very long time but that had so far eluded me - a Lotus Elite Climax & an Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider.

I had come close to buying an Elite on a couple of occasions but the right car had never turned up at the right time & there currently seemed to be very few for sale & nothing of interest at a realistic price.

I'd looked at several Alfa Duettos a few years ago - prior to buying the 356 - but prices had already started rising significantly so I'd more or less ruled them out in favour of an early S2 Spider Junior - a model which, although it adopted the later Kamm-tail body (as opposed to the original 'boat-tail' design), retained the lovely body-coloured painted metal dash & push-button door handles.

So I started looking again.

I really wanted a LHD model as I had a particular European trip in mind - down through France, into Switzerland, over the Alps & down to Southern Italy.

A combination of the usual Italian car sites - autoscout24, subito, autobelle, kijiji, etc - & mobile.de in Germany seemed to cover most cars for sale in Europe & so I waded through hundreds of adverts trying to find something 'special'.

Just before Christmas I'd flown out to Düsseldorf to look at a beautiful 'Giallo Prototipo' (a bit like Jaguar Primrose Yellow) boat-tail Spider Junior at Classic Remise but although the car was perfect, the price was unrealistic (& non-negotiable).

Now that I was looking again I contacted the Dealer to see if the car was still available (it was no longer on their website) but it had been on consignment & the owner had decided not to sell.

I found a lovely ex-Italian S2 Spider Junior with a Dealer in the Netherlands so flew out to Amsterdam to look at it - a lovely showroom in a great location (in Sassenheim) housing around 50 classics of all sorts (including a dozen or so Porsches). The owner was the perfect host - friendly & knowledgeable with absolutely no pressurising - I was able to take as long as I liked looking over the car & was offered as much fresh coffee as I wanted (some of the best coffee I've ever had !). I was encouraged to take the car out (on my own) for an extended drive & even picked up/returned to the airport.

The car looked & drove very well but for reasons I couldn't immediately explain, it just didn't tick all of the boxes - I think that's when I realised that I didn't want to compromise ... I really wanted the original 'boat-tail' version.

Next I flew out to Copenhagen to look at a Duetto for sale at the well-known dealer Stelvio Automobili who tend to specialise in early Alfas.

The Duetto had been owned by a local for the past 12 years & during this time virtually everything had been restored/refurbished or replaced. Again it was a lovely car with a top asking price (also non-negotiable) but there were a few things incorrect which I felt should have been reflected in the price. In the end I decided that the price was too high - it would also have been a long way to drive it back !

While I was there I had a good look at (& was tempted by) this:

Image

- but the interior, although beautifully executed, was a bit 'over the top' for a competition-inspired car:

Image

Image

They'd made (IMO) the classic mistake of installing a 2 litre engine but I did happen to have a spare 1300 Alfa engine ...

No, I needed to stick to my original plan & not get side-tracked !



.
Andy

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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by Bootsy »

I like that interior!
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by jtparr »

Enjoying the story Andy, looking forward to the next episode...
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by 964RS »

Bootsy wrote:I like that interior!
Me too....but not the price....60k euro :shock: :shock:
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by left4dead »

I'm erring towards Alfa so looking forward to this...

C'mon Andy :bounce: .
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by yoda »

964RS wrote:
Bootsy wrote:I like that interior!
Me too....but not the price....60k euro :shock: :shock:
That looks pretty good - price a bit lumpy due to FX but otherwise not a million miles away if the work has been done well, I think?
The force is strong in this one ......
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by Lightweight_911 »

One of the problems associated with Alfas of this period (in a similar way to early 911's) is that most of the mechanicals - including engines - are visually similar & totally interchangeable, meaning that many cars have been 'up-rated' by fitting later/bigger engines. That's not a problem if you're aware of the swap & it's reflected in the asking price.

In addition many (most) early Spiders have by now had some body restoration - often including a complete respray - which, allied to the fact that the Italians are renowned for not keeping records of expenditure/work carried out, makes it all the more difficult to determine whether a particular car is still true to its original spec.

Up until about a year ago it was relatively easy to get (free) information from the Factory archive records via the extremely helpful Marco Fazio at Centro Documentazione but Alfa Romeo recently computerised all of the vehicle records & it's now much more difficult (& expensive) to obtain details of a car's original specification/build date/Dealer destination, etc.

So to recap, ideally I was looking for a car which still had its original engine & was still the same colour as when it left the Factory ...
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by alfacat »

Hi Andy
I'm sure you know this but Alfaholics (Banks brothers Andrew & Max) talk a lot of sence when it comes to old Alfas even if your not after one of their GT-Rs.
They tend to be my first call if I'm thinking about typo 105s, something I seem to be doing a lot lately...

All the best
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by Sam »

The Dad of Alfaholics is also into old Porsches, I've had a few chats with him at various events. Nice man.
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by alfacat »

Hi Sam
Yep Richard is certainly one of lifes gentlemen...
Their website is an Alfa perving paradise!

All the best
Ian F.
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and a few old Lotus.

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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by Lightweight_911 »

Thanks Ian - yes, having owned a fair number of old Alfas in the past I'm aware of Alfaholics' reputation/expertise & have dealt with them on & off over the years (mainly with their father Richard when he was at the helm), but in relation to Spider models there are other less 'high profile' specialists who would be my first port of call - Chris Sweetapple (Highwood Alfa), Kevin Abigail - & before him David Edgington - (EB Spares), Richard Norris (Classic Alfa), Ian Ellis, etc.
Andy

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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by Lightweight_911 »

There's quite a big 'overhang' at the front & rear of a boat-tail Spider & consequently they are susceptible to parking damage - particularly at the front.

One of the problems that often manifests itself with an older restoration - especially if the work wasn't carried out by a knowledgeable Alfa specialist - is the omission/deletion of the (erroneously-named) 'dimple' on the car's nose.

A boat-tailed Spider should have a small raised 'hump' in the centre of the front panel, immediately above the grille - like this:

Image

It's surprising just how many cars offered for sale - including those at expensive specialist dealers - have this detail missing/incorrect !

However, notice in the picture above how the leading edge of the bonnet is 'sunk' below the rear of the nose panel ...


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Andy

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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by 23e Heure »

A few snaps from last summer in Sicily for you Andy...

Image

Image


Look, no hands!

Image

Image
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by Tp81 »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d02l4Eo8i5A&t=514

I will watch with interest, the previous owner of my Alfa has a real passion for the cars. He has just had his alfa montreal fully restored and has two of the 2000 Spiders, stunning car.
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Re: Not another bl**dy Alfa ! ... ?!!

Post by Lightweight_911 »

8) 8) 8)
Andy

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- subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”
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