See duetto.pics, 1969 Alfa 1750 Spider for details. It's a web site I created to upload the photos and story. Yes, I know a 69 1750 Spider is not a Duetto, but the domain name was available.
I have no idea what the fair market value for the car is, but if I got US$40,000 I would sell it. I will consider all offers but please no bottom feeders looking for a steal. I've owned it since 1990. It's been under wraps in my garage since 2000 and I'm selling it only because it's not a priority in my life. I'll wait for the right buyer, but am not unrealistic once I've gauged the market.
I have proof of US registration (Rhode Island) and the expired vanity plate (Spyder) is still on it, so it should repatriate to the US without customs duty. I exported it to NZ as personal effects in 1997. It has 78,500 miles on it, and I have detailed records of all four previous owners - including the first (who is still alive at age 83) and the second, Carl & Faye Bolivar, renowned in Alfa circles who did a complete restoration in 1981.
The ideal US buyer will take advantage of the exchange rate and high restoration skill in NZ. First send it to Tony Morgan in Auckland to have all mechanicals set up properly. Then to Auto Restorations in Christchurch (NZ $118/hr about US$76/hr) where they are qualified to do 95 point concours or 69 point daily driver, as your budget and intended use dictates. If they export the car once completed, no sales tax (called GST 15%) is charged. I can assist, but am reluctant to do it on my dime in hopes of a return, since I have decided it has no place in my garage (I own five registered cars for two drivers) and investing in cars before we get the gutters fixed on our house would not go down well with my better half.
The car itself is completely original except that when Wes Ingram rebuilt the Spica, he supplied 1/4 race cams. And at the time I did the last refurbishment the rubber floor mats were not available so I bought custom carpets (original reproductions are now available). When it arrived in NZ, I began preparing for the draconian initial inspection, called VIN to get license plates, where they want to see the car looking the same as it came out of the factory. This entailed removing the floor and replacing it with Alan Bowden floor pressings that have all the right contours. At the same time, the shop replaced steel in the rocker panels and lower fenders, that unfortunately meant lower sections of the high-quality paint job done two years prior is now in primer. See photos
The windshield needs to be reinstalled (I guess they removed it to prevent breakage while working on the floor), the brakes need to be made operative and the engine has not been started in 25 years, but it ran fine when we unloaded it from the container at the bonded warehouse in 1997 before taking it for the new floor. The only dings on the body came from negligence while at the body shop, and a wrinkle on the trunk near the hinge where it looks like an ape working at the body shop tried to close the trunk with a tool left in the way. The shop did a brilliant job with the hard "panel beating" work as the call it in NZ, but then as a business seemed to have become overwhelmed and was taking forever to put everything back. Finally, in 2000 I gave up, towed the car home to my workshop and slowly began to put everything back together, a project not yet completed 23 years later.
Three choices on the body:
When I exported it, I bought new seat upholstery but have not put it on. Ditto new convertible roof. The tires are "new" but 26 years old. While they don't have any age cracks, I would replace them before driving over 15 mph. The big question in terms of condition is the effect of not running since 1997. A couple years ago, I found the brake fluid had turned to jelly so I replaced the lines and bought rebuilt calipers from Rock Auto, with the master cylinder rebuilt locally. But even with a vacuum bleeder, I could not get the brakes to bleed, summer ended, so I turned to other projects like building my wife an artist studio. The one problem with living in NZ is a one-day job takes six weeks as soon as one needs a part - and was worse during COVID when shipping became chaos.
I've owned a lot of cars in my life - by last count I remember 72 of them, but this 69 Alfa is the longest... 33 years, and I will be sad to see it go. But my wife has demanded I do "death cleaning" which means getting rid of everything that I love but am not using while alive and well instead of leaving for the executor to deal with. I make a practice of selling cars as if I was buying them - disclosing all the problems I know about so there are no surprises. My reputation is more valuable to me than my cars.
So if you are interested, get in touch. I have a US telephone number (510) 629-3000 (call after noon US time) as well as WhatsApp.
Looking on line, shipping NZ to US is about NZ$3,250 (US$2,100) with choices including roll on/roll off and specialist companies that pack multiple vehicles in containers and takes about 30 days. If you want to test drive their work, the restoration shop may have a dealer plate to at least do a shakedown test run... South Island is like driving in the US or EU before freeways. Amazing landscape, roads go around hills, not blasted through, a continent of climates in a day including mountain passes. Or you can go whole hog like an LA friend who had his car restored, run through VIN, registered in NZ, garaged in NZ and he comes down in our summer for classic car holidays.
I have no idea what the fair market value for the car is, but if I got US$40,000 I would sell it. I will consider all offers but please no bottom feeders looking for a steal. I've owned it since 1990. It's been under wraps in my garage since 2000 and I'm selling it only because it's not a priority in my life. I'll wait for the right buyer, but am not unrealistic once I've gauged the market.
I have proof of US registration (Rhode Island) and the expired vanity plate (Spyder) is still on it, so it should repatriate to the US without customs duty. I exported it to NZ as personal effects in 1997. It has 78,500 miles on it, and I have detailed records of all four previous owners - including the first (who is still alive at age 83) and the second, Carl & Faye Bolivar, renowned in Alfa circles who did a complete restoration in 1981.
The ideal US buyer will take advantage of the exchange rate and high restoration skill in NZ. First send it to Tony Morgan in Auckland to have all mechanicals set up properly. Then to Auto Restorations in Christchurch (NZ $118/hr about US$76/hr) where they are qualified to do 95 point concours or 69 point daily driver, as your budget and intended use dictates. If they export the car once completed, no sales tax (called GST 15%) is charged. I can assist, but am reluctant to do it on my dime in hopes of a return, since I have decided it has no place in my garage (I own five registered cars for two drivers) and investing in cars before we get the gutters fixed on our house would not go down well with my better half.
The car itself is completely original except that when Wes Ingram rebuilt the Spica, he supplied 1/4 race cams. And at the time I did the last refurbishment the rubber floor mats were not available so I bought custom carpets (original reproductions are now available). When it arrived in NZ, I began preparing for the draconian initial inspection, called VIN to get license plates, where they want to see the car looking the same as it came out of the factory. This entailed removing the floor and replacing it with Alan Bowden floor pressings that have all the right contours. At the same time, the shop replaced steel in the rocker panels and lower fenders, that unfortunately meant lower sections of the high-quality paint job done two years prior is now in primer. See photos
The windshield needs to be reinstalled (I guess they removed it to prevent breakage while working on the floor), the brakes need to be made operative and the engine has not been started in 25 years, but it ran fine when we unloaded it from the container at the bonded warehouse in 1997 before taking it for the new floor. The only dings on the body came from negligence while at the body shop, and a wrinkle on the trunk near the hinge where it looks like an ape working at the body shop tried to close the trunk with a tool left in the way. The shop did a brilliant job with the hard "panel beating" work as the call it in NZ, but then as a business seemed to have become overwhelmed and was taking forever to put everything back. Finally, in 2000 I gave up, towed the car home to my workshop and slowly began to put everything back together, a project not yet completed 23 years later.
Three choices on the body:
- Have a local NZ painter prep and paint the lower part and fix the dings and blemishes. Minor work, maybe a few thousand dollars.
- Have Auto Restorations do a 69 point redo of the paint and detail the rest. Real money, but not unreasonable.
- Have Auto Restorations do a 95 point concours restoration - remove power train, axles, etc., perfection on every part. For the rich and obsessive only.
When I exported it, I bought new seat upholstery but have not put it on. Ditto new convertible roof. The tires are "new" but 26 years old. While they don't have any age cracks, I would replace them before driving over 15 mph. The big question in terms of condition is the effect of not running since 1997. A couple years ago, I found the brake fluid had turned to jelly so I replaced the lines and bought rebuilt calipers from Rock Auto, with the master cylinder rebuilt locally. But even with a vacuum bleeder, I could not get the brakes to bleed, summer ended, so I turned to other projects like building my wife an artist studio. The one problem with living in NZ is a one-day job takes six weeks as soon as one needs a part - and was worse during COVID when shipping became chaos.
I've owned a lot of cars in my life - by last count I remember 72 of them, but this 69 Alfa is the longest... 33 years, and I will be sad to see it go. But my wife has demanded I do "death cleaning" which means getting rid of everything that I love but am not using while alive and well instead of leaving for the executor to deal with. I make a practice of selling cars as if I was buying them - disclosing all the problems I know about so there are no surprises. My reputation is more valuable to me than my cars.
So if you are interested, get in touch. I have a US telephone number (510) 629-3000 (call after noon US time) as well as WhatsApp.
Looking on line, shipping NZ to US is about NZ$3,250 (US$2,100) with choices including roll on/roll off and specialist companies that pack multiple vehicles in containers and takes about 30 days. If you want to test drive their work, the restoration shop may have a dealer plate to at least do a shakedown test run... South Island is like driving in the US or EU before freeways. Amazing landscape, roads go around hills, not blasted through, a continent of climates in a day including mountain passes. Or you can go whole hog like an LA friend who had his car restored, run through VIN, registered in NZ, garaged in NZ and he comes down in our summer for classic car holidays.
