UPDATE 12/31/11 – This Veloce Spider end up selling for $30,100 with 31 bids. $30,000 is a lot of money, but it’s a bargain for a car that is eligible for the Mille Miglia and the California Grand. We hope the buyer enjoys their new Alfa!
Of all the Alfa Romeo convertibles, the Giulietta Spider is one of our favorites. We especially love the Giulietta Veloce Spider, but the value of these cars has spiked massively in the past year. When we ran across this eBay listing for a 1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce Spider, we felt that rush of adrenaline we get when we run across something special. This car is rough and is going to need lots of work, but it’s being offered without a reserve and the bidding is currently only at $5,500.
This rare Italian was found in a barn in Bethel, Connecticut and it’s hard to say how long it’s been sitting there. The Alfa Romeo Museum has confirmed it as a true Veloce Spider and that the engine is the original. They also confirmed that the car was originally painted red and that it was sold new to Hoffman Motor Car Company. That is all the history the seller has provided, but we are sure that tracking down this car’s lineage down wouldn’t be too difficult.
Being a classic Italian means that these car was susceptible to rust and this car has plenty. Thankfully, it looks like the major rust is in the typical places and could be easily repaired by someone who knows what they are doing. Our biggest concern with this car however, isn’t the rust, but the missing pieces. There were only 2,800 Veloces built and the Veloce specific parts could be a challenge to find. We hope that the hard to find pieces are still with the car, but the seller doesn’t mention if there are any spares.
The original 1300 cc four cylinder is still in the car, but will most likely need to be rebuilt. We hope that sitting all those years in the Connecticut humidity hasn’t caused the engine to seize up. The Veloce featured a special 90 horsepower engine. This isn’t a lot of power, but then again the Giulietta Veloce wasn’t a big car. This car weighed around 1,800 lbs. when it was new, so this hot twin cam engine had no problem pushing this car around the race track and could easily do so again. This car is eligible to be raced in almost any vintage rally, including the California Grand and the famous Mille Miglia in Italy.
This car might be rough, but we think it will be worth every penny to restore it. The current market for a decent driver starts in the $35,000 range and just goes up. We would love to know more about this car’s history, as any racing heritage would only add to the desirability here. We also want to know what else is parked in that barn. We know there is at least one Mustang Fastback and another stable mate under wraps.
Actually, the rust isn’t all that bad. Sure, it needs floors but they’re readily available. This one even has the original engine with the correct Weber DCO3’s, which are usually the most difficult parts to find. Really, there’s not a whole lot missing. Wish I could afford it as it will sell fairly high.
This will be bid up pretty high, I’m thinking
Nice restorable poor man’s Ferrari. Bid at 12.6K already with over 9 days left.
I owned one around 1971 with the dual Weber carbs…..it was very quick. When you made a quick turn in the rain, the water would pour in from under the seats. Big problem for the ‘bell bottom jeans. :)
My first sports car was a 59′ Spider Veloce, that was reported by the second owner to have been owned, originally, by Brock Yates. Never confirmed that. It was an exquisite car, a little jewel of a car.
I spun a main bearing and ruined the block and new one back in 1965 was about $2,200 and it had to come from Italy as none were available in the states.Today a competent welder would weld up that block and it would be rebored. I solved the situation by buying a 62′ Veloce engine.
Always wanted to acquire the beautiful Scaglione designed Sprint Veloce, but they have always eluded me.