It’s high time another Alfetta appeared here. Fortunately, the online gods favored us, and provided a nicely faded, red Alfetta GTV. This looks awfully similar to the RustyButTrusty Alfetta GT before paint, almost eerily so. However, it does have some interesting details that will make it pop when hell freezes over and Alfettas get their due among collectors. Chief among those are the two chrome bars in the grill (known as baffi among Alfettisti) that replicate the two grill bars on the 1969 GTV and Berlina, the fuel filler door, and GTV vent covers. You can find your long-distant-future collectible in this 1977 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV for sale for $3500 in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA.
Pretty much any red car in the southwestern United States that’s been parked outside will have paint like this. The key is to look for rust, and this car appears to have very little visible rust. Red does a better job of hiding rust than many colors, but the bright sunlight and severely oxidized condition of the paint should bring any bubbles/perforation out. The rear view mirror is not original, and you’ll need to negotiate with the seller to keep those bumpers in his yard, even if it means offering $100 extra.
While the first picture was from two years ago when the car was last driven, this one is current. It shows the level of oxidation, and the amount of things that are magnetically drawn the lower perimeter of your Alfa if you leave it sitting for too long. So far, the only rust that is visible is a bubble on the lower left corner of the hatch, and perhaps some below the left tail light. Note the fuel filler door and GTV rear vent cover – later cars had an exposed fuel filler cap and a slatted vent. With no interior pics, it’s hard to tell if this car got the cool early molded door panels too.
Hopefully you don’t mind spiders, as there are plenty of webs in this car. The filter canister is missing, but with any luck the throttle plates have kept moisture out of the cylinders, and while there’s a rag laying there in the engine compartment, there’s nothing significant in that very location, so it’s not clear why it’s there. Again, there’s no rust below the windshield, and while quite a few of the a/c bits are still present, the compressor has been removed. The car is said to need a thermostatic actuator and catalytic converter, but has had a litany of work done over the last 10 years, including a driveshaft rebuild, flywheel, clutch and throwout bearing, upholstery and carpets, windshield and tires. It’s had hydraulic work as well, but you’ll want to account for replacing that soon since they don’t tolerate long periods of disuse. However, with much of the hard work already done, you’re off to a good start.
Rusty But Trusty 
Leave a Reply