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Sprint Speciale

4K views 25 replies 12 participants last post by  alfa soon 
#1 ·
I am looking to buy a Sprint Speciale (not a restoration project though). How can I go about finding one?
 
#6 ·
Tough cars to find right now. I am tryng for a bit over 2 years to find the right car in the US. Most cars are in Europe and most are red. This is probably your best bet if you want one fast (But do all the required dilligence and budget another 10 - 20% of the asking price to make them right).

Good US cars seem to have completely dried up. I tried all the sources above and put several ads in the AROC magazine with no real results (Maybe one, but I will not tell you :)). A good way in my opinion is to know the excellent SS's you want and stay really close to the owners ... and wait and make sure the check book is ready once they decide to sell (This seems to work for another rare Alfa that I am working on really hard right now ...)

Keep looking. It can take while but it will be fun,

Mike
 
#7 · (Edited)
The hunt for Red October



Mike,
Historically, my experience with SS cars buyers is that most tend to be bargain shoppers. As an SS owner, I get "interested" parties wanting to buy my car. Ambiguous approaches by potential car buyers’ leads to pricing games thus resulting in any interest for a deal to go cold in a hurry. There are no bargains when it comes to SS’s out there, and you or any interested party must be upfront and stating your requirements for the correct car and the price range you are willing to pay. Simply stating, wanting a nice SS is not going to get you no where. Too many tire kickers out there just fishing for a bargain from an unsuspected owner, so they hope. For that reason I do not respond to any kind of advertisements such as looking for a nice car simply because 99.9% ends up duds. I am not saying you are, I am just stating that you must separate the real buyer from the dud. You would be surprised at what you find. The market is not as dry as you or anyone else might think, these cars just don’t disappear from the face of the earth every time they exchange hands. Good luck with your seach.

Lionel
 
#9 ·
Good points Lionel. I try to make it very clear in my ads what I want since I am looking for a very specific car (A Giulia SS in number 2+ or better condition, needs nothing, non red and non white, correct engine, interior, etc.).

I also make it somewhat clear in my ad that I am looking for a car for myself and not to flip or speculate. I am aware with SS prices and more than happy to pay a premium for the right car. As a matter of fact, for all the cars I own for years, I paid way over market at the time of purchase. Scary when you do it, very satisfactory when it turns out the car is excellent and you wait half a year or year :)

I can see the frustrations of dealing with tire kickers, I had a lot of those when I sold my Abarth double bubble. However, it comes with it when you want sell a car. On the other hand, on my ads, I also got offered a ton of bullsh*t cars, sometimes equally agravating but you can always refuse politely.

Now, I know the SoCal owners of absolutely great Sprint Speciales and see them regularly in Club and local events. To me, this is the best way to buy a car: Know the car and the careing owner for years.

Mike
 
#12 · (Edited)
Mike,

That is the absolute truth. The best sales, regardless of price comes from people we know. For the most part that seems to be a greates level of comfort between buyers and sellers. I knew of the owner of my current SS for nearly twenty years before it ended up in my garage. I bought the one owner SS along with a Giulia TI six years ago for the sum of $2,500.00. Sold the TI less engine and transmission for about $700 and kept the SS. It is not often that one find such a car for $1,800.00; on Photo: 65 Giulia Spider Veloce, SS, 59 Spider Veloce and 67 European GTV

Regards,

Lionel
 

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#13 ·
Re the Smith car, as long as we're nitpicking:
- missing air cleaner (where is that hose being fed from?)
- missing teardrop side marker lights
- missing center hood trim
- rear view mirror and hood release from a spider
- cam cover from a 105/115
- seat and door panel upholstery not original
- knockoffs don't look authentic... anyone know?
IMO overall not too bad, nothing major that can't be corrected by some diligent searching.
 
#16 ·
All the cars for sale "kinda" look nice but have lots of signs of needs. For some that might not be much, for some it might be a lot. There is always a handful of the cars on the market in that condition.

If you are interested in one of those, especially if it comes from Europe, make sure you really check out the car well.
 
#18 ·
My 62 Giulietta SS has been in the shop since 1/19/07 doing metal work. The guy takes his sweet time, and frankly time is not a factor for either of us. In fact I'm happy that he works on my car only when he's feeling artistic/enthusiastic. He's about 70% done, having finished the hard part two Fridays ago (the sills, inner and outer, and one lower door). Reason I mention it: He gets so many inquiries, some from guys who actually know what the car is, we're resorting to a flyer to save time on our (mostly his) part. Oh, and sorry, it is going back to Alfa red.
 
#24 ·
If you think the nice ones are expensive now, wait one or two more years....
Couldn't agree more. Though the Japanese one better be perfect for $84k asking price (If my currency converter is correct ...).

I have to intensify my search: All owners with stellar non-red/ non-white Giulia SSes, PLEASE contact me :)
 
#26 ·
It is odd that there are a lot of B/B+ condition SS's around but few better or worse.

I have been looking/waiting for the right 'fixer' SS to enter my life for a few years now. I wish I had bought either the primer black plate one that Kenny was selling in southern California last year or the sun baked one that fantasy junction sold that came out of Modesto.

All the effort I've put into GTV's, Berlinas, Fiat's etc could have turned either of the above cars into a respectable driver. Oh well...:(

Ideally I want as late a car as possible. I've got my money saved and when the right car shows up I'll be ready.
 
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