Listed by what appears to be a very knowledgeable seller here on eBay, this “step nose” Giulia might be a diamond in the rough. It’s located in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Current bidding is at $6,600 and there is no reserve. The seller has done a good job with the listing; let’s take a closer look!
The salmon color just doesn’t do it for me. According to the ad, the car was originally blue, and that would be far better than this pale pink-orange-peach color it is now. However, horses for courses and you might like it this way!
I’m looking at my 1/18 scale version of this car in between writing paragraphs. It’s actually a slightly later GTA, but the same beautiful and clean shape is there. The seller gives us a detailed story about this car, with the second owner having the car from 1968 through sometime recently, but the car has had little use since around 1997. The seller believes the car has covered around 230,000 miles and there’s extensive records of that for certain periods of the car’s life. There’s a litany of work that was done on the car over the years, with at least two partial restorations or refurbishments along the way. There is some “minor” rust now and some older repairs that should be redone as well.
One of those repairs to be redone is the driver’s side floor, which I think we are seeing in this shot. There also looks to be possible moisture issues on the floor and obvious upholstery issues. On the bright side, look at that beautiful steering wheel and classic dashboard!
You can spot some more yellow (at least I think it’s yellow) in this underhood picture, but it looks to be a lighter shade than the wheels. The Alfa twin-cam four looks clean and well-maintained, though, at least prior to being off the road, and the seller tells us that it fired right up with clean gasoline. The water pump is leaking, though, and the brakes will also require work. So what do you think of this step nosed Alfa?
I’d paint the wheels black and run it as-in until I figured out how to come up with the case for a proper restoration.
I owned a 64 T-bird out of California that was this color. The old timers called it “titty pink”. It worked well on the T-bird, not so great on the Alfa.
I don’t think these ever came in yellow, more likely it was white, Blanco. At this price its a steal but it won’t stay there, these cars are in high demand. However I didn’t see enough in the photos to know how much work will need to be done though the seller does seem to disclose the problem areas.
Absolutely love the looks of a step nose. A guy I use to auto-X against had one of these. He drove it quite well, and the Sprint proved itself quite capable against newer cars. But the rust never slept on that poor car.
Well, with the rust repair and body work this one needs, the buyer is going to have the opportunity to paint it whatever color he so prefers.
Still, when it’s completed it could easily be a $40-$50K car, so at this price it might still be a very good deal for someone.
GLWS and good luck to the buyer.
Original color of this car was Azzuro Isseo (Isseo Blue) per the Ebay ad. I had one in that color many years ago. Beautiful.
Wayne is right the ad clearly states the original colour and mentions the car was repainted the colour seen on the wheels. Perhaps the use of “original wheels” caused the confusion.
Whoops, I missed that one. Ok, will fix in the post. Thanks Wayne and Bobsmyuncle!
This is a Giulia Sprint GT and is not a Veloce model. The 00502 engine prefix is correct for this car but it, unlike what the seller states, is NOT a Veloce engine.
The color was either Isseo Blue (as the seller states) that may not have been offered in 65 on the GT, or the similar Celeste Blue. Either way, I’d return to the original color.
Perusing through the photos in their dropbox files reveals lots of rust and improper repairs. This beauty will take lots of bodywork to correct.
BradL you are right, this engine number prefix is for the Sprint GT range, not Veloce. Re the blue colours offered on the GTs, there was Azzuro Spazio [Space Blue] and Bluette [light blue].
I’ve always liked the looks of the Giulias. Interestingly, the wettest I have ever been while inside a car was in one of these. One day years ago, I had to head into Boston on a cold, drizzly day. My roommate insisted on loaning me his Sprint as a much better choice than the Fiat Spider I drove at the time. He was mistaken. As I cruised down I-95, the sky turned dark and it started to pour. I noticed water began trickling out of of the dash air vents onto my legs. After about 15 minutes, it was like someone had left the faucet wide open. Naturally, electronics and water don’t mix well, so nothing worked- no heat, lights, turn signals, etc. I had one headlight to light my way as the wipers made their leisurely trip across the windshield. But that jewel of a motor never skipped a beat. By the time I got home it looked like I had gone for a swim in my jeans.
I have owned a later version and most of the body rust is an easy fix unless it is around either the front or rear glass. that is almost impossible to get fixed. This looks like a very good one to me. I had the fuel injection 1974 2000 GTV model which with minor changes to the seats and hood is almost exactly the same car.
These engines can be killed but it takes real effort. I lived in Denver at the time and When I went skiing and we had a cold snap I could pay for my entire trip by jump starting all the Mercedes, BMW and other makes both foreign and domestic that had a problem with the combination of deep cold and high altitude. I only sold it because I had to after some vandals broke every piece of glass in the car and I needed transportation.
These are not as sweet a ride as the Giuliettias but they have more power and better road holding because they have bigger tires and brakes. Almost everything you might need is available and the restoration of the engines and transmissions is dead simple. The water pump most especially. it is about a half hour job if you have done one before and an hour if you have not.
Alfas love care and if given will surprise you as to how long they will go without needing repair. One trick is a pint or quart of linseed oil around the welds and over the wheel arches will do a lot to stop rust from getting started. Use a 1″ brush and be very careful but that seals out most of the moisture that causes problems with them. I had mine for over 8 years and it never failed. The battery did a couple of times when I left the light on but that was not the cars fault.
Just remember these cars have a rigid rear axle and it might be a good one but rough roads can catch this system off guard and that can easily raise your heart rate for a few minutes. But in the mountains there are very few cars that can keep up with them. They are built for the mountain of Italy and it shows.
And I hate that color, My favorites besides red are a gun metal gray, a soft green, a dark blue and I saw one pale yellow that was really beautiful. Good luck to who every takes it on. You will get a great deal of attention at any time but if you do it right you can drive any where and people will stare. For good reason.