Market 99: Two-tone Giulia SS project

Update 3/31/09: Auction ended at $32,299 with 32 bids.  This is strong money and reaffirms that SS’s are sought after right now.  If the new owner is happy with the cosmetic condition and drops it off at a shop to be made to run and drive they will probabkly be $50K into it when they take their first test drive.  They will be pushing $60K if they decide the two-tone paint needs to be rectified.  The DIY home mechanic could probably see this on the road for about $40K out of pocket.  The white SS that was on eBay recently is looking better when all this is considered.

Update 3/29/09: A kind reader took some pictures when he went to see it in person. He reported that it needs more work than he thought it would before seeing it and that the paint was not as good as it looks in the pictures.  Still, this is one of the better SS projects to show up in a while.  Spy shots here.
Giulia Sprint Speciale 10121*381357, no engine number stated, but said to be original. Available right now on eBay out of La Habra Ca is this 1965 SS. Seller says it’s a 1966 but it was (according to Fusi and d&T) made in 1965, the year production ceased at car number 381399. The two tone treatment is reminiscent in my opinion to that seen on some Lotus Elites. Some assembly required.

bpkmrgqwkkgrhgoh-c4ejlllzvvhbjyrl3p66g_1This is a great angle for SS’s. I like the two-tone treatment, but would consider painting the roof to match the body color.

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Market 101: From the endless supply of Spider projects 1495*04751…

Update 3/30/09: This car endded with 2 bids at $4000 reserve not met.  I think a few more revealing pictures (underside, floors etc) and a clear statement about the engine (numbers, completeness and condition) would see this car get bid up a little higher. 

Giulietta Spider 750D 1495*04751.  This car is on eBay right now out of Pittsburg PA and represents a fairly average Spider project considering what’s gone through eBay the last year.  Seller states that the buyer has a choice of engines, either a dry sump (?) 00551*02329 or one that is “more original”.  As always I would want a lot more pictures, or to make a personal visit before I committed to buy, but it’s pretty clear this car is incomplete and needs work done to everything.  On the bright side you end up with a rare  early Giulietta Spider when you’re done.

66c3_3The pictures certainly don’t disappoint if you come here to gawk in that ‘watching a car crash happen’ sort of way.  Nose panel isn’t too bad, having a seemingly unmolested ‘bump’ to receive the top center of the grill.

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Market 100: Late Spider project

Update 3/30/09: Auction ended with 13 bids and a closing price of $4250, reserve not met.  Considering the seller paid $1500 for it and is going for a quick flip, I would think this would be a perfectly acceptible price.  Oh well, look for this car to reappear on eBay and elsewhere until either the seller reconsiders how much they should take for it or someone who wants this exact car shows up.

Giulia Spider 101.23 AR392006, Engine 00112*15462. Car should probably be 379206. This car is on eBay right now at about $2700 with 2 days to go and Hemmings.com with an asking price of $7000. The seller Fat Dog frequently sells Alfa and other vintage parts so he knows his wares somewhat. There is a Fat Dog in Berkeley that owns a guitar shop, anyone know why a guy would call himself Fat Dog? Is it a Grateful Dead song reference?

bo6romqbmkkgrhgoh-csejlllzpb1bjdzhdz5_3Lookin’ not so good. Well, all things considered and for the right money this could be a decent place to start your quest to own a Giulia Spider, but with less rusty, near-to-running projects seemingly abounding these days and less than $10K, why not spend a little more and save yourself a lot of work. I know, there is a whole class of Alfa guy who prides themselves on bringing cars back, and for those guys this is perfect.

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Berlina Register Newsletter 28 out now!

Andrew likes to keep us up to date on the Berlina world by reporting sales, stories and the like in his newsletters. Newsletter 28 (berlet28) appeared in my email box yesterday so naturally I decided to post about it.  I’ve noticed the last few years he has strayed from the primary topic (Berlinas) and it has become more and more the Alfa Sedan Register Newsletter. Yours truly features in one of the sale reports, as I did in Berlina Newsletter 27.   Stay tuned for the next installment on that front where I will likely feature again, perhaps twice in Newsletter 29, which will put me in there three issues running.   If you go to the Berlina register website (there’s a link on my homepage) you can find an archive of all of his Newsletters going back to when market reports included $800 Berlina original runner/drivers that would be $8000 these days.  So it goes.

SF Gate published an article about Andrew in their CARS section recently that is linked below.

SF Gate article about Andrew.

andrew_alfa_4The SF Gate article included a photo session but strangely there are no pictures with the article anymore.  Here’s Andrew with his Super.

Market 98: Nicest early Sprint I’ve seen

Giulietta Sprint 750B 1493*01149, Engine 1315*01110 (I think).  This car is one of the earlier Sprints I’ve seen come up for sale and is available now on Anamera for 50,000 Pounds Sterling.  This car is well known to Alfa enthusiasts in Europe, having been displayed in shows and driven on events there by the seller.  A friend who owns several Sprints (early, late, veloce etc) said he wouldn’t hesistate to lay out the cash if he could afford it.  He says that this car is as good in person as the pictures and has been warmed up so that it really goes.

95aec285f4The car at speed.  Note the wire wheels.  Stunning, and I even like the color.

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Market 97: Very nice 750F Spider Veloce

Update 3/24/09: Auction ended at $49,999 with 43 bids.  This is about what I thought it would do.  Apparently the economic rollercoaster isn’t confusing buyers of fine cars that are likely to appreciate or at least hold their value.  I wonder where this car will go?  Germany?  Belgium?  Japan?  Dubai?  Berkeley?  I hope the latter.

Giulietta Spider Veloce 1495F04358, Engine 1315*31402. This car is on eBay right now out of Santa Clara Ca. These early 750 Spider Veloce’s are the Spider to get if you can find one and as always, if you can find a nice original it’s the one to get, if not, get a no excuses restored car like this.

bowniqmkkgrhgookjgejllmyuwjbjumv2e2ow_3I don’t usually have black come to mind when I think of a Giulietta Spider, but I have seen a lot of local cars in black over the last few years and I think going forward I will always think of them in black.

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Market 96: Confused Spider in So Cal

Update 3/19/09: Car received 2 bids and with the reserve not met the auction was pulled in the 11th hour. 

Giulia Spider 101.23 AR379169, Engine AR00536*07055 (not original). The eBay auction says 1965 Normale/Veloce and it is in about that order, a Normale with a Veloce engine and trunk badge from our friends at Sports Car LA. black plate, no rust, odd color and a $9500 starting bid.

used-1965-alfa_romeo-giulia-normale__slash___veloce-6818-3921364-3-640Looks like an honest Spider just how you used to find them.

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Gripe gripe gripe: top five internet gripes

Gripes are in no particular order. I am forced to stretch here to provide content. My camera went on a trip across Europe for 2 weeks and I have been too busy at work to get to my shop after work, and there isn’t a glut of Giuliettas on eBay right now so I’m going to do what I don’t usually do and digress from a directly Giuliettas related blog post. Here it is , my own personal list of things I encounter while using the internet that irritate me. (Why does using seem like the wrong word?). Oh, and the pictures mean nothing in relation to the text, they are just funny or good or bad shots I found on my old computer.

img_1012When I worked at Applied Materials there was a courtyard completely surrounded by the building and every year a Mallard duck would sneek in there and lay eggs in the bushes, hatch babies and provide a general sense of cuteness to the semiconductor engineering world. This scrum is 5 of 12 from 2005.

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Market #93: 65 Giulia SS in Italy

This Giulia Sprint Speciale is available right now in Italy and is listed on Anamera and Autoclassic. No numbers are mentioned as usual for Italian ads but we can admire it just the same. Autoclassic’s website is worth a look as they have a group of very interesting Fiat’s and other Italian jewelry on offer.

db153dd4a9Very very classy in white with chrome accents. I think I underestimate how cool these cars look in white. This example is keeping company with some serious cars here.

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Market #92: Red Sprint Three-fer in Italy

Giulietta Sprints 1493*26018, 1493*26085 and a 1965 Giulietta 1300.  These three cars are all in Italy, all about 25,000 Euro’s, all red and all in pretty nice shape.  I have them arranged in the chronological order outlined above for each group of common view pictures.  26018 and 26085 are from the 1960 interim series that ends at 26200 in Fusi.  The 1965 Giulietta 1300 represents the last gasp for the classic Giulietta Sprint and they only made 428 if Fusi’s numbers are accurate.  Giulietta Sprint production spanned 11 years and if you look at the Sprints contemporaries at the beginning and end of its run you see a great leap forward in automobile design and technology that was just catching up in the early 1960’s to the standard of robustness, reliability and style set by the Sprint.

3396f5be3a1493*26018 is not only 67 cars older than the next car, it is photographed in the same spot.  There are some event stickers on the quarter window which if nothing else indicate this car drives well enough to do a few hundred miles.

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