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Anyone remember me? Sprint Veloce out of Alabama

I get a lot of email from guys who just bought cars asking me if I’ve seen them before.  Usually the answer is no, not because I haven’t seen the car, but because I’ve seen so many over the last few years that I’m just not sure.  This is a Sprint Veloce, used as a race car in the past then moving to Europe in about 1990.  Anyone recognize it?  Owner would love to hear from you.  Send me an email to get in contact with them.

From the archives:

According to our documentation files, the chassis number AR 1493 E 06923 originally corresponds to an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce, manufactured on the 8th August 1958 and sold on the 16th September 1958 to Hoffman Motor Car Co., New York, U.S.A.
The body colour is “azzurro Riviera” (AR 322).

Got a car that you’d like to try and find info on?  I can post it for you just like this.

Without those numbers this could be my car!  Hood looks to be flat black.  Late 60’s 105 wheels.  Another car headed for restored glory I hope!

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Market 443: Sprint Speciale 10120 00239 -nice!

Update 12/12/12:  It sold for $137,500. Can you make this out of a $50,000 project for another $85,000?  That’s the gamble I think a lot of guys are taking.

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Giulietta Sprint Speciale 10120*00239, 00120*00634.  This car is available on eBay from Drivers Source in Houston Tx.  They’ve had some Giulietta’s in questionable condition over the time I’ve had this blog, but this one looks pretty good.  It has an award in Portofino, so I suppose it’s a recent import.  Check it out!

“Ruby” red meets foliage.  Stance is a litte high. Shine is present and it is what it is.  Bumper looks weird -kind of droopy on the ends.    $137,500?  You tell me.

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Market 442: Survivor Spider 750D 06495

Update 12/12/12:  2x no sales with strong bidding.  I’d probably have sold it at $30,000, but then again, I’m not trying to make a calculated margin like most dealers are.

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Giulietta Spider 750D 1495*06495.  This car is on eBay right now from a seller in Santa Barbara who has been listing Alfa’s occasionally (buying low and immediately trying to sell high in the spirit of free market capitalism) over the last few years.  The car is solid -and besides that unremarkable and tired.  I suspect this is the car that was on Craigslist out of the Napa/Sonoma area wine country last month.  Amazing what some elbow grease and the right lighting for pictures will do for you.

We’ve seen this pier a few times.  There are no holes for ‘eyebrow’ trims -must’ve been filled the last time it was painted.  Hood needs a little fitting on the drivers side corner.

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Market 441: Sprint Speciale 00460 at auction

Update 9/23/12: Sold for $40,750.  Wheels sold separately for $2000.  Other lots of Alfa stuff made good money too.

Giulietta Sprint Speciale 10120*00460.  This car is being auctioned next week by RM’s Auctions America.  This car appeared on the Alfa BB a few years back and a bit of information can be found there, including that it is rumored to have been the NY Auto Show car.  I haven’t seen any trim for it or anything but I suppose what’s mentioned on the BB is included.  It’s noteworthy that it has very very rare period alloy wheels.  Was probably a $20K car when it was offered on the BB… who knows now.

Nice straight shell.  Door fit is wonky, but its guides are undoubtedly in a box somewhere.  Sweet wheels, have them inspected for cracks.  I don’t think I’ve seen a set of these for sale since I’ve been keeping this blog.  I’m sure someone will be tempted to buy this, take the wheels and a few choice bits for their project then send it on down the road…

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Market 366: Spider Veloce 390015 in Italy

Update 9/3/12: This car has been listed for sale in France now.  No pictures of the intake set up so I assume they haven’t changed it to be more correct.  Price is now 60,000 Euro’s.

1/10/12: Giulia Spider Veloce 1600 10118*390015, 00121*01569.  From our pal’s Luzzago comes this 1600 Spider Veloce.  You have to call them and engage in human interaction if you want to know the asking price -I’m going to guess that price is in line with the asking price we’ve seen for similar cars as such places as Fantasy Junction.  All areas of the car are described in ALL CAPS as PERFECT.  Go look in person, bring a parts book and a magnet.

It’s red.  It’s a late spider.  It’s got a luster that triggers desire.  It looks damn good.

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Market 439: Spider Veloce 750F 06380 w/ hardtop

Giulietta Spider Veloce 750F 1495*06380.  This car is available out of Connecticut on eBay.  Engine is not original and it needs a lot of help in all the usual areas, except it doesn’t appear to be too rusty.  Presence of original Pininfarina hardtop is unusual and will add a few thousand bucks to the result.

So far so goo.  Some bits are missing but they are included.  Headlights look like the original Carello units

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F.I.S.P.A. Air cleaner for most single carb Sprints and Spiders + mystery

I got this FISPA (TIPO: FATS 5032, DISEGNO: 9815) air filter canister from a reader as sort of partial payment for helping sell a car.  I thought it would be right for my Sprint but it turns out it’s got a slightly different shape than another one I had on hand for a Sprint.

Applications: I decided to check the parts book and found there are three versions of this part.  If anyone has an original older Sprint or Spider I’d be interested in hearing which box you have.

  • 1315.53.820: For Spider up to engine 1315.43709; after that see 1315.53.832.
  • 1315.53.832: for Sprint from engine 1315.05874 to 1315.09002 – for Spider from engine 1315.43710 to 1315.45854; after those numbers see 101.02.08.010.00.
  • 101.02.08.010.00: for Sprint and Spider after numbers above.

Failure mode: rusts out, stabilizing mount to valve cover Splits, it gets lost.

Current state of parts: Classic Alfa UK sells a new repro.  eBay usually has a one listed in need of restoration for about $400.

Notes: Early versions seem to have a bolt instead of the loop (part 11 below) for tightening to the top of the carb.  I have seen several sorts of FISPA labels, from a stamped metal plate to a screened on decal.  Bill Gillham has repro’s of some of these.

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Heater part 3: Air intake, front, with motor 1493.54.708

The car I’m working on will eventually retire to a leisurely life in Washington -a state well known for its rainfall.  As such, I decided a good forced air system to heat the cabin and defog the windscreen was a good idea.  I have the original fan impeller mounted on a modern motor in my Sprint and it works okay -you can feel a little moving air, but it’s not very impressive (admittedly most of my ducting is leaky original BS or ill-fitting replacement BS, so maybe an unfair test).  Anyway, I was perusing the McMaster catalog when I found a 4″, 12 volt all-in-one in-line blower fan.

Applications: Sprint and sprint Veloce.

Failure mode: electric motor failure.

Current state of parts: repair original or find something to adapt in place of the original.

This is where the Air intake plenum lives.  It’s designed to act as a ram-air and I imagine at over about 40 mph the air forced in is moving faster than the original fan could push it in.  The rest under here looks pretty nice…

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Market 436: 1956 Sprint Veloce Alleggerita 750 E 02239

Update 8/23/12: $310,000 hammer has members of the exclusive club known as ‘early lightweight Sprint Veloce owners’ all calling their insurance agent to up the agreed value, and then thinking about whether or not they really need that jewel in their jewelry box at that price.

8/11/12: Giulietta Sprint 750 E 1493*02239, 1315*30135, Bertone body number 77117.  This car will be auctioned by Russo and Steele next weekend with an expected hammer around $200,000.  With a high expected price comes high praise and/or high scrutiny.  d’Amico and Tabucchi list this chassis number as a 1956 Sprint Veloce 750E, good enough for me!  It has been magnificently restored to a semblance of ‘last raced’ specification, with lightweight seats, a lack of bumpers and other details deviating from stock.  It is doubtful it wore the Borrani wire wheels shown since -not only have I never seen a period picture of a Giulietta racer with wire wheels, they were very likely heavier than the usual Fergat or Borrani wheels due to the required extra splined hub adapter.

A lot of the ‘lightweight’ treatment was replacement of chrome-over brass parts with aluminum.  Body fits together with the typical Bertone precision.  Would be nice to see it wear it’s original, most likely lost 50 years ago aluminum bumpers.  I have read they are available -I know ClassicAlfa and Alfastop list a few of the aluminum parts, not sure if they have bumpers.

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