1958 Alfa Giulietta Spider Veloce Questions

[P71_CrownVic]

First off I want to say Hi to everybody, finally I have found an Alfa forum with more than three members.

My grandparents have a 1958 Alfa that they want to sell. It does not run that great and I want to get it running well before they sell it. I would like to change the oil, do some ignition work and get it running as best I can. My grandpa kept the orginial owners manuel and service manuel for that car which will come in handy. However there is one issue, where does one find parts for these cars? You cannot go to Bumper, or AutoZone as most of the people there have never heard of Alfa Romeo ( ). While looking through the vast amount of extra parts my grandpa has (brand new crankshaft, headers, weber parts, etc), I did find some things that may be useful, but I would rather go new for my own sake. I live in Minnesota in near the Twin Cities (if that makes any difference). Any Ideas??

[Shaun C]

Hi

Without trying to offend you, are you aware of what your grandparents actually have there? Would you actually be interested in keeping the car yourself? Check out www.giulietta.com.

And if the car has the original motor, what a find!!!

[tubut]

I agree with Shaun that what you need to do is become a subcriber of the Giulietta register. They are very selective with respect to who they allow to become a registered user (i.e. you have to OWN one of these cars) but they are also very helpful in finding information if you don't.

There are many sources of parts for these cars (both mechanical and body). Most of them are in Europe. However, depending on the state the car, you may not want to replace parts and preserve as much as you can of what is original. The trend among collectors seems to be that the patina of a well preserved original is worth more than a restored car with a lot of bling.

[P71_CrownVic]

I do realize what they have, at least to a point. I would love to keep it (as would my mom), but we have no room or time for it. Its the awful truth. Thanks a million for the link though.

[Shaun C]

My pleasure.

Only 1250 Spider Veloces ever built (750 series). But you are correct - there's often never time/space/money when "opportunities" like this arise. I look back at some of the cars my dad had in his youth, and it's not like they were extremely special or anything, but I would've given anything if my dad had stuck them away in a garage somewhere - well I hope you enjoy getting it back on the road. And hopefully change your mind and keep it then

Well at least now you'll get a better feel for the value of these cars. And if it's quite original and the shell is good, you may even get interested buyers from overseas.

Good luck.

[sprintgtc]

The best group for repair information is the 750-101 group on yahoo. It is an incredibly knowledgeable group from around the world. Unfortunately, the Yahoo format is not nearly as good as the Alfabb for searching old posts.


It is easy to sign up:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/alfaromeo750-101/

The Giulietta Register is wonderful, but if you are not going to keep the car, it may not be worth the effort.

[italcarguy]

Don't sell it. Sounds like you got a nice one. I'd make room for a car like this. In the future you won't have the car and you won't have the money you got for it. Throw it in a garage and restore it when you have the money. It'd be a great way to remember your grandparents....

[genericwood]

I will second the recommendation of the 750/101 list on Yahoo Groups. Last time I checked, we were around 600? owners of Giuliettas and 101 Giulias from around the world. In addition to the help getting it going, you may also find a buyer there. Where are you around the Twin Cities? I am there on business VERY frequently. I might be able to help you out. If you can, I would also recommend finding a way to keep it. I still regret that we let my Dad's '58 Sprint Veloce get away before he passed.

Erik Wood
'56 Giulietta Spider
'74 GTV
'69 GTV Race Car

Quote:

Originally Posted by sprintgtc The best group for repair information is the 750-101 group on yahoo. It is an incredibly knowledgeable group from around the world. Unfortunately, the Yahoo format is not nearly as good as the Alfabb for searching old posts. It is easy to sign up: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/alfaromeo750-101/ The Giulietta Register is wonderful, but if you are not going to keep the car, it may not be worth the effort.

[pfandek]

I think that you should keep it if you are going to restore it. Other wise sell it to someone who will love it. I would like to buy it, but I fear that the cost of restoring it is out of my price range. Best of luck
Italian Car Girl

[P71_CrownVic]

I am actually just south of the twin cities in a city called Cottage Grove. The car however is located in Lake Elmo Minnesota, just east of the twin cities. It is like the car is not restored, as my grandfather did a body off restoration in the early 70's. As I like to put it, it is a car that the majority of the work has been done, it just needs some work to get it looking and running in tip top shape. The engine bogs, like it has no compression, then it will take off and sound awsome, the brake lights do not work, it needs all new syncros, the seal where the drive shaft attaches to the back of the tranny leaks, and the chrome either needs to be re-chromed (engine for sure) or polished and it could use a paint job. Not that the paint is faded, it just has gathered chips here and there from years of use (after my grandpa was done restoring it, he joined the Chicago Alfa Club and they would make runs to Road America in southern Wisconsin where he would race it).

[P.Webb]

We (CAROC) still run that Road America event every year. If you get the car sorted out before October 8-9, feel free to join us. See www.caroc.com for more info.

-Peter

[Twin cam]

Hi

Just a few quick comments about the Giulietta Register. You do not need a Giulietta or Giulia to be a member, you just have to like the cars!

If you decide to sell, I suggest you put an advert on through The Giulietta Register on www.giulietta.com. It's free of charge to private sellers whether you are a member of the Regsiter or not. The adverts go on the website and get published in the quarterly club magazine - The Giuliettaletta. This is a service to all Giulietta fans. How do I know? I edit the magazine! You know that you are putting your car in front the right audience who are all crazy about the cars.

I hope it finds a really good home. Good luck!

Paul

[chasking]

If you are going to sell it, I think you should consider selling it as-is. Given what it is, I don't think you will significantly increase your chances of selling it or the price you get for it (after you factor in your own costs and time) by doing a bunch of work on it, and you risk breaking something.

Your best target customer is someone who knows about Alfas who is looking for a good solid restoration candidate, and they are going to take it away on a trailer even if it runs. You shouldn't be trying to sell this to causal tire-kickers who will be put off by a rough-running or non-running car.

If I was buying it (oh, had I but garage space and time enough!) I would rather have it as-is and fix it myself so I knew what had been done, than get it after a non-Alfisti (it doesn't sound like you are an Alfa owner yourself) had worked on it. I do not mean to denigrate your mechanical skills, but even if you do everything exactly right, from a buyer's perspective there's still a mystery there.

I can't believe nobody has said it yet: do you have any pictures?

[P71_CrownVic]

Yes actually I have a lot of pictures. I tried setting up a "car domain" page but car domain does not even have Alfa as a make ( ). I would post them but the pics are too big (150K is the limit and my pics are 1MB) and I really do not have the time to mess with the pictures to make them smaller. I will try to post one I took in my sig.

never mind, car domain does have Alfa. I will build the page and then post the link ( )

[P71_CrownVic]

Heres the link...Enjoy!

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2049490