Found in a shop belonging to an Alfa collector who passed away, this 1977 Alfa Romeo GT Andretti Edition is now for sale on craigslist for $7500. The car has been sitting for ten years without being started. Its current home is Laguna Niguel, California, and you’ll need a trailer to retrieve it. The Alfetta-based GT and GTV were produced starting in 1974. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign, the car proved intensely popular with over 120,000 sold by the time the model sunsetted in 1987. We have Barn Finder numskal to thank for spotting this sleeping beauty.
The base engine in the Alfetta GT was a 1.6-liter dual overhead cam four-cylinder, an option sold largely in Europe; the GTV received a 2.0-liter starting in 1976. The Spica fuel-injected version of this engine, making about 110 hp, was sold in America’s market. This car’s injection unit requires a rebuild before the car will run. It’s tempting to wonder why the seller didn’t farm out the rebuild before listing the car, but not everyone is talented with Spica fuel injection. In the “good news” column, the motor turns by hand, and the clutch, brakes, and various electrical items do work. The odometer reads 86,000 miles.
The Andretti Edition included bright red carpeting, still in fair condition here. The seats will need attention but the dash is uncracked. The split gauge clusters are vivid and clean – of course, whether they function after this car’s slumber remains to be seen. Warpage appears in the plastic parts down by the radio.
Other Andretti Edition options included Campagnolo Turbina wheels, tri-color striping and a decal of Mario’s autograph, Koni shocks, and an Ansa tailpipe. Just 150 Andretti Edition cars were made; a dash plaque indicates that this is car number 142. The rear louvers are a Chastain Shadow aftermarket item. A second set of sail panels is included, with Quadrifoglio badges. The paint, bumpers, trim, lenses, and glass are all in great shape, with no rust present, not even on the underside. Alfas rusted while on their way across the Atlantic straight from the factory, so this one’s condition is a minor miracle. As to value, the seller indicates that Andretti Alfas are selling for over $20k. He may have found the one sale I also found, here, for $25k. If you’ll settle for a run-of-the-mill Alfetta, they are widely available at much lower prices.
So tempting! I have a feeling once someone discovers this car it will probably find its way back to Europe. That car could easily be worth more than 25K due to its originality. Spica injection is very similar to the Bosch Kugelfisher set-up. Once set up these engines run extremely well. I can still remember the bark these make when the throttle is blipped. The GTV is truly a delight to drive as well with its rear mounted transaxle and inboard rear brakes. It’s hard to describe the feel of driving a car with very little unstrung weight. The car just dances when driving on a nice twisty road. Later on the GTV received the Busso V6 which took it to a new level and the chassis was also used for the 75 or Milano which we got in the states. I’m really wrestling with this one. Can’t afford right now but so tempted.
Back to Europe… and immediately change the horrible oversized bumpers!
That’s a beautiful car; pity about those plastic bumpers. It was a late 60s’ Alfa Romeo that had the motoring journalist owner scribble the immortal words “If money talks, all its’ ever said to me is GOODBYE”.
Agree on all the above. Very hard to find another like this and worth the ask. A good way to fix would be to source a good 2 liyre motor with functing Spica. And lose the bumpers for chrome EU items. The US fittings are are like the Joker’s scar across the mouth of the Mona Lisa
I found this discussion about the SPICA rebuilding process in case anyone wants to pursue this car further (sounds a bit more complicated)
https://www.alfabb.com/threads/spica-pump-rebuild.713548/
Re: “Warpage appears in the plastic parts down by the radio” — looks more like the radio itself simply isn’t well-anchored in its slot, so it and its faceplate are sitting askew in there.
I’d reckon it was prolly replaced with a nicer aftermarket head unit at some point, then someone removed that, found the original unit, and just kinda plopped it in there for resale, might not even be hooked up.
There is also the smaller panel below that, black, that doesn’t sit quite right but is probably a simple fix (yes I am super picky).
Ha. That’s probably as well as that ashtray ever fit into that console! But besides the radio faceplate, it looks like the whole radio + ashtray console assembly has been bolted down sightly askew (easy to do if you’re trying to reinstall the whole assembly with the weight of the radio still in it).
I own a 76 ‘Fetta GT. Recently handed off to me by the son of a well known Alfa repair shop owner who had built it for him ‘back in the day. Owned many Triumphs over the years. This car is a completely different experience thats for sure! OK, mine is lowered a bit, Milano (stiffer) torsion bars and wider Ronal wheels (Dad DID know how to make it!), with largely stock mechanicals. Man, the car handles literally like a go cart and, while not super quick off the line, from second gear on pulls away with a 7k redline, which the car really likes to get to. In short it is a fantastic drivers car!
The other thing I’ll note is how much attention the car draws. Even at a recent large exotics show, parked next to the Lambo Ferrari corral or the Alfa club meet I took it too. Mostly though its a lot of young car enthusiasts. Its unique amongst a bunch of hot hatch look alikes and really stands out.
Id say this car is fairly priced, but if it was itd be sold already. The Achilles heel of these cars is repair cost. Mines been reliable, but waking it up from a long slumber taught me that these cars must be expensive to have work done to them as so many things are difficult to get to (I cried that I wished for small hands while I was working on it). Heck, that ‘rebuild the Spica pump’ is a $3500 price tag from Wes Ingram these days. Still, if this was closer to me Id point some friends to it who have fallen for my car!