Posts Tagged ‘under $2000’

Almost there – Italian Fiat Spider and Alfa Berlina Projects

June 14, 2010

Since I’ve been writing fewer posts, I seem to have cut back to featuring my favorites. Looks like they’re mostly Italian cars that are affordable enough, yet modern enough in spec to be used as daily drivers. And I’ve mentioned it before, but they almost all seem to use the same formula – rear wheel drive, twincam fours, 5-speed manual transmissions. Mostly I also try to feature cars that are running, but recently I’ve spotted a couple that I still think are worth mentioning in quickie format.

The first one is a Fiat Spider. All Fiat Spiders get cool points in my book, even though they’re still fairly common in northern California, but I’m a bigger fan of the early models (AS and BS) with their delicate chrome bumpers, hubcaps, and (sometimes) flat hoods. They have a much more delicate look about them that is probably closest to how Tjaarda intended them to be. And since they were often kept as second cars, you can still find them in pretty decent shape for short money. That brings us to our first example, a 1972 spider in Campbell, CA (near San Jose) for $1606.

1972 Fiat Spider

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Repeat? 1974 Alfa Romeo Berlina

June 10, 2010

Just recently, I wrote for Classic Cartel about a pristine 1969 Alfa Romeo Berlina I remembered from car shows in the late 1990s. It was prized by its original owner, who had it until 2000. That car, like many others on the market, just confirmed my belief that cheap Berlinas were getting really hard to come by at this point. Most have either succumbed to practical-car attrition, or have had restorations that drove their prices up into Giulia Super territory.

Apparently, not all is lost. Affordable Berlinas are still out there, you just have to look a bit more. Last September, a clean but rusty driver showed up on the AlfaBB. And when I saw today’s car for sale, I thought it was the same one. When I compared the license plates, I realized it is indeed the same car, but since I’ve already started writing this, I’m going to wrap this up quickly. You can find the car in Norman, OK for $1400.

1974 Alfa Romeo Berlina front

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Rally-Style Project – 1973 Fiat 124 coupe

May 28, 2010

I’ve written about Fiat 124 coupes before, so no doubt I’ve already gone off about how these cars are a great lesser-known alternative to an Alfa Romeo GTV or BMW 2002. Think about it – 4 seats, spacious trunk, 5-speed transmission, and a twincam alloy head four-cylinder. So why are there so few around? Well, nearly every car sold in the 1970s was prone to rust, but some more than others… and the 124 coupe was one of those. As a closed car, they were subject to hard daily use, unlike their spider brothers.

Like the once-popular Ford Capri, these are now pretty hard to find. But they do pop up every so often in west coast classifieds. In fact, an AC coupe needing restoration has been listed for several months by a classic car dealer in the Pacific Northwest for a rather high price. Most cars on the market are much more reasonable, though, and today’s car is one of those, listed for $1850 in Burlingame, CA.

1973 Fiat 124 coupe left

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