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Last Of The Red Hot Sports Cars?

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Alfa, convertible, and Weber; three words that many enthusiasts love to hear! The seller doesn’t tell us a lot about this 198778 Alfa Romeo Spider, and only included two pictures in their ad, but the price may be right and there’s some good things to see. It’s located in Monroe, Louisiana and is listed for sale here on eBay, where the opening bid is $3,250 but you can buy it now for only $500 more than that.

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As you can see by these two period ads, Alfa Romeo was selling nostalgia even when the car was new. Considering that by the time this Spider was produced, the same basic car had been around for 21 years, I can see why – although the design had another sixfifteen years to run after 198778! This car has 113,000 miles, but had the twin-cam engine rebuilt about 50,000 miles ago. The body is described as being solid except for the spare tire well.

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The car left the factory with fuel injection, but now features twin DCOE Weber carburetors – the sight of which thrills me. It’s also had a recent canvas top replacement, as well as a new water pump and alternator. Curiously, the seller also mentions new door handles and door panels. They note that the typical Alfa second gear shifting issues are there and also tell us that the fuel gauge is non-functional. In other words, a typical Alfa Spider with some teething issues. Are you interested in fixing those issues and driving this “last of the red-hot sports cars”?

Comments

  1. Avatar Van

    Italian cars always sound great
    Add Webber, call Pavarotti

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  2. Avatar Mr. Bond

    If I lived a lot closer, I’d sure take it on. They are a really fun car. Check underneath to ensure the rot hasn’t gotten out of hand.

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  3. Avatar Kevin Harper

    Oh it is a 1978 not an 87

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  4. Avatar Francisco

    Louisiana, eh? I’d like to know where this car was during Katrina?

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  5. Avatar fred

    Monroe Louisiana is near the northern border, probably no flooding there.

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  6. Avatar MikeG

    These are surprisingly quick cars. I had one (a ’77), in College and always managed to be a nose ahead when I raced my friends 84′ Scirocco.

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  7. Avatar Tom Hall

    I don’t know much about these but: a collectible at a reasonable price. There is hope…..

    MikeG – no offense, but as a proud, wish I still had ’em, owner of both an 83 and 84 Scirocco, they were many things – but not quick :) 16V maybe, but the 8V’s were a sheep in, maybe, wolf’s clothing

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  8. Avatar Chuck F.

    Only if those bumpers can be gotten rid of. Especially that rear one.

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    • Avatar Marco S

      Lightweight fiberglas replacements used to be available, still may be. And maybe a pair of pre-75 bumpers could be located? I did that conversion to my ’78 (my 1st car) but that was 35 yrs ago.

      Like 0
  9. Avatar jimmy

    that’s not an 87. This is what an 87 looks like…

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  10. Avatar Jamie Staff

    Date corrected, folks…thanks!

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  11. Avatar Steve B.

    Is that a rear bumper or a diaper changing table strapped to the back of this thing?

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  12. Avatar Casey

    The rear bumper isn’t quite as horrible as that picture makes it appear, but the bumpers are heavy and lighter replacements are a nice upgrade.

    One problem with this vintage are the smog cams. They were terrible breathing compared to the earlier cars. Better cams and exhaust headers would really wake it up. The later bosch injection cars after ’82 performed better than these late spicas, but the ’74 and earlier cars run the best.

    Not sure the Webers are a better choice than the spica injection. The latter was pretty efficient, and required no regular tuning or syncing, though when they go south your best choice is to swap it for a rebuilt unit. The webers will sound good but will probably be pretty finicky.

    Like 0

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