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Huge Alfa Romeo Literature Collection - Largest in the US!

For Sale 
5K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  Cuekie Peterson 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm selling my huge collection of Alfa Romeo literature.

This collection was gathered over a 30+ year period by a well known Alfa enthusiast, and this is almost certainly the largest Alfa factory literature collection in the US.

Here is a link to a set of photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHskvQNfwP

The file cabinets are full of manuals and dealer brochures and other Alfa literature. There are stacks of owner's manuals, dealer parts books, technical manuals, special tool manuals, Alfa Corse race prep/competition manuals, buyer's guides, history books, art prints, Fusi book (Le Grandi Alfa Romeo), banners, posters, movies, microfilm & viewing equipment, and lots more. Also included are many examples of Alfa dealer promotional items as shown in the photo set.

Most of the items are for 101 & 105 series cars (also 750, 2000, 2600, and Montreal) and later Alfetta, Milano, and 164. There are also bound photocopies of service manuals for many other earlier Alfa models.

There are hundreds (if not thousands) of individual items, and it would take weeks to make an accurate inventory of everything. Please look at the photos and decide if it is worth coming to inspect this collection in person here in Santa Barbara.

I am entertaining serious offers for the entire collection and will not break it up.

I'm posting this here first before ebay, so my fellow AlfaBB'ers can have the first crack at buying this incredible group of Alfa items. I have owned this collection for a few years now, but now need the space.

Please send offers and questions privately and I will respond quickly-
 
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#5 ·
Yes, this is the massive collection that I bought at auction from the Tompkins family. The collection included 15 Alfa cars, a huge quantity of new & used parts, factory tools, dealership signs, and this literature. The other items have all been sold, and I am ready to sell the complete literature collection.

While I know that Tom was a hoarder and a controversial figure, he did pass away many years ago and any disputes should have been settled back then. This is not the time to bring up any negative experiences anyone had with Tom in the past.
 
#6 · (Edited)
While I know that Tom was a hoarder and a controversial figure, he did pass away many years ago and any disputes should have been settled back then. This is not the time to bring up any negative experiences anyone had with Tom in the past.
OK you got my interest...

I would say that more then a few of us would love to hear what it was that caused those word to be spoken/posted. There has got to be few great stories, to be enjoyed, somewhere out there. We would love to hear. So someone please come clean...>:)
.
 
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#7 ·
There is nothing too mysterious. I had heard that Tom sometimes had borrowed material to photocopy and some of these items were evidently not returned afterwards. This took place 20+ years ago, so these issues should have been resolved back then. I just wanted to avoid negative comments about Tom to appear in this post if possible.
 
#8 ·
Wow, that's quite a collection. Now, when my wife brings up the amount of Alfa stuff I have, I'll just show her those pictures.

Good luck!
 
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#11 ·
Hi Sam, Thanks for your interest. I have been traveling, but just returned home a few minutes ago.

I don't think you read my listing carefully. I am selling this as a collection, and not breaking it up or selling items individually. I can forward your information to the future buyer of the collection, and perhaps he can help you out-

Best, Mark
 
#12 ·
Thanks Mark. You are correct I didn't read it carefully. I was looking at all the pictures of the inventory and got carried away.

Please forward my info to the buyer of the collection. It is probably the biggest Alfa literature collection on the planet.

GLWS

Sam
 
#13 ·
i remember visiting tommy when he was putting together this collection ... his idea was to make it the biggest alfa library around for club members

i got to know him a little bit at an alfa swap meet...and then visited him a couple of times....he gave me a couple of books and found an alfa gtv for me......he sure did love alfas
 
#14 ·
The collection is still available.

Evidently this Alfa literature collection is too large of an undertaking for a typical private collector. I was hoping to find a museum or large car collection that would want to keep this intact. Most of the response here on AlfaBB has either been people looking for a particular book, or buyers wanting to buy the collection very cheap in order to split everything up to resell.

I wanted to give my fellow AlfaBB'ers first crack at this wonderful collection that took years of hard work and perseverance to build, but no serious buyer came forward. Next step is to list this on ebay-
 
#19 ·
I hope you get your asking price. However, I do not think it will actually happen. Most of us collectors have been doing it for quite a while and need only a few pieces. The hope of finding a club that will step up and pay the $10k asking price is really slim.
Agreed with this. I wish the seller all the best and I don't want to be insulting, but this is the typical "quick flip" pitch. None of the work for all of the money. Obviously the collection was bought from the previous owner with the intention of selling on for a profit, now the seller doesn't actually want to do the work to document each individual piece and its condition for full market value. "Bit off more than can chew" is basically the situation. Now that it's been listed here with no serious interest for several months, is well known on the market, and has failed to sell on eBay once -- odds are slim seller will see anything close to this.

Honestly, looking at the photos I see a lot of $10, $20, $50 items but it takes a lot of those to get to $10,000 -- especially when you add up eBay, Paypal, etc fees. Maybe if the seller pulled out a few of the rarest bits and did a better job of describing and photographing? Just a suggestion.

FWIW, I think I offered $3500 when this collection first hit market and was immediately denied. My estimation at the time was that retail was roughly double that. I am local so (potentially significant) shipping charges would not have applied -- just my time to load into a truck.

My sincere hope is that the current owner did not overpay and can hope to recoup at least his initial investment, if not his time.

RJ
 
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