Two famous Italian car makers names together for one vehicle. You might be asking yourself when Fiat and Alfa come together to build a car. These two car makers were close competitors for most of the last century, including the period when this car was built, so the likelihood that they would have collaborated on making a stylish sports coupe was absolutely zero. But that didn’t stop some creative car guys from doing what those car makers would not, and the result is the car you see for sale here. It looks good but has some significant needs. If getting your hands dirty doesn’t bother you or if you’re just curious to see what has been done to this beautiful machine, find it here on eBay with less than two days left to run.
The car started out as a Fiat Ghia 1500GT but somewhere along the line it lost its original drivetrain. For those of you who aren’t bothered by something less than complete originality, or who maybe just want more power, there’s good news. There is now a modern, rebuilt Alfa Romeo 2 liter engine and 5-speed transmission installed. The bad news is that the installation isn’t complete and the car will need some significant work before it will be able to run under its own power.
The body looks good and is now painted in a deep blue color, which might be preferred by some buyers to the common resale red that many of these cars wear. There are lots of detailed photos that show a solid underside and an interior that is partly redone. The car will need some fabrication to be completed but the seller’s description seems honest and is detailed about what will need to be done. That curvy Ghia designed body looks attractive but would you be willing to run that non-original drivetrain? Or would the extra power of the built Alfa engine make it all worthwhile?
The last one of these I saw for $10,000 was not in nearly this good of shape. Looks like an excellent deal.
since it is going to take a lot of work/money either way i think the thing to do is return it to stock. sell the none stock and alfa parts. great find
Bring-a-Trailer covered this when it was up for $15k 1st opening bid about 6 weeks ago. There are some good notes on it there. Cliff notes version is: there is a lot of work to make this back to stock. Interior is pretty far from stock, and the engine/trans, all requires quite a few bits that are hard to track down to make it whole and original. Parts and parts cars are hard to source. BUT, if you have a mind to fabricate…it is a beautiful design, roughly 240Z in size with much greater presence in person. I have soccer-moms in mini-vans with kids asking about mine when I take it out.
Ive never seen one of these.I really dont like Fiats very much….so if I owned this ,I would continue down its blasphimus path and then drive it like it was stolen.It just looks like fun and in 2 or 3 weeks could be up and running,block out the originality thing,and make the best of a very good looking car that hauls *ss and is already personalized
Well, I’ll comment on this car because I was interested in it both as a listing on Barn Finds and as a vehicle I would want to own.
Agree with Jim & Pete, this would take a lot of time, effort and especially money to return to original. Fiat made fewer than 1000 of these, with only 36 imported into No America, so it’s likely that scarce items like unique trim pieces might not be found at any price and would need to be remade. Back then trim parts on small production Italian sportscars were often made by hand. Then there is the difficulty sourcing a correct drivetrain. And when and if you get one it will be producing only about 80 horsepower.
Normally I dislike when vintage cars like this are modified, but the car is what it is now. I’m definitely with DT. I would keep the Alfa engine / transmission and complete the car as intended. It can always be put back to original down the road if anyone wants to tackle that job, but that would not be me. The body design is terrific, and the 2 liter Alfa engine should make the car perform as well as it looks. It’s a car you can drive almost anywhere and enjoy without the concern you’d have with a seriously expensive car.
+1 each for DT and Dolphin.
It looks as though most of the hard work has been done on the path towards the “improved” hybrid. Therefore it makes sense to me to continue in that direction until completed. Yes. (ahem…) YES
I must say that I am taken with the shape of the car, and find it particularly attractive in what appears to be a “midnight” blue color.
Yes indeed, go ahead and finish it out, and have fun driving it with gusto. What a blast, and sure to be a hit at all gatherings other than those which place the highest emphasis on marque correctness and original restorations.
Finish the fabrication, paint the engine bay to match, change out the overstuffed interior bits, and hit the road. Oh, and get rid of the ridiculous egg crate foam under the hood!
That is a gorgeous body ! Love it. Not sure about the change of engine though………
After reading the eBay listing, there is too much to be engineered and fabricated and from the description of errors made and parts inadvertently pitched or sold, I would be suspect of the work done thus far.
Then there’s the silly foam on the hood, the mismatched color of the engine bay and the lack of craftsmanship in the redone interior. The latter would have to be totally redone.
Less than 24 hours to go and no bids yet. Maybe when the starting bid drops to $5K. I’m not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but based on the restoration work I’ve done so far, I would guess it would take $10K-$15K to finish it properly. Maybe more. Not sure what the value would be once done. I suppose whatever someone is willing to pay but a restored Fiat 1500GT is worth maybe $15K-$20K. I would think this hybrid, as good as it may drive when done, wouldn’t command more than that.
Sold on 3 bids for $10,200.
*If* the installation of the built Alfa engine was properly done this was a great deal—a vintage ’60s coachbuilt Italian coupe for ordinary used-car money. The engine installation looks good but I would not have bid without checking that out first. I like the fact that the details of the built engine and the contact info for the builder are clearly given in the ebay listing.
As long as this is now solidly in resto-mod territory another thing pops up as a plus: The car retains its front-mid-engine design even with the physically larger Alfa engine since it hugs the firewall and sits completely behind the front wheel centerline. That should give the car great balance on the road. Again, you would need to know that the positioning of the Alfa engine/transmission is right for the driveshaft-to-differential angle, but if it is this is a very appealing power upgrade. And at least it remains completely Italian.
Normally I would not go after a car like this if it was resto-modded, but I’d rather be driving this in its present configuration than chasing parts for the next few years.
Reminds me of the Glas GT.