Update, 7/8/09: This car is now available on eBay, with better pictures showing its condition. Still looks like a solid project for that price, and it’s possible this is a period Jafco turbo setup.
As you might know if you’ve looked around elsewhere here, I’m the proud owner of a faded and somewhat rusty, but solid and reliable, 1979 Alfetta GT (sprint veloce). The shape shows some typical design characteristics of its period, and the car is very close in some ways to the contemporary VW Scirocco and Lotus Esprit (start with the trapezoidal windshield), which were all done by Giugiaro. Anyway, I thought I’d post this car to assuage my guilt about not finishing off the Alfetta’s clutch slave cylinder – it’s all hooked up, just needs bleeding and bolting into place to be done.
This sweet-looking car (okay, the flesh-toned paint job is a little weird) has the desirable 5-star Daytona-style wheels, a lip spoiler on the hatch, rollbar, and a large turbo. It is listed for $2500 in Denver, CO. The seller has had the car garaged for years, and has now realized he will never get this non-running car on the road. As you can see in the side shot below, the car has also been lowered:
Here’s one of the most interesting parts of the car – the engine. The turbo is visible on the exhaust (stage left) side, while it appears the intake side has also been modified. Seller also states the car has an intercooler and “everything else that goes along with” a turbo system. No details are given as to the condition of the engine, other than it won’t run. This could indicate holed pistons, a failed spica system, or something far simpler than that. On the bright side, this seemingly solid car, with its performance modifications, could still be a good platform for throwing in a good used Alfetta engine until you have the readies or desire to work out the problems with the turbo system. For folks in California, if this car has a 1975 build date, you could apply to be exempt from smog, which would make your life a lot easier than mine with my 1979 car.
Nose also looks good, although you can see the left- and right-side mini-spoilers are absent, a likely consequence of the car being lowered. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, if you can get your hands on a set of Euro bumpers, these significantly lighten both the appearance and the actual weight of the car.
The interior looks pretty good too, with a rollbar that doesn’t seem to impact passenger space. From the small part visible of the passenger seat, you can see the vinyl is in a non-original pattern, but not as sun-baked as it usually seems to be. You also get the benefit of the funky early-GT interior with its weird molded door panels.
Overall, this looks like a car with a lot of potential. Even if you can’t immediately get the turbo system sorted, you have a solid-looking car with some tasteful performance modifications for pretty short money. With any luck, you’ll find some cool Shankle bits and pieces in there!
Tags: alfa romeo, alfetta, Feature, gt, italian, sprint veloce
Rusty But Trusty 
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