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Estate Clean Out: 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider

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Ocassionally, my brain works well enough to remember seeing a car in a previous post before drafting another entry on the same vehicle. But some sellers make it pretty hard to keep it straight, from fluctuating prices to different vehicle locations. This 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto here on eBay struck a familiar chord to me, and sure enough, we created an entry for a very similar car found on craigslist in another state. Are they the same vehicle? Thanks to Barn Finds reader Jim S. for the find. 

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It’s rare to see these boat tail Alfas in forlorn condition like this one. I do know of one in an area salvage yard that still seems beautiful to me, even in its rusty state. Blame it on those gorgeous closed headlights, which give a car an immediate air of sophistication. Now, this eBay car looks awfully similar to the craigslist car we featured here almost a year to the day! They may be in different states (Washington compared to its current location in Michigan), but details like the headlights, rust on the hood and presence of a luggage rack all lead me to believe this is the same vehicle. It doesn’t look like it’s moved much since we last covered it.

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The good news is the price may be coming down. When I originally wrote it up, I noted that the seller didn’t seem very friendly and appeared to be stuck on his price. Now, with a no reserve auction and just one bid to $5,100, it could be that the seller is acknowledging just how big of a project this is going to be. The real ugliness is what you can’t see, however: the car cannot be safely driven due to a rusty “rear leaf,” which I can only assume to mean rear leaf spring. As you can see here, there is also plenty of rust in the floorboards in the event you want to make like Fred Flintstone, but given how complete the rest of the car appears to be, it could be worth the labor to fix the floors.

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Ah, yes – another clue: the venerable luggage wrack, and plenty of brush covering the surface. The seller in the eBay listing claims he has multiple vehicles coming up for sale as a result of an estate cleanout. It makes me wonder if the original listing on craigslist was an older owner who has since passed away and now the overseer of the estate is in clean-out mode, or he has just changed his tune after not getting many bites. What do you think the real story is and can this Alfa be brought back to life?

Comments

  1. Avatar Gary

    $5100…It’s a duetto, but just sold a 76 spider(new top, decent, running, driving car ) for$3k?

    Like 0
    • Avatar Mark

      A 1976 is a dime a dozen, lower value car, rubber bumpers, Bosch crap injection. 1972 is last money year so to speak for many reasons. Anything older than 72 is worth far more in far worse condition. Just the Rusty parts alone on this will bring more than 5k.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar jimbosidecar

    They were beautiful cars when they had the boat tail. I’m not crazy about the kamm tailed versions. And being a 1969 I don’t believe they came with covered headlights which is a pity. Same story for the XK-E. But this surely is going to take a lot of work to get it back on the road.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Dan h

    Already have a rusty Italian car. Dont want another, even if it is a boat tailed Alfa!

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Steve

    No “leaf springs”.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar packrat

    Luggage wrack–apropos malapropism.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Tirefriar

    1969 was the last year of the Series 1 Spider and the only year in the US for a 1750 motor in that body. ’69 is a bit polarizing model amongst Alfisti- most prefer Duettos as the “true” original Spiders. To me the ’69 is the best m.y. Spider ever.

    US market Series 1 Spiders Came with headlight covers uninstalled with the option of installation being left up to the owner. This was due to US market and State regulations.

    This particular car is best suited for a person looking to do a complete ground up restoration. Definitely not a “ghetto buy” or a “cheap entry ticket” into what’s becoming a rather exclusive club of Series 1 owners.

    Two items of note: Duetto name went away with the last of the 1967 Series 1 cars. From 1968 on, these became known as Spiders. The larger engined cars, such as this 1750 were known as Veloce, while 1300 cars were called Juniors.

    Second, these are not boat tail Spiders but rather round tail. If you need to understand the difference, look up Auburn Boattail Speedster

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Puhnto

    If you look closely at the rust patterns on the hood and both fenders of the cars, they look different. In the earlier car there is rust that doesn’t appear in the same spot on the later car. I’m going with different cars. (Weird they’d be so much alike though!)

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Mr. Bond

    I say it is the same car. Amazing that the shots show so few areas to compare! IMHO the bushes in back and the rack are way too similar to be different cars.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar slickimp

    How sad it looks

    Like 0

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