The person who takes on the restoration of this 1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider will actually be giving the car a third chance at life. It has previously been restored but has fallen on hard times since then. The current owner has chosen to part with the Alfa, so hopefully, someone will take the car and return it to its former glory. If it sounds like the project for you, it is located in Birmingham, Alabama, and has been listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding on the Spider has reached $12,100, but the reserve hasn’t been met.
The story behind this little Alfa is quite interesting. The second owner purchased the car in 1971, and at some point after that time, the car was treated to a restoration. It was then parked in a shed in the 1980s and remained there until recently. Normally you would expect such an Alfa to now have some pretty significant rust problems, but that doesn’t appear to be the case with this one. There is certainly surface corrosion to be found around the car, but the comprehensive selection of photos supplied by the owner shows that none of this has penetrated the steel. The floors, trunk, rockers, and quarter panels are all solid. However, given the car’s current level of deterioration, I believe that the best path to follow would be to undertake a complete, bare-metal, nut-and-bolt restoration. It will be a big job, but it should maximize the chances of ensuring that the car doesn’t wind up looking like Swiss cheese at some point in the future. The top is beyond help, but the owner does say that the frame works as it should. The glass is all present and is generally in good condition, although there are some wiper marks on the driver’s side of the windshield. It also appears as though all of the external chrome and trim is present, and it looks like it has survived its time in storage quite well.
The interior of the Alfa provides something of a surprise because, given the lack of protection that the top will have provided over the decades in storage, it actually doesn’t look too bad. I will admit that the leather upholstery on the seats is looking pretty ordinary, but I agree with the owner when he says that they could be cleaned to return them to driver quality. The finish on the steering column is peeling, and the Alfa will definitely need a new carpet set. Beyond that, the door trims appear to be in great condition, while the dash is unmodified, and is close to perfect. One positive aspect is that the lack of carpet affords us a good look at the floors, and you would have to admit that they look solid.
Powering the Spider is the sweet little 1,570cc DOHC 4-cylinder engine, which produced 92hp. This power was sent to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual transmission. For such a small car, performance was not too bad, with 0-60 taking 9.5 seconds, while the ¼ mile could be covered in 17.2 seconds. This was no doubt helped by the fact that the Spider tipped the scales at a feather-weight 2,116lbs. Sadly, this is where the news takes a downward turn. The Alfa was a running, driving concern when it was parked, but it definitely isn’t now. The owner states that the engine is locked, so it is probably wise to expect that a full strip and rebuild will be the minimum that will be required here. Of course, that will be entirely dependent on being able to get it turning freely once again.
When Alfa Romeos of this vintage appear as project cars, more often than not, they have been beset with significant rust issues. This car looks to be different, and when you combine that factor with the Spider’s relative rarity today, it would help to explain why bidding on this Italian classic has been so strong. It looks like there are plenty of people out there who are willing to give the car a third chance at life.
Being well into the “discovery” phase of a re-restoration on a GTV, I am wary of that rust behind the passenger door. It looks like a replacement panel may be letting loose at the top.
Wonderful little cars though and this one would be a great candidate for that nut and bolt restoration you mention, Adam.
Another of my brothers cars in the early ’70’s. I know he’d plotz if he saw the prices these bring today, even in derelict form, like this. In ’71 or ’72, before my brother got drafted, he bought a green ’63 Alfa like this for $500 bucks, and the guy threw in a real tired TR4. We got the TR running and sold it for $250 bucks, yeah, that stuff was dime a dozen in the ’70’s, nobody wanted them. So for $250 bucks, he had an Alfa Spider. It was a fun car, 1st car I ever drove with a 5 speed,, huge drum brakes hauled it to a stop, handled top notch. That engine wasn’t the fastest, but it was only a 1600 and revved like the wind. One day, while tuning it, yeah, it was an Alfa, the #3 spark plug blew out. Freaked us out. we took it apart, but must have reinstalled the cam chain a tooth off or something, as it never ran the same after that. Annnnnd here’s the REAL kicker, he traded it and $500 bucks for a ’58 A-H 100-6 with a ’64 3000 motor! That was a neat car too. That, my friends, was the ’70’s, and I feel fortunate to have driven both those cars,as they are off the charts now.
Didn’t see any reason for it underneath but the rear axle housing isn’t aligned with the chassis. Right rear wheel doesn’t normally sit that far forward. Amazing to see one of these with rockers still in it. Still one of the best looking sports cars ever built.
Had a ’56 Aluminum bodied Alfa Giulia Spyder. What year did they switch to steel?
You had a one off special then. The Giulia spider was not made until 1962 and this car is a 101 Giulia spider. Previous to that were the similar 750 Giulietta spiders. All of these were steel. The 750’s had 1300cc and the 101’s are 1600cc the 101’s have a little longer wheelbase.
The only alloy body 750 or 101 cars were specials from the likes of zagato and I think all were coupes.
Also an Italian convertible may be known as a spider but never spyder as there isn’t a Y in the Italian alphabet
This is desirable and would be a fine car if properly restored. Restoring in EU at $40/hour could make sense (eg https://www.italclassic.com/en/ )and the restoration will leave plenty of margin.
Hours in central europe are more likely in the 100 to 140 Euro price range and you owe another 19 or 20% tax on top of that. And I would definately not send my car to Eastern Europe for restoring. Yes, I know Spain is the other direction, but I am not confident to have my car restored so far away. But a gorgeous car but it will cost to fix it properly. So only solution – fix it yourself.
18k and no sale. What were the sellers dreaming the price would be. It is a normale and not a Veloce. It is a 101 and not a 750. While these bring decent money restored they are not six figure cars.
I purchased a 64 veloce a couple of years ago in about this shape for about half the bid price and I thought I paid to much.
This one should have been sold at 10k much less 18
Poor thing ended at US $18,221.00 after 37 bids
Relisted with opening “wishful” bid of 18K…no takers yet. Like others here, it makes me a bit queasy to read the prices the various Alfas command now. Saw tons of them in Europe during my tour in the ’60s. I drove them, friends owned them and though nice I didn’t buy one. Apparently, should have bought a boat load and put ’em in storage (in cosmoline) !