help find History

[PSB]

Some time ago I saw some where on this site where you could send your vin#s to some where at ALFA and thay could tell you where the car was 1 sold. I know that 1 of you insight full guys will remember what site this was. Please help
Thanks
HAPPY NEW YEAR
PSBatagios

[tubut]

You'll find the answer here.

[PSB]

That maybe what I saw. But it seems to be only for spyders and I wanted it for a Sprint .

[tubut]

Elvira Ruocco provides information about any Alfa.

Just send her the chassis number of your car and be surprised how friendly the response is.

[Farace]

When I sent my chassis number in, I got a polite response, too, but it was a little baffling. Elvira said my car was built on July 19, 1971 and sold in Newark, NJ on July 20, 1971. I don't see how it could get from the factory to New Jersey that quickly, but I guess it doesn't really matter.

[geh458]

Bob,

What about this scenario: Car built July 19, car sold July 20, car shipped from factory sometime after July 20...........

That's the sort of thing I went through when I bought my first Harley, I gave a down-payment before it was even on the assembly line.

[tubut]

I guess these questions could be very easy to answer:

These cars may have been pre-ordered or on backorder and sold to the US importer just after they were produced. Either way, you learn about the production date and color scheme.

[PSB]

nework,N. J. is, opps was the Alfa factory US office were all the cars papers come through. in the yearly 70s I ordered my Alfa for pick up in Italy and drove it in Greece all summer, then thay shipped to to Calif for me were I live. it was done through the Dealer and Nework N. J.
I know about N.J. Because my car took months to get here. I had been working with the Factory Office in Nework. 1 st my car was stolen from alfa store in Greece. Then it was found . Then shipped to me, But when I picked it up the car was not the same one I left in Greece at the dealer, But the Vin# was. I know because the vin#s last 3 #s were 233 as on my 73 FLH H.Davidson, and my Home address 233. wow I still have all 3 today. anyway My car did not have the dent on it by the gas filler and the door did not fit nicely. factory rep said its customer exceptible. Exuze this(Fu-k them) 2nd gear was all used up . My car was beet. I latter found out from the factory records that my car was wrecked on the shipping boat. and in Greece it was stolen by an Alfa employe and found with a hole in the oil pan, but all was ok, anyway about 2 years there was a rod knock
so I took it all apart with just 28,000 miles and found the fuel pump belt was installed wrong and that there was a bent rod that wore out the rod bearing, so with the big valve and 7L cams I had the rods fixed, well at 78,000 miles same thing rod sounds, I thought it was a loud spica pump for another 1,000 or 2, then apart it came. this time I had to take out the crank. this car must of real been used hard because the lowwerend was so out of wack. anyway because your car came and sold from Nework, does not mean it was realy deleverd from there. it would of come from the dealer network.
anyway thay cost a lot of $ then and the service and Honesty were not to good.

[Farace]

Quote:

Originally posted by geh458 Bob, What about this scenario: Car built July 19, car sold July 20, car shipped from factory sometime after July 20...

[Alex Csank]

The answer to this one is simple. The cars were built and then sold (allocated) to the US distributor on paper, very soon after assembly. The actual arrival date at the dealer could have been several weeks after that. Many folks are surprised by the date thing.

Regarding dates that Alfa stopped producing this and started producing that...don't even try folks!! In North America, we are all too used to the way that Chevy, Ford and Chrysler had specific model years for their cars. They produced each model year of cars beginning in August (usually) for a September arrival at the dealerships, each model year of car had some specific differences, and they would never build more of a given year just because they had some extra parts. Not so with Alfa, Ferrari, Maserati, etc. In Italy, they didn't go by model year at all. They built various cars and equipped the cars with different colors, options, mechanical and cosmetic parts seemingly at whim. Alfa continuously changed suppliers and sub-contractors for many parts and modified problem items right on the production floor whenever the new bit was ready. They often would also end up building some newer style cars and then go back and assemble a few older style models as the parts in their bins (delivered by various suppliers and shops) had to be used up.

Alfa was never very good at making clean transitions between models. Examples are the Giuletta 750 to 101 series changes, the '64 and '65 Giulia Spider Veloce (using mostly 105 parts), the Dunlop to ATE brake change on the 105 cars, the myriad of variants of the early Bertone coupe, the switch from the 105 to the 115 series, etc. I don't think that anyone has been able to track (with anything like precision) the many anomalies in Alfa production. Even D'Amico and Trebuchi had trouble!

Enjoy the mystery of your car! I sure do!

Cheers,

[rcess]

Alex is absolutely on the money. One can go crazy trying to understand why their Alfa is as it is. I own a Giulietta/Giulia transition Spider that drove me nuts trying to understand it. Fusi lists it as a Giulia Spider, while Elvira claims it is a Giulietta. d'Amico and Tabucchi got it partially correct when they noted that the last batch of Giulietta Spiders (chassis numbers 370001 to 371096) had Giulia body shells. But many mysteries persist.

As Alex said, "enjoy the mystery of your car".

Bob (who owns a Giulietta Spider with a hood scoop)

[Jan van Os]

Hi,

First, let’s introduce myself. I am Jan van Os from the Netherlands. I’m the owner of a beautiful Alfa Romeo Spider from 1977/78, which is in the Netherlands since approximately 1992.

I have been looking on the internet in order to try to track down the history of this car. Unfortunately, I haven't been successful so far. I am very excited to know more about the history of my car, an Alfa Romeo Spider 2000, with chassis number AR115410002475. It's by writing Alfa Romeo Italy that I knew my Spider has been manufactured on the 5th of September 1977 and has been sold to Alfa Romeo Inc, from Englewood Cliffs, USA on the 23rd of September 1977.

I would like to know when my car has gotten his first license plate and what the number of this plate was. Also, I would like to know where the car has been and who the owners were. Do you know how to find the answer on these questions? There could be an address or Alfa club that would be able to help me? Any information that can help to track down these information would be extremely appreciated.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Jan van Os
jvanos@hetnet.nl
tel. +31 (0)6 54716167

[dretceterini]

That would be very difficult to do, because you would have to find out what dealer the US distributor sold the car to, and than what private person the dealer sold the car to.

The easiest way to find the history of your car is to work backwards.

[tubut]

Jan,

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to track a car's history. How do I know? I tried to trace the history of two of my cars and I am in the process of finding all existing and previous owners of every 2600 SZ that has been made (105 have been made and 50-60 may still exist).

The DMVs (Department of Motor Vehicles) in the USA won't be able to help you. The computers usually only have transactions covering the last 3-5 years. Anything before that is stored in files. Although DMV information is supposed to be "public records", privacy laws have been enacted that prevent access. I was told by the California DMV that accessing the files is ony possible with a court order and needs to be payed by the hour. I was told that these costs can amount to several thousand dollars, if and only if a judge finds that you are entitled to access, which usually requires a better reason than "it would be nice to know" or potentially financial gain from a complete history.

The only approach that has been successful so far is finding a previous owner and ask him/her when and how they got the car, when and why they sold it and who they sold it to, and if they know the names of previous owners. That way (and with a lot of luck), I was able to trace the history of my 2600 Touring Spider back to 1967, when one of the previous owners bought the car at a dealership in Pasadena, CA. The dealership is no longer in business. The DMV couldn't help. That is where and how the trail of that car ended. With another car, I found that a previous owner is deceased -- so, I will never hear his story.

I have a hunch that anytime a dealer got involved, there will be a gap in the ownership history because rarely ever do they have memories attached to specific cars.

For what it's worth, don't let this discourage you.

Good luck with your search!

Ruedi

[alfa_chan]

Wow There was an Alfa dealer in Pasadena, CA? Anyone knows the exact address? Please?

Jan, do u have any records that came with your car? Like work and maintenance receipts? I found out a great deal of my GTV in the receipts that came with the car, including the original license plate number, where the car spent her life for over 15 years, even the name and profession of the PO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubut 2600 Touring Spider back to 1967, when one of the previous owners bought the car at a dealership in Pasadena, CA.