At first, I thought the $90,000 asking price was somewhat nuts for this 1966 Alfa Romeo Duetto. However, digging further into the ad, you realize that the seller has owned this Alfa since 1976 and that it remains in exceptionally original condition. I’m still not necessarily vouching for the asking price, but I do like cars that have remained in long-term ownership with a solitary enthusiast. If the mileage is to be believed, this Duetto here on eBay has just 6,853 miles on the clock.
The seller purchased the Alfa in 1976, seen here in this period photograph. It came with the factory hardtop, which it retains today, and did not come equipped with side-view mirrors. The hardtop is an interesting design, with full windows for the area behind the front seats. It looks quite striking, and almost makes it tempting to expose that pretty Italian sheetmetal to all four seasons.
The Alfa is said to be mostly original with some minor deviations from OEM condition. The biggest downside is the lack of headlight covers; hopefully, those can be replaced. The seller says the seats are not likely original, and at the least, they look way too nice for a car of this vintage. The carpeting is “old” but also not original, according to the seller.
The engine bay presents well, and the seller notes just some modest maintenance performed in the last year: the oil was changed in March, along with the spark plugs and wires and the timing adjusted. The seller says that like the ’64 Mustangs, these early Duettos are rare and desirable, and this one is car number 400 off the line. Is the provenance strong enough to demand the high asking price?
I would have to check this one as there are several things that don’t compute.
The big one is the brakes, a 66 should have standing pedals and no booster. The boosters did not come out until the 1750’s. If I am correct it is not a Duetto but would still be classed as a round tail.
Dash is incorrect and should be body colour. Steering wheel is wrong. It is missing the lollipops off the rear bumpers Little things but when you are asking top dollar it has to be correct.
I am guessing but to me it looks like a 68 1300cc model of the round tail
This looks like a great example! You can barely see, but it does look like it has the original standing pedals. It would be a big job to change them to the hanging style from later cars, and for no real gain. The front looks like it may have some accident damage. There is a funny looking gouge by the center grill. The holes for the front clips for the headlight covers don’t look to be there. And the slim trim rings around the headlights are gone. The lines around the grill and headlights look a bit off. Bumper fit is terrible. The headlight covers were available a few years ago and may still be. I’d sure want to check the fit of the cover before bidding. You may discover why they aren’t there!
Wheels look right with the hubcap nubs, but the center caps are from a 72 or 73. The seats wouldn’t have had headrests until either 69 or 70. Original center hump carpet in a friends 69 faded light grey! There are vent windows, so it isn’t a 1300 junior. The vent window latches don’t look to be there, but it’s hard to tell for sure.
Be nice to see better pictures. If I was ever considering dropping 90 large on this, I’d expect about 300 high quality pictures from all angles, inside and out, and underneath. Mileage this low is surprising. Mine has about 88k miles and would look very similar in grainy photos. Be a real find if the mileage is true.
Good observations Mr. Bond. There are quite a few discrepancies that you’re able to pull from these grainy pics. In addition, as I enlarged the engine compartment photo, one can detect red overspray on some of the seals and wiring harness. This would also likely support your observation about previous front end damage. At ninety thousand asking price, this example falls short of delivering that quality…
Very pretty little cars. If BMW Z3s looked this good they’d have sold 5 times as many. The experts have pointed out too many discrepancies for it to be worth the ask. Love the car, not the price.
Always wanted a Duetto.
Yes, the early Duettos are appreciating in value, even so $50K will still buy one of the best. And this one isn’t. As Kevin stated there are several parts that are later Spider but assuming the D stated in the serial number is actually a 0 then it is a 1966. While the headlight covers are available and reasonably priced, I’d be much more concerned about the misalignment of the front bumpers and any sign of rust underneath.
Maybe the owner was confusing sales prices with the earlier Giulietta Spider since $100K+ is not that uncommon for a nice Giulietta Veloce?
Crazy price, it’s worth £22.000 tops.
Seems like a lot of changes have been made on a car with under 7,000 miles. 🚩🚩🚩
mmmm….seems like too many things amiss to blow that kind of money on this car. No need to point out all the things that don’t seem quite right – looks like a couple other guys here have already spotted most of them. That being said — this is a nice Duetto (one of my all time favorite Alfas) — but asking price seems way out of line to me.
This seller needs to check the market and then check his expectations at the door. In the very first photo I note a mashed up turn signal on the right side in what also appears to be a misaligned bumper. Makes me wonder what was hit. Also in the cover photo it’s missing the headlight rims and the Alfa badge on the grill. As pointed out by other observers, the dash is wrong. So that’s just for starters. It’s still a nice round tail with weber carbs and low mileage (if that is to be believed for a car this age). But you could buy a very rare Alfa Sprint Speciale for what he’s asking for this very common example of a spider
$9,000…….maybe! This is crack pipe WITH meth injection!
That’s a whole bunch of money for such a little car! I think that it’s a very nice car, but depending on how many upgrades it has would hurt the value I would think!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Dkmw_Pajw
Looks like a rough 6,000 miles,,,
To the best of my knowledge US cars never had headlight covers fitted as per Federal law
early ones did.
The above comments are all accurate but a single booster was seen on some 1967 models. This car has the headlights mounted inside the fender as appears to be the case here which is necessary to fit the the clear plastic covers. When imported, the US models with a 1600 cc motor had chrome rims over an externally mounted head lamp buckets. Seats are from a 69 or 71 model, steering wheel and wheel rims from a 70s model. This steering wheel actually requires a different steering shaft cover in order for there to be a match between the wheel and that cover. Bottom line: maybe a “time capsule” no milage car could bring 90 grand but certainly not this car. Since it has apparent paint work and who knows what else, would start a bid at maybe 10 K.
All good points, Mr. Price. I also note, after scrolling down thru the photos in the ebay listing, the the instruments are marked in Italian- Benzina, Olio etc. This, along with the (missing) European headlight covers, suggest the car was not originally for the US market but was bought in Italy and imported to the US at some point. It would be interesting to know more of the history.