OK, we’ve reviewed cars from “Just Donated” before, and it’s often evident why they’ve been donated. As a matter of fact, some that I have covered have looked like they need to be undonated. But that’s not the case here; this 1984 Alfa Romeo Spider looks surprisingly sound. What happened to get it in the giveaway doghouse? Let’s take a look and see what’s up. You’ll find this neat and clean two-seater waiting for redemption in Orange, California, where it’s available on eBay for a current bid of $3,152 with 33 bids tendered so far.
Alfa’s Spider is a well-known enthusiast’s car and enjoyed a production run of about twenty years. Often, when found today, they’re in hinky shape due to rust but this one’s clean as a whistle. The finish is deep, the body panels are well aligned, the low-slung nose doesn’t appear to have been kissed, and even the wheels show no indication of road-rash. There is a folding top present, but its condition is not noted, and there are no visuals.
Under the bonnet is a 2.0-liter, in-line, four-cylinder, fuel injected engine that’s good for about 115 net HP. It has 109K miles of experience, and the seller adds, “THIS VEHICLE RUNS AND DRIVES, NEEDS REGULAR SERVICES, VEHICLE HAS ONLY BEEN ALLEY TESTED, NOT TESTED ON PUBLIC ROADS OR HIGHWAY SPEEDS.” OK, well, that’s a start. If you can whip around in an alley (a lot drive?), maybe this cute little Italian can handle more. I’m hardly an Alfa pro, but the engine compartment looks complete. The rear-wheel connection is made via a five-speed manual transmission.
Another head-scratcher is the interior; it, too, looks to be in exceptional condition with little wear or sun damage – it even has official Alfa-Romeo floor mats! From what can be seen, the door panels and dashpad seem perfect and the leather upholstery shows just a bit of typical creasing. What could possibly be wrong here?
Digging into the listing, we find: THE BATTERY WAS JUMPED FOR TESTING PURPOSES BUT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED…BROWN LEATHER INTERIOR WITH WEAR (PLEASE OBSERVE INTERIOR PHOTOS), WEAR AND TEAR ON THE EXTERIOR (PLEASE OBSERVE EXTERIOR PHOTOS) ~ PAINT FADE IS VISIBLE, TIRES APPEAR TO BE IN FAIR CONDITION WITH 30% TREAD. OK, the pictures do the talking and I’m not seeing a major concern – these noted issues seem minor. Is it possible that someone just didn’t want this car any longer and essentially goodwilled it? Or…is there something really problematic lurking here and it’s just not obvious? What do you think? Could this Alfa Romeo Spider end up being quite the buy?
Not sure what’s wrong with it, but I’m the current high bidder as of 3/28/25 @ 20:00 PDT. Wish me luck, go Dodgers.
Good luck Euromoto, if you’re successful, let us know all about it.
Agree with your sentiment on the Dodgers!
JO
Good luck with your bid and ANY Alfa Romeo is a great car, I have owned several of them, and all of them have been great cars, however, be careful not to overload the trunk and then hit a speed bump/seeping policeman, or the chassis/body behind the rear axle WILL bend. Ask me how I know?
So, to close the loop, the car sold to someone else at a final price of $6,200 + a 9% seller’s fee. I dropped out of the running at $3,700. I did a little research using the VIN and the Cali license plate as shown in photos. It passed a Cali smog check in 1/2023. The plates are no longer in the Cali system but have an orange sticker on them which is probably 2023. Also, the plates are 9 series which were issued starting in 2021. My guess: The car came to Cali from out of state, passed smog, and had a new Cali plate issued. Then it moved to Oregon and was retitled. The states talk to each other and, when it was retitled in Oregon, California retired the plate. I suspect the seller found the plate in the trunk (the familiar Manila envelope can be seen in the trunk in one of the pictures) and put it on the car. I think that’s a no-no, but whatever. So, to conclude: I think it was Colonel Mustard with the lead pipe in the library. I think it could have been a good buy, but (for me) not at more than $4,000.
Thx for the update.
JO
Shows California plates but says Oregon title???? Is that possible or is that the problem??.
Looks pretty good.
This is one of the cool cars I mentioned in the comments on the RV also in today’s email if they were closer I would be bidding on this I think it would just be a fun car to Tinker with and enjoy
Possibly has a California Smog related issue, or issues.
Are there any unobtanium smog parts for an ’84?
Maybe it is exempt due to age?
No exemptions for post 1975 cars in California.
Steve R
Please support the Leno Law in California, cars 35 years or older will not require smog checks any longer, as long as they have collector car insurance. Please support getting this passed!
This has Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection, which (along with a cat) takes care of emissions all on its own and is pretty standard across all car models that used it, so those parts aren’t terribly hard to find, and there shouldn’t be any other oddball Rube Goldberg smog parts like, say, late carb’d Fiat models got before they also switched to Bosch L-Jet.
luv this one, the dual pod dash looks fantastic …