[skimeister]

I bought this car this summer with intentions of making it a daily driver. She runs great, but I decided to get a more "ordinary" Saab for commuting and make this Alfetta my pet project. Unfortunatelly, I simply do not have time or empty garage to dedicate to this wonderful car, and with winter approaching I need to find her a good, loving home.

This car had one previous owner before me who loved and cared for her deeply. She was never driven in the winter and, of course, regularly serviced.

Details:
1975 Alfa Romeo Alfetta (Production Year 1976)
94,000 miles
5 Speed manual
Runs Very Well
Interior is in pristine condition.
Glass is good all around
New Tires
Wheels in great shape.
No dents
All electrical components work (interior and exterior).

Known Issues:
Paint is faded and chipped in places.
Floor panel on the passenger side has rust holes that will need to be fixed
Fuel gauge does not work.

I have a collection of detailed photos posted here (see video for engine bay):

http://picasaweb.google.com/yuri.pershin/Alfa?authkey=mzkb0xGoVqk

As well as a video here:

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EaJwXkzi2hQ"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EaJwXkzi2hQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>


I am asking $2000, as I figured I could get that much if I were to part her out, but any reasonable offer will be considered. The car is in Toronto area (Mississauga).

I would gladly answer any questions.

 

[Bill S]

I'm just a virtual tire-kicker on this post but it looks like a nice car for the money. Non-running Alfettas still seem to be mostly freebies but a driver with such a nice interior and relatively minor issues should be worth what you're asking. Good luck to you and to its future owner.

Bill

 

[GVVGTV6]

Wow, that sedan really looks like it is all there - nice on the inside especially - Does the registration say 1975 or 1976? ... never mind saw the photo gallery with the plate

GV

 

[sfalfa]

Please fully disclose this car's condition - it's the right thing to do...

 

[AR4me]

Please fully disclose this car's condition - it's the right thing to do...

What does that mean?
Jes

 

[sfalfa]

What does that mean?
Jes

PM sent...

 

[Alex Csank]

Is there more to this car than meets the eye?

 

[81gtv6]

The plot thickens!!!

Overall nice car, perhaps after the drama gets played out i may or may not take a gander at her.

 

[GVVGTV6]

If I was closer to that end of the country I'd check it out as it would get under the 1976 smog rule in CA ... but from a few of the detailed photos it looks like it could have some serious rust under the paint besides what is mentioned about the holes in the floorboards - hard to tell from just photos.

GV

 

[rogerspeed]

If I was closer to that end of the country I'd check it out as it would get under the 1976 smog rule in CA ... but from a few of the detailed photos it looks like it could have some serious rust under the paint besides what is mentioned about the holes in the floorboards - hard to tell from just photos.

GV

I may be mistaken, but isn't 75 the cutoff year? 76 and above gets smogged here in CA and unfortunately this car was built in 76.

 

[GVVGTV6]

Not sure, if you look at the reg. plate that is in his photobucket it reads 1975, which would be good to go (and highly modify) Not sure but I think the decider may be what the registration papers actually say.

GV

 

[randyleepublic]

This is a tough call. If the car was already in the US with registration from another state that said 1975, then I am 98% certain that Cali DMV would not query beyond the other state's registration, and thus it would be registered as a smog free '75. After all 1975 Alfetta Berlinas were sold here so the DMV should not be shocked by the car's existance.

However, since this car is in Canada, in the process of clearing US customs the build date might well surface and mess up the program. From my research, when one brings a freshly imported car to the Cali DMV, the first thing they want to see is the Customs Paperwork. Could be bad news then. To successfully register this car in Cali as a 75 would probably require registering it in some intermediate state where they are more old-car friendly and would just go by the Canadian reg.

Still, this car looks to be worth buying just for the interior. Jeff, how does your sedan's interior compare with this one? I didn't get to really check it out at the tour, darn it. (Too embarrassed by the contrast between your car and my beater Sport Sedan. )

Regards,

 

[gt601]

So what are the issues with the car? It sounds like she's running on three cylinders. I would keep it if it's as good shape as you say it's in. You wont find these cars in a few years. I've been using mine as a daily driver until I get the 164S put back together. It's a hoot to drive.

Paul

 

[skimeister]

PM sent...

sfalfa,

Well, thanks for making this sound like a scam.... If you ask anyone who sent me a PM I fully disclose the car's condition. Yes, the cross-member issue. However since I last updated you by e-mail (2 months ago) I had the car checked out by a number other body experts (as you suggested) who said the issue is rectifiable and and it just needs re-enforcement, again something I fully disclose to whoever sent me a PM about the car. By no means I'm trying to hide anything by not listing it on the original post!...Some things are just better explained when someone shows interest in the car and sends me a PM. In fact I was just planning to update the photos by posting detailed pictures of the sub-frame on the ramp today.

Perhaps a PM to me would have been a bit more tactful way of pointing this out to me before making this post look like a shady deal....I'm not one of those people. Well the damage's done.

Thanks to whoever is interested in the car, I will gladly offer a test drive and whatever detailed info you may need.

Regarding the year of the car, I am just as confused as anyone. The ONTARIO registration says it's a '76, the metal is stamped 1975. So my guess is that the car was manufactured in 1975 but it's a 1976 model year?
the VIN is 116330001600, so if anyone has knowledge of Alfa VINs, please look it up and give more insight.

I've got a wedding to go to today so updated photos of the undercarriage are coming later today or tommorow.

Cheers.

 

[Alex Csank]

Skimeister,

Thanks for the explanation. I don't think any real damage has been done, but this probably could have been handled a bit differently. Perhaps you could explain the crossmember issue here in the thread to put the issue to rest. I would certainly consider your car, but have too many other projects right now.

 

[Guest]

The information about the cross-member should have been listed in the first post under "known issues" - simple as that. There is no legitimate excuse for not listing it. Could the "matter" have been handled differently? I'm sure there were many ways to handle it from "Sfalfa's" position but the bottom line is that he was doing the community a service by asking for full disclosure. I'm sure he was taken aback by its lack of inclusion in the original post. I know I would have been.

I do have strong feelings about this issue. I've lost money to unscrupulous sellers, who failed to honestly disclose the "known issues" - I'm a trusting person, probably too trusting, but I give people the benefit of the doubt, still.

Instead of berating or blaming "Sfalfa" for making the ad seem "like a scam" you should have thanked him for bringing the issue up (regardless of his method, because the bottom line is - you failed to) and then dealt with it.

Good luck with your sale.

David B.
1986 GTV-6 (Black-62k)
1986 Spider Veloce (Black-53k)

 

[81gtv6]

The information about the cross-member should have been listed in the first post under "known issues" - simple as that. There is no legitimate excuse for not listing it.

Ditto.
Unless its titled "Some of the known issues", then its cool to leave a failing cross member (or whatever it is) out and have the buyer find it on the way home.

Anything else the potential buyers should know about the car?
Whats with the really lumpy idle?
Bogs down under load at low RPM?
Exhuast leak? Or is it clanking on something?
How is the driveline donuts, any vibrations?
Just the rust on the bottom of the floors?
How its it around the glass seals? Bottom of the windshield?
Body filler on the nose/bottom of the windshield trim?
Missing any window trim?
Busted bumpers?
Lights work?
Whats it gonna need to pass a basic safety inspection?
Spica included for the people who need to smog it?
No engine pictures?
What kind of carbs?
Burn any oil?
Originally a '76 canadien model car?
Details man details!!!!!

 

[randyleepublic]

Oh Crap! A '75 but registered as a '76. I thought it was the other way around That takes the wind out of the sails for anybody out far west. Stupid laws!!!

 

[skimeister]

Allright let me see if I can rectify this.
SfAlfa is right I should have listed the cross member issue in my original post. I just never sold a car on a forum before and didn't want to turn too many people away from contacting me for full details about the car. The close community of Alfa fans and knowledge of this forum is exactly why I listed the car only here and not in Auto-Trader, I want to sell it to someone who knows their stuff and by no means was it my intention to sell a car without full disclosure.

Ok to adress some of the common questions:

Cross Member issue: Cross member is rusted where it attaches to the frame. The body shop told me the member itself can be re-inforced or a new one can be manufactured. I was quoted about $1500-2500 for the job. Now what they couldn't tell me is that once cross-member is off how strong is the frame where it attaches. It too could need work, but you just don't know until you take the cross member off.

Anything else the potential buyers should know about the car?
No, not that I know of. But I'm sure that like with any 30 year old car, once you start digging, you'll find some things that need replacing or fixing. From what I know about Alfas (very little) those are the only issues.
Also as one of the pictures is pointing out the weather strip on the passenger side window is missing.

Whats with the really lumpy idle?
When I shot the video and drove the car, I forgot that the choke was fully pulled out, so it could be idling roughly because of that. Once the choke is in, the idle smooths out. Also the video is of the car running for the first time in 2 months so it could just be warming up. When I originally bought the car, and drove it home, it ran like a dream. Since then it's just been sitting in the garage so I don't think anything went wrong with the engine during that time.

Bogs down under load at low RPM?
I'm going to check for that tonight, but could be just me rolling in the 2nd gear.

Exhuast leak? Or is it clanking on something?
I'm sorry I really don't know. I haven't noticed this.

How is the driveline donuts, any vibrations?
No vibrations. I really just learned about these donuts recently so I'll have to check. Could I take a picture of them?

Just the rust on the bottom of the floors?
The most of it. there's some at the bottom of the driver's fender.

How its it around the glass seals? Bottom of the windshield?
Body filler on the nose/bottom of the windshield trim?
Good question. I noticed some bubbling at the center bottom of the windshield. Could be rust could be just paint chipping away. I'll have to post a photo tonight.

Busted bumpers?
Rear one has droopy trim. Front one looks OK.

Lights work?
yep.

Whats it gonna need to pass a basic safety inspection?
Depends where you take it, but I'm guessing that cross-member could be a safety issue. Aside from that, lights, wipers, seat-belts, horn it all works.
Haven't checked the brakes so I cannot comment on their state. But they feel nice and tight and no squeeking.

Spica included for the people who need to smog it?
What's a Spica and how can I check?

No engine pictures?
What kind of carbs?
Coming tonight.

Burn any oil?
Haven't driven it enough to know.

Originally a '76 canadien model car?
How can I check? The speedo is in miles, but 75 is before Canada went metric I believe.

Details man details!!!!!
I'm sorry I'm just learning as I go here. I am by no means an Alfa expert and sorry if I don't know the answers to more specific questions. I will do my best to accommodate but the month I bought this car, I started grad-school and work full-time so I really did not have time to do research and inspection that this car deserves.

I will post more photos tonight and hopefully they will clear-up some questions.

As for the price, it is fully negotiable. I am going to throw myself out there and will take the best offer.

 

[randyleepublic]

You are doing fine.

Hi Skimeister,

Welcome to the wonderful world of Alfa ownership. Sorry everyone has been so demanding, but I think that the disconnect is that normally only really hard-core Alfisti own Alfettas. New folks own Spiders, yes - Alfettas, no! So everyone's expectations are off kilter when a new person has an Alfetta. Makes us think bad things when the real explanation is simple lack of knowledge.

Anyway, just so that you understand what all the fuss about the year is: in California, (where the majority of US Alfisti live, [duck!]), anyway, in California they have frozen the smog check exemption at 1975. Thus a 1975 Alftetta has a significant valuation over the rest of the years, since one avoids the smog check PITA. Of course all that only applies so long as the California DMV agrees with the owner that the car in question is in fact a 1975 model.

Unfortunately your car would probably register as a '76 since that is what the current Canadian registration says it is. There is a slim chance that one could convince US Customs that it is a '75, throw the Canadian Reg. in the trash, and then use the Customs paperwork to "sell" the DMV on the idea that the car is a '75, but it is very iffy. I can tell you that if you were to go to the trouble of bringing the car to Califonia and successfully registered it as a '75, the value would increase significantly. (Read: you might actually be able to sell it for something.) (Sorry, but that is pretty much the case - as is it is not much more than a parts car - see below.) (Although some pretty valuable parts, I think. The interior looks better than most.)

Hope that helps.

As for the "paint chips" by the windshield, that is def. rust. Alfettas are famous for rusting there. From the looks of things somebody did a quick and dirty paint job, and now the cancer has returned. Not the end of the world, but not a real happy sit. either.

Best of luck to you - these cars are fantastic works of engineering and deserve to be preserved. Unfortunately, they are mostly not preserved for a number of reasons that you are now becoming familiar with. If the car was in England where they eat rust for breakfast it would sell. Your best hope is that you get really lucky and find an East Coast Alfisti who has to have the car.

Oh yeah, "Spica" is the mechanical fuel injection pump that these cars had when new. if you have a piece of equipment about the size of a toaster with a toothed belt sprocket at one end that is probably the pump.

Regards,