There used to be a shop near my parents’ home in upstate New York that was a combination hobby store and mechanics’ garage. Imagine my surprise when one day a fleet of six Porsche 914s showed up, all requiring a bit of work but with enough good bones between them to make a solid car or two. Upon viewing the ad here on eBay which was sent in by reader Jim S, I immediately thought of what might be possible for the brave soul willing to tackle this ambitious trio of Alfa Romeo Duetto projects. Thanks for the tip Jim!
Listings like these always seem like such good deals at first. Phrases like “three cars for the price of one” come to mind, or daydreams about the prospect of owning a pair of the gorgeous boat-tail roadsters churned out by Alfa Romeo in the 70s. Of course, it begs the question of do you really want to effectively build a car from scratch, or simply save your pennies and buy one that’s already been completely sorted?
When considering the amount of work involved in this project, I think I’d choose the latter. There’s not much money to be saved tackling a project yourself versus a nicely restored car with daily driver reliability. Of course, if you’re an Alfa fan, you might look at the pictures of the ’69 Duetto with completely rusted floors and think it’s worth saving, or evaluate the other 1969 model and consider its obvious accident history a badge of honor worth preserving. Either way, you’re likely to spend a few dollars in the process and face more project delays compared to buying a solid driver to begin with.
The seller notes that this is a big undertaking, and that is certainly true. But, winter is around the corner for many of us and this project would certainly provide more than enough distraction to occupy our time. Of course, if we need our Alfa fix, we can always pop in the cult classic film, The Graduate! So tell us – would you rather rescue these neglected Alfas or simply keep your eye out for a restored model when the time comes? Let us know in the comments below!
That yard looks like it would yield all kinds of good stories…to the right of the first picture is a sliver of the passenger side of a Fiat 124 Spider, and it looks like an old Jag, maybe a 3.8 lt MK II at 10 o’clock. The wrecked Alfa wouldn’t even be much of a parts car, unless the interior or rear body panels are worth it. I’ve had two Alfas, a ’63 Giulia Spyder (my classic ‘why did I sell that car’ car to this day) and a last breath ’81 2000 Spyder. Passed on GTV’s, Milano’s and even a Montreal along the way…
Major, if not impossible projects indeed. The “star” of these 3 musketeers is the straight but t-rusty 69 Spider Veloce. It has enough to go on with a ground up restoration. The other 69 is completely tweaked and would serve as a donor carrier for a 1750 engine with a Spica. The 1750s are worth some chunk of change as they are the “engine of choice” for many Alfisti and can also be used for restorations of 69-71 105/115 Models across the board, especially with Spica injections intact. The black Series 2 is pretty much worthless in its current condition. One can easily find a non-running Series 2 or 3 Spider with body in good condition for under $1000. It appears that the seller is suggesting sectioning the front end of the Series 2 and using it to “restore” the wrecked Series1…DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! Series 1 has a different nose panel and all you will do with that “resurrection” is to annoy most of the Alfa world. IMO, this lot may be worth about $3k to $5k and that’s because of the 1750 running gear present. Current average prices for round tails start at $20k and up. They are the hot tickets in the Alfa world currently. By the time one is done restoring the white “Bedrock Special” 1750, he or she may see the Series 1 prices reach $50-$60 k that will be invested in it.
BTW, the Duetto name applies to 66-68 Spiders. Alfa Romeo lost the use of that name and in 1969 the model was called 1750 Spider Veloce. To me, these were the best of the round tail models because of what was under the hood.
I think, I see a BMW there in the background of the first picture.
Yeah, I admit I was more interested to see what else was hiding behind the Afla’s, LOL!
Rene-looks like a 2002 but the taillight doesn’t look right, looks more like a Volvo..
BMW is a “post roundie” 2002, 1974-76. Taillight lens missing.
looks to have front end hit (hood angle !)
Volvo ??, seriously ???
The “Jag” IS a Volvo 121 (‘Amazon’)
Looks like this yard has siphoned up all the Boise accident cars some 20+ years ago and these poor cars have weathered 4 seasons ever since….
and whom do we know that has a need for a great number of volvo parts? and how close are they to the parts?
Seems that most everyone is right. Silver BMW ’02 and a white Volvo 144 with a rust colored 122. Sorry if I’m stating the obvious…
Clearly, I am in the wrong room. The first thing I noticed was the 1962 Pontiac Convertible in the back row.
Tirefriar’s comments sound wise to me. If it would be difficult / impossible to put major parts of these Spiders together to work as a whole car, it would not make sense financially either.
The Alfa factory supported racing with some of their roadgoing coupes back in the day, but not with their open cars. The earlier Alfa coupes, especially the ones with a racing history or like the ones with a racing history, have appreciated in value and are worth sinking money and time into. I don’t think the later spiders like these cars have appreciated enough to justify the work and expense.
Better to part them out to keep other Alfas going that haven’t been smashed up and then given a multi-year sentence out in the open weather in a wrecking yard.
’67 was the year for Duettos, or that is what I was to understand. Perhaps I’m mistaken.
I just realized that these are right here in our neck of the woods! If anyone is interested, Josh and I would be more than happy to go take a look.
duet still for sale