The streets of Oakland and Berkeley share the same variety of obscure cars found in San Francisco, if not more so. The mixture of college professors and students, immigrants from all over the world, and people of diverse political leanings mean you can sell a few of anything there. And that’s how you can see, say, a Lotus Europa, first-generation Mazda 626 coupe, and Subaru DL liftback coupe on the way in to work. While VWs are still relatively mainstream cars, the attrition rate of disposable cars means that many have disappeared from the road. And that brings us to today’s cars.
RustyButTrusty On The Street – Oakland VW Edition
October 18, 2013This Or The Cordoba? 1978 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce
October 17, 2013While looking around for more obscure vehicles, and trying to sort out a high idle issue with the RustyButTrusty ’77 spider, a nice little 1978 popped up. Even in smog-strangled form, Alfa’s elegant solution of mechanical fuel injection suffered less of a power loss than many competitors. The solution to the safety requirements of the late 1970s was substantially less elegant, but no worse than many competitors. As a result, even the big-bumper series 2 (chopped-tail, non-spoilered) spiders are increasing in price – who know we’d ever see the day? Some good finds are still out there, and that appears to be the case with this 1978 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce, listed for $2300 near Concord, CA.
Rusty But Trusty On The Field – All Italian Show
October 17, 2013Every year, there’s a fun, laid-back show for owners of Italian cars in the area surrounding Alameda, CA, just south of Oakland, to park their cars on the field and enjoy each other’s company. Each year brings the usual gaggle of Fiat and Alfa spiders, along with various Alfa sedans and some more unusual cars, like an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Cabriolet, two DeTomaso Mangustas, and even a Fiat 131 sedan. The one thing that’s always surprising is the number of nicer Alfas parked outside the show field. You often overhear people saying they didn’t have the time to wash the car, or that it really needs some paint, but c’mon, people, this is not Pebble Beach! And if someone has a problem with you driving in in your spider that you haven’t washed since March, they can go to a car show that costs $250 instead of $5. Our first example of people who agree with this perspective is below – a red Fiat X1/9 that looks well-used, well-loved, and ready to keep going.


