Okay, it’s going to be hard to lie about this, because even in San Francisco you won’t ordinarily see a Peugeot 203 and a Hudson Hornet within spitting distance of each other. Although the other day, a Citroen H-van and a McLaren MP4-12C were going the other direction on 101 within a few minutes of each other… Anyway, car events can be a great family outing. And such was the case with the Melee sendoff – even if the RustyButTrusty Alfas are too new to qualify, and the BMW is likely too common, there’s no restriction on who attends the sendoff or what car brings you there.
Posts Tagged ‘italian’
RustyButTrusty On The Street – 2013 Melee Sendoff
September 7, 2013RustyButTrusty on the Street #1 – Hilux and F12
August 15, 2013To start what might become a new series of posts, I thought it would be interesting to share some of the more unusual vehicles seen on the streets in northern California. San Francisco and Oakland/Berkeley in particular are home to all kinds of oddball older cars, and we’ll get this started with a van and a truck (what!).
This 1979 Alfa Romeo F12 diesel van recently returned to California, under the influence of Andrew Watry, keeper of the Alfa Romeo Berlina Register. Powered by a 1.8 liter Perkins diesel with 50hp, it’s Alfa Romeo’s interpretation of the VW bus, with a three-spoke steering wheel, twin pod gauge cluster, and Alfa handling. Built from 1967-83, this one is a series two van with the black plastic grill and adhesive sticker badging.
Smog-free! 1975 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT (plus bonus Milano Silver!)
July 24, 2013There were no 1975 Alfa Romeos offered for sale new in California. Alfa was still working on changes to its emissions systems, and didn’t have those ready in time, so was forced to continue sales of 1974 cars well into 1975. Can you imagine what that does to dealers? Could you imagine that happening nowadays? Meanwhile, all the other states got the new Alfetta GT, the new Alfetta sedan, and the updated spider with the big rubber bumpers (okay, maybe they weren’t really missing out on that last one!). Well, the irony is that these cars are once again desirable in California because they are a small group of Alfettas that don’t need to pass smog testing. Find this rare Alfetta in Everett near Seattle, WA for $1200.


