Author: hamilton.mm

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Market 408: Spider 10103 170673 -just the body

Update 3/27/12: I am impressed by this sale price.  $11,000 for a body on suspension.  Such a deal.

3/25/12: Giulietta Spider 10103*170673.  This car is on eBay right now out of Appleton WI.  WYSIWYG with this one.  I don’t know how easy it is to deal with paint matching the lids and doors to a freshly painted body, but people are bidding on it, so it must make some sense.  If I had a rusty complete Spider from this series I’d buy this and move assemblies over to the new body one at a time as they are restored.  Might be fun.

Looks pretty good!  Paint is even, I don’t see signs of poorly done bodywork, and it’s ready to go.  Someone in the right part of the country (right being where you can get decent bodywork done for $20 or so an hour) could make a cottage industry of buying whole rusty cars, doing this to the body then selling the parts one at a time on eBay.

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Market 407: Castle find SS project in France 10120 00440

Update 4/6/12:  Car reached an underwhelming $15,099.  I’ve heard of 00120 engines selling for about $10K, so this is pretty cheap for this car, regardless of how busted up you think it is.

Giulietta Sprint Speciale 10120*00440 This car is on eBay out of France right now. Seller commented a few days ago about the availability of this car, wanting to post here, but I was away from the internet for a few days and now here it is on eBay. The car is said to have been vandalized and stripped of parts, but it looks solid enough to be viable for someone, and since these have gone up in value, more parts -especially trim bits, are available new.  Car received ‘final assembly’ in France by Renault -part of their trade agreement for car imports.

Nice color combo!  Looks like that late 60’s GTV color, and the blacked out bumpers are an interesting touch.  Kind of looks like the car was driven into a corner, creating angled dents at each headlight.  

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6C2500 Freccia d’Oro – looking for a good home

6C2500 916587 ‘Freccia d’Oro’.  Some cars come up for sale and you forget them the moment you look away -others stick with you, lingering in your mind like a pretty face from your Differential Equations class in college.  For me, this car is one I’ve thought about occasionally since the first time I saw it about 10 years ago on eBay out of Southern California for about $20,000 (anyone remember exactly?).  It sold through Fantasy Junction in the last few months for just under $50,000 and is now offered by Autoclassic in Italy.  The eBay and FJ sales had it powered by a Chevy V8 (get over it), but Autoclassic seems to be selling it with a core 6C2500 engine and transmission.  I have no idea what such an engine and transmission are worth -I would think quite a bit (anyone?) -but I have no doubt the price has nearly doubled.

Stunning big car.  These cars were built at a glacial pace.  I think the paint was pretty far gone when it was on eBay -as was the interior.  I am not a fan of the red wheels.

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Market 406: Sprint 10105 20729 -how you used to find them

Update 4/6/12: I subscribe to the idea that the price is the price -especially in the pure market forces exercise that an auction is, but I can’t help thinking that this car is under-appreciated and worth more than the sum of it’s parts.  Car is listed in the current Giuliettaletta for an asking price of $20K.  A little high in my opinion, but not massively.

Update 3/27/12: Car went unsold with a high bid of $12,100 -not meeting reserve, but has been relisted.  I wouldn’t have sold it for $12,100.

3/17/12:  Giulietta Sprint 10105 1493*20729.  This car is on eBay right now out of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania from a long time Alfa club guy.  Seller says it was owned by the Dupont family and under went several color changes from the original Celeste (or whatever shade of light blue).  Car is currently powered by a 1600 engine out of a 101 Spider that has a blown head gasket, but comes with the original 1300.  The usual caveats apply -it’s complete, together, and not far from the road, but needs a lot of help to be a nice car.  That said, it is one of the better Sprint projects I’ve written about.

Looking very much like my car -patina and all.  Biggest plus for this car is its potential to be a rolling restoration.  Check the brakes out, do the head gasket or whatever, tie up the loosest ends in the interior, suspension etc and drive it.  While you use it you can source parts, come up with a plan, and begin the restoration.

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California S.B. 1224 -move emissions exemption from 1975 cut-off year to 1981

This will mean less to the rest of the world than it does to us here in California, but the state senate is voting March 27th on a bill that would move the exemption cut-off year from 1975 to 1981.  I read about it here. This is BIG news if you are a vintage car enthusiast in California.  If it passes, it will have some interesting ripple effects.  The obvious change is a greatly reduced stress level if you happen to drive a car from this time period.  Getting 75 – 81 cars to pass emissions is notoriously draconian and expensive.  More subtle effects include: registrations of cars that were previously PNO’d or just plain off the record should increase -adding revenue for the state;  the value of some cars from this period will increase (78 Ferrari 308, Lotus Esprit or Alfetta GTV anyone?); there will probably be an uptick in local repair businesses when these cars begin to filter back out onto the road.

A 1976 Lancia Beta coupe in the Italian countryside.  In California, it used to be that if you wanted one of these you searched, (usually in vain) for a 1974 or 1975 model – or deal with the heavily painful emissions tax and hoop jumping.  Now, if this bill passes, just about any Beta coupe you find will be a no-smog deal.  Don’t get me wrong -I grew up in California in the 70’s and remember driving in San Bernardino when the mountains a few miles north were not visible through the brown smog -emissions standards are great, and have done a wonderful job of cleaning things up.  

What would I buy from this era?  Lancia Beta coupe, Alfa Giulietta 1.3 (the one with the GTAJ style over-square engine), Lotus Esprit, Porsche 928, Alfetta GT or Sedan, Ferrari 308 GTS, Fiat 131 or X1/9, Jaguar X? many VW’s etc.

If you are in California and the idea of this bill passing excites you -get the word out and write to your senator or who ever it is that votes in these committees.

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Market 405: 2600 Sprint 824960 -Nice!

2600 Sprint 10602*824960, 00601.  This 2600 Sprint is hanging out next to a 1900 Berlina at Fantasy Junction right now.  I went and saw it in person and it really is as nice as it looks in pictures.  The 2600 Sprint I listed recently was a pretty good deal at $23,500, since it’s got to be more than 65% of the car this is at $55,000.  The more I look at these, the more I think another 2600 Sprint might be on my reality based top 10 list, near the Montreal.

There is an air of 60’s American car about these -maybe it’s the size and lots of horizontal bars in the grill.  Note how skinny the tires are!  Very clean example.

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Glas GT Market 1: 1700GT project or parts car

Update 3/27/12: This car sold for $1442 after 22 bids.  A decent result for a rough looking example.  Interest in these cars increases?

3/15/12: Glas 1700GT.  First -pardon the non-Giulietta market post, but as I mentioned when I got my Glas GT, I plan on there being an occasional aside to the headlining act, and someone has to try and figure out what the market for these cars is.  This car is on eBay out of Illinois.  Looks to be too rusty to be a viable restoration candidate, but the sheet metal is ALL available and very inexpensive -too bad it’s as much work to weld up one of these as a Giulietta Sprint.  There are no pictures of the engine -maybe they couldn’t get the hood open!

Pretty straight and complete looking.  Shame about the door rust and, well, all the other rust too.  Headlight rings are aluminum.  Front bumper really makes the front end look a lot more complete than it looks without it.

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Market 404: Spider Project 10103 170922

Update 3/27/12: I think I would have sold this car for $8,100!

3/14/12: Giulietta Spider 10103 170922.  Close to the polar opposite of yesterdays Spider Veloce is this crusty project on eBay right now out of Florida.  It has all the bases covered: rust, dents, missing parts and the need for optimism on the part of the new owner -that said, it’s a pretty good parts car.

You can tell by the ride up front the engine is missing.  If the rear was a little lower I’d say it was in the trunk.  Note nose dent and rust in rocker.  All in all though…

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Market 403: Spider Veloce 750F 02029

Update 3/28/12: This car did pretty well at $48223, and with some detailing may have gone higher.

3/13/12: Giulietta Spider Veloce 750F 1495*02029, 1315*30721.
Instead of the usual busted up Spider I frequently get to write about, this nice early Spider Veloce, built in mid-1957 is on eBay right now.  It’s a nice car -not necessarily correct to a fault, or finished to such a high standard you are afraid to drive it, but much better than average and mechanically sound.  Car was originally black with red interior, but it’s currently Celeste with black -not very often that an Alfa is not original color and yet not redone in red. I hesitate to guess a value -just keep in mind one of the high priced cars of 2011 was a Celeste 1958 Spider Veloce in driver + condition.

This picture could be a lot better, but shows you what to expect to show up in a big cardboard box in a few weeks if you buy it.  Good shut lines, good trim -ready to playboy it around Hollywood.

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Market 398: Sprint Veloce 10106 350633 in Sweden

Update 3/13/12: Henrik from Sweden has found out the vin number.  Turns out it is one of the very last Sprint Veloce’s -the last car is 350961.

Giulietta Sprint Veloce 10106 350633.  Henrik and Frank both sent me a link to this car today, listed on a Swedish site with lots of cars for sale -mostly new.  Text of the ad reads “Unique Alfa Romeo-62 in very good renovation condition. Super interior. Complete car with engine and gearbox.  One of the few Veloce in Sweden. The car has been standing since -77.” Price is 85,000 which would be about 13 000 USD.  Seller lists it as a 1962 750E, so either they are wrong about the year or model -looking at the pictures, I suspect it’s a late 10106.

One wonders if the paint was removed in 1977 or soon there after.  Body is decent and straight.  Sweden looks to have been a ‘side marker light’ country.

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