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Topless Italian: 1965 Alfa Romeo GTC

We love finding rare and unusual cars that have been hidden in old barns and garages, but sometimes finding these special vehicles almost makes us sad. There is nothing worse then finding a rare and sought after car in a barn that was obviously left to rot. This 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTC is one of those cars. After years of neglect and abuse will saving it be a labor of love or will the restored value exceed the cost? If anyone is interested in taking on this Alfa cabriolet project, it can be found here on eBay with a current bid of $5,100.

The seller’s photos aren’t the best, so its difficult to assess the true condition of the car. But its obvious that there are lots of dents, dings, and plenty of rust. The seller claims that this car was originally a California car and if that’s really the case, then whoever parked it in their barn must have driven it hard. Italian cars are known for their rust issues and while this car has plenty of rust, surprisingly it doesn’t appear to have serious cancer around the windshield or any of the other difficult to repair areas. It does however have lots of rust and cancer in the floors. The seller sanded the areas with surface rust and has put primer on the bare metal to stop further corrosion, but nothing has been done with the cancerous areas.

The GTC was a limited production version of the Giulia GTV. All GTCs started life as a standard GTV, but were then sent to Touring of Milan who then removed the roof, added structural reinforcements, and the all black dashboard. There were only 1,000 GTCs built and only a small number have survived. Not much of this car’s interior is still intact, but thankfully the all black dash is still in there. It shouldn’t be too difficult to the missing parts, since the rest of the parts are just standard GTV.

The seller believes the engine is the car’s original 1.6 liter twin cam four cylinder, which they say turns freely. But as you can see from the photo above, the engine bay is very dirty and rusty, but all the major components should be salvageable. It doesn’t look like there is any cancer in the fender wheels or firewall, but we would be sure to check these areas along with the engine and transmission mounts. These can be expensive areas to have repaired, especially in a convertible.

This car is going to need a lot of work to get it back on the road and even more work to get it looking like new. The value of all the Giulia models has gone up considerably so the GTC should follow suit, but is a full restoration of this car even realistic? If bidding doesn’t go crazy, then it might be possible to come out ahead in the end. That’s a big “if” to consider, but if you want one of the rarest and best looking GTVs on the street, then “ifs” wont matter much. Let’s just hope this topless Italian finds the right buyer and is saved from further abuse and neglect.

Comments

  1. Avatar Duck Canuck

    It will be interesting to see what this brings. Back in 2008, one of these was on the market in Toronto Canada for $69K, and one in Europe for $100K. Most collector car prices have risen since then, so….. some “upside potential” for a brave buyer.

    I am ashamed to reveal that I did not even realize there was a cabriolet version of the Alfa GT (and I have always loved the GTV). How do you draw a blushing smiley?

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  2. Avatar Steve

    There is a nice Silver GTC on Ebay now. They are really nice looking and I bet would be a great car to drive.

    Steve

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  3. Avatar Barn Finds

    Thanks for sharing that one Steve. Two out of a thousand in one day! Here is the link to the other GTC which is located in Spain with a BIN of $50k.

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  4. Avatar Wiley Robinson

    That’s worth restoring, given how rare it is. The front fenders and hood also seem to suggest that at some point it was an “external combustion engine” in addition to it’s other issues. The missing top frame is probably the worst thing to deal with (or is it the one time Duke of Hazzard fan/owner who painted “02” on the door?).

    Pretty cool find.

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  5. Avatar Ron Southan

    I know they had some roofs rust whilst still at the factory and they put a vinyl top over it to hide the rust. I believe they were buying their steel from Poland at the time and the term “Iron Curtain” was apropos. This would indeed be a lovely car to drive about. Good luck to the new owner.

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  6. Avatar BradL

    This will cost waaaay more than $50,000 to restore correctly. The top frame will probably have to be built from scratch, and all the rusted metal in the floors (reinforced by Touring) and behind the seats will have to be fabricated. If the door gaps are off, sadly, this is probably a parts car.

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  7. Avatar Doug M

    Sure, it will take some serious work, but finding a way to get the job done for less than $50k is part of the challenge! However, now that I have seen one of these, I do prefer the looks of the hard top models over the rag top. Just my opinion…

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  8. Avatar Dolphin Member

    Ron S:

    About steel panels rusting at the factory, here’s a story I heard about Ferrari putting together some of their street car bodies in the ’60s. They stored some of the panels outside before using them, and they were only lightly sprayed with primer or something similar. After a while they developed surface rust, but were used anyway without removing the surface rust. Why this approach? It’s sunny Italy, and they just didn’t have the problems of running a car in salty Montreal or rainy Seattle in mind.

    I once owned a ’60s Ferrari and it had spent many years being driven in rainy Vancouver before I acquired it and it was probably the most rust free sports car I ever owned. Not sure why, but it had the toughest undercoat on it that I had ever seen, which no doubt helped. I don’t know whether Ferrari and Alfa used different steel or different techniques, but the general message I took away was that carmakers in a place that’s mostly sunny didn’t always prepare their cars for all of the harsh climates that the cars could end up in.

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    • Avatar jimmy

      alfa and ferrari used polish steel which has a very high carbon content which causes it to rust more

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  9. Avatar BradL

    Alfa didn’t start buying the Russian steel until the mid 1970s. All Alfas built prior to the 1970s rust at the same rate as any other non-rustproofed car (which was pretty much ALL cars).

    The problem with the Russian steel was the amount of impurities in the steel. The rust wasn’t just on the steel, it was in it. Late 70s Alfas would begin showing rust in the most unusual places, like the center of the roof panels. Alfettas have a particularly bad reputation for rust, and it’s well deserved.

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  10. Avatar jimmy

    you wont be saying thats to expensive when see what these gtcs sell for this could fetch 30k easily

    Like 0

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