Posts Tagged ‘italian’

1988 Alfa Romeo Milano Verde

October 22, 2009

The first time I truly paid attention to one of these was when I saw a red one parked out in front of a used car dealer in Mountain View, CA in the early 90s. At the time, the bright red wedgy design with sporty Recaro interior and that funky u-shaped handbrake seemed pretty wild. Needless to say, the car was too expensive for a high school/college student, so I put up with admiring from a distance. More recently, a friend of mine had a 40K-mile example that was a fantastic drive, but with a mortgage and the state of the economy, they’re still out of reach for mere mortals. But not this one!

You can find it here on eBay in Park City, UT with a Buy-It-Now of $2500 and bidding currently at less than that. This car actually only has 102K miles on it, and looks pretty decent. It has some of the wear issues you’d expect of an older car with that mileage, but seems like a bit of work would put it on par with some pretty tidy examples.

1988 Alfa Romeo Milano Verde front

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Boano-Designed: 1969 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe

September 25, 2009

These were quite popular on the roads back in the 1970s and 1980s, to the point that I remember seeing them as a child, and yet today they’ve virtually disappeared from the roads. Why these, with about 280,000 built, would survive less than their spider equivalents is not too clear. You might suspect that a coupe lends itself better to being an all season car, and would therefore die sooner, but other cars such as Alfa GTVs, BMW 2002s, and Datsun 510s (all period competitors) have much better survival rates. And yet, this is an appealing competitor, with an attractive design, nice tall greenhouse, and a very competitive drivetrain setup.

Anyway, let’s move on to our subject – a 1969 coupe, which makes this an AC-style car. These were the earliest style of 124 coupe, with the hood dipping low between the headlights at the end of each fender. Many consider this to be the most attractive, with the later BC and CC coupes becoming less and less appealing. Additionally, the earlier cars are lighter, and should be reasonably quick even with the less-powerful 90hp 1438cc engine. This particular car is listed in Hacienda Heights, CA for the low, low price of $500!

1969 Fiat 124 Coupe front

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My First Alfa Drive – 1971 Alfa Romeo Spider 1750

September 25, 2009

I was looking through the classifieds, as I often do, and noticed a green 1971 1750 spider for sale up in the north-east bay area. Back in 1991, when I was looking at cars, I checked out a green ’71 with steel wheels and those disc hub caps in Redwood City, and ended up passing on it because the guy wanted $3400, which would have blown both my purchase and repair budgets. However, the top down experience with the weird shifter exiting at an angle through the console, as well as the sound of that engine, encouraged me to keep looking until I found the spider I have today. The ’71 might have been the wiser investment, but I subsequently met the person who purchased that car a few years later, and it apparently had some significant rust in the floor pans that she spent a lot of money repairing.

Well, as it happens, it seems this car has popped up in the classifieds again. I can’t say for 100% sure, but there must be very few green ’71s left, and I specifically recall the weird nerf bars this car had to protect its nose. Check it out on craigslist, where it’s listed in Vallejo/Benicia, CA for the bargain price of $1450.

1971 Alfa Romeo Spider front

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