Truthfully, I have nothing against tasteful modifications...unfortunately, there is no clear definition of tasteful. The bumper thing? I believe that the Roundtail bumperettes are terribly useless, but they do look great. Because they llook good and because the 66-69 Spiders are very rare, I think it's a shame that someone would modify those. Having said that, modifying the 75-82 cars with pre-75 or other better bumpers is OK with me. The engine and trans? Now, here is where I draw a BIG line! If one were to modify a powertrain (as in swapping a small-block Chevy into a '32 Ford), it is tasteful if it is a significant upgrade or if it is done using a very 'cool' engine. An example or two would be a series 3 Alfa Spider with a 3L V6 from a 164Q, or maybe a '74 GTV with a Ford 4.6L HO engine. As far as the transmission goes, I don't think an automatic swap into an older sportscar is EVER appropriate! Keep the auto for American Iron. This car is not at all tasteful!
But, more importantly...the ad is very misleading and isn't appropriate. This car should be listed as a highly-modified custom Alfa or something like that.
Frankly, I believe it is ugly, ugly, ugly and every time I look at what someone did to ruin this great little car, it makes me a little sick.