You don’t need to speak Italian to know what Veloce means, at least in the context of the Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider Veloce. Alfa typically reserved the Veloce name for its high-performance trim level cars, but from 1971 to 1976, all 2000 Spiders received the go fast title. Granted, they were faster than their 4 door siblings, so perhaps the name was fitting! These fun little convertibles have long had a dedicated following, but with the insane prices of GTVs these days, Spiders have been going up in value. This clean example can be found here on eBay in with a BIN of $7,500 or best offer in Wylie, Texas.
There’s a lot of love about the Alfa Romeo Spider, it looks good, handles well and has more modern features such as a 5 speed and disc brakes all around. But what really makes these standout from the crowd, at least in my book, is the 1962 cc twin cam fuel injected 4 cylinder. With SPICA injection, this engine produces a respectable 132 horsepower. Sure, it won’t blow the doors off, but when you look at the cars these compete with price wise it’s quite a jump up in power. The mechanical fuel injection system can be fiddly to get dialed in but isn’t that difficult to work on once you understand how it functions.
While the interior is nicely designed, these cars are fairly spartan on the comfort front. They were meant to be a drop top drivers car, so there weren’t many bells and whistles. You got two big gauges behind the steering wheel, a few more gauges in the center stack, heater controls and of course the mandatory cigarette lighter and ashtray. The floors were covered with rubber mats, so sound deadening is non-existent, and the heater is nearly worthless but none of that matters once you find a twisty road! This one is going to need a little work on the interior, but it primarily needs a good detailing.
Like any Italian car built during the ’70s, rust is a major concern. This one looks solid in the photos, but you will want to inspect the suspension mounts closely. It looks like the car could be wearing its original paint though, so the lack of rust bubbling on the fender lips is a hopeful sign. If there isn’t any serious corrosion and you can get it cheaper, this could be a fun summer project. Clean it up, treat any surface rust, install a new convertible top and you’ll have a fun nice weather driver!
Sold for $7400
You forgot to mention that it’s missing a radiator.
And the engine is missing a few things, too. Like distributor and spark plug wires. And the top is in really bad shape. All in all, though. The car looks pretty solid and shouldn’t take to much to get going.
Ahh the dreaded Thermostatic Actuator. When your a kid driving one of these in the 70s and a the TA goes out at a cost of $185.00 for just the part, its a real problem! That was a ton of money back when i was earning $3.85 a hour…
Actually, they were NOT faster than their four-door siblings. Though they look a lot more “streamlined” than the boxy Berlinas, they were designed strictly by eye, whereas the sedans were designed by a trained aeronautical engineer, and have a much lower coefficient of friction. Now, I never got my ’74 over 115, but that was on a public road and there was a blind bend coming up … but we could still converse in normal tones. A Spider at 80+ is a pretty noisy place to be, and a GTV isn’t much better.
i’ll take my ’74 124 sport w/ hi comp pistons, cams, and pininfarina looks. fix it again, tony, my arse….fling it around turns!
One of three from the factory that isn’t Red!
And be sure you have towing insurance – on your policy or AAA. And know how to tell the tow truck operator how to load it with out damaging it. But it is beautiful.
Be sure you have towing insurance, and better yet, AAA. But it is beautiful as cars go.
Own a couple of these currently. 1970 that is restored. And a 1972 that is completely original down to the tires. I found it in a goat barn on an Indian reservation of all places. Look for a write up on it soon!
When we’ll maintained these cars are actually very reliable, most nightmares arise from poor maintaince or neglect.. With that said, the gas gauge never works exactly on any of them soo.. Enjoy the graduate.
Missing parts, Italian quality from the ’70’s (not that it’s much to talk about today, either), and great Soviet-source steel for the body stampings…
What could go wrong?
But if not rusty (yet) and (while) running, they are stylish & fun.
My 17 YO daughter drives a ’91 Chrysler TC that she calls “The Chryslerati.” It is actually built in the Maserati factory, 3L Mitsu V6, nice interior and 45k miles on it last I saw. Perfect cheap nice weather cruiser for a girl. And the snobs? She points out it’s VIN starts with a Z, it’s about 28 years old- and it is more reliable and dependable than a Bi-Turbo, Quattraporte, or any other solely Italian-built car of the era.
But most only see the Masi emblems and don’t know the difference