Interview with Berlina Register Keeper Andrew Watry

This morning when I checked my email I found that Andrew had sent me his latest Berlina/Giulia/Giulietta Register Newsletter No. 27 (November 2008).  As I was reading it I realized that Andrew has been a fixture in the Alfa world for a while and I didn’t know much about his history with Alfa’s, so I emailed him a few questions.   The result is the first in what will probably turn into a series of interviews with notable characters in the Alfa world. 

What made you decide to do the Berlina website and Register?

“I started the Berlina Register began in 1997.  There were other Alfa Registers (particularly the Giulia Sedan Register) to serve as models; I had loved Giulias for years and had just bought a Berlina, so I thought it would be fun and useful to become the clearinghouse on Berlinas and gather other interested folks.  Not many people cared about them at the time except me, it seemed.  I took over the North American Giulia Register five-ish years ago when Dave Mericle stopped handling it, and added the Giulietta Sedan Register in 2007 when I bought one of those.”

 Andrew in his Cortina (that is currently for sale) leading the Berlina Register tour.

What was your first Alfa, and when did you get it? 

“A very rusty white 1964 Column-shift Giulia TI with a 1300 Normale engine, April 1977 in San Diego, in my senior year in high school.  This TI was a complete pile, but I really wanted an Alfa and for $400 it was what I could afford.  Fixed the water pump and got it on the road; it had 3 shocks and a gaping hole where the fourth should have been.  Drove it over the summer of 1977, then one day on the way to Palomar Junior College it holed a piston, creating a smokescreen to rival any WW2 ship.  I traded it for a lowered 1968 Fiat 850 Spider, which I was also into at the time, and had three. ” 

I met Andrew for a while when I had my first Alfa, also a Giulia TI.  Here it is being inspected by Pedal Pusher Karyn on the 2003 Alpine 500 parked in Quincy Ca. 

Which Alfa that you’ve had do you regret selling the most?  Not necessarily because the value has gone up a bunch, but because you had a good connection to it?

“Most regretted Alfa sale was a rusty white 1965 Giulia TI I bought as a rolling shell in 1985 from Rich Ott and made into a running car from the running gear and interior of my wrecked Giulia Super.  Not at all a pretty car, but dialed in mechanically and a very rewarding driver that I used daily for 10 years.  Sold it in 1995 when I bought a Rover 2000 TC, thinking Alfa’s didn’t mean much to me anymore.  Immediately realized my mistake, which led to my replacing the Rover within months with a 1750 Berlina.  The TI went to LA and became a track car.”

Is the 1750 Berlina that replaced the Rover the one that got wrecked, went to APE and ultimately whose engine Matt Danning put in my Giulietta Sprint before I bought it and is now in my 1972 Berlina?

“Yep.  Metallic Olive car I bought in Spring 1995 from a guy in Petaluma.  He was using it as a daily driver, but it was running on three cylinders.  Wouldn’t pass smog, so I did a valve job (I still have the burned exhaust valve) and then it was fine, with a Spica tune-up.  Sold it to Robert Arnold (a friend of Matt Danning) after I got my Super on the road in 1998/99.  Robert wrecked it pretty much immediately, and Matt bought the engine.

Current achievable Alfa purchase wish-list?

“Hmmm; I have a Giulietta Spider Veloce, Giulietta Berlina, Giulia Super, and 2000 GTV, so I’m not sure I’m really wanting.  I always said I’d be blissfully happy with a GTV and Super, but you know how it is with Alfa’s; there are never enough.  Unachievable desires are a GTA and Giulia TI Super.  Possibly achievables are a 1900 TI, and I’d really rather have a 1600 GTV than a 2000 GTV.  I should be thankful for what I have though.  I take on a fair number of sad-case fix-up cars, get them back on the road, enjoy them awhile, then sell them.  So it really could be anything.” 

Andrew thought this picture sent to him by a NL Berlina club would be appreciated.  If Andrew and I (I’ve had 3) still had all the Berlina’s we’ve owned we could probably make a picture like this, though I suspect the condition of the cars would be a little less appealing.

Andrew’s website is linked on my homepage and has lots of information covering everything you could want to know about Berlina’s.  His Newsletters track Berlina and Giulia Sedan values going back a while so If you’re in the market for a good Berlina be prepared for a shock when you see what a good car used to cost.   Thanks for your time Andrew.