Winning Amount: £ 5,002.00
User ID: B*****s
The current owner purchased his Alfa from a Jody R Stuck of Freedom Wisconsin in the USA on 30th September 2015, it was subsequently imported into the UK, being offloaded at Southampton docks on 18th January 2016.
All import duties and VAT owed on the car were paid at that time and there is a letter on file from HMRC confirming themselves satisfied that the NOVA documentation is all in place. This letter is dated 26th January 2016 (also on file is the original bill of sale and certificate of title from Mr Stuck).
We understand that there’s no other paperwork on file from the car’s time in the USA. Clearly it was imported from Europe at some point and Mr Stuck informed the vendor that it has been sitting in a barn (perhaps he meant 'bath'?) in Indiana for many years prior to its sale. This lack of paperwork posed no issues for the vendor as he was always intending to carry out what you might call a 'nut and bold' restoration on the car.
That process finally got underway last year, the car having been carefully stored in the vendor's garage in the interim. The shell was completely stripped down to the last washer with all parts removed being carefully logged and labelled. A photographic record of the strip down runs to nearly 500 images which will be supplied to the new owner, along with several pages of notes and tips taken along the way in order to aid re-assembly.
As can be seen from the photo gallery, the car is almost entirely complete, the missing parts being confined to the front and rear bumper over-riders, the carburettor and one suspension coil that broke during the strip down. The missing over-riders are available off the shelf – indeed a complete front and rear bumper set in polished stainless steel can be picked up for about £1,300.
In the autumn of last year the shell was despatched to a well-known and respected Alfa specialist in the Midlands, who were engaged to carry out the clearly significant amount of welding required, to be followed by a full respray in gorgeous Alfa 'Grigio Grafite' (the owner rather tearfully tells us).
Extensive photographs of the car including the underside had been supplied in advance of it leaving its home, so the extent of rot in the chassis sections was clear to the specilasts concerned, but they remained unphased and on inspecting the car in the flesh on arrival with them, they declared it 'no worse than expected' and were actually fairly complimentary about the outer panelwork.
As with all their restorations, the specialist first braced the shell to ensure absolute rigidity before removing the doors and sending it away to be dipped and then stabilised. It’s impossible to give a properly accurate assessment of any car without this process and it was only on its return from dipping that the full extent of the issues were revealed. It was subsequently concluded that sadly the car could not be repaired by them within the owner's budget.
It’s important to note that this is not the same as saying that the car couldn’t be repaired at all (!), but at commercial rates the specialist and the owner were forced to accept the stark reality of the situation, at which point the calculators were put away and much staring at the floor ensued.
So this is where we are.. The vendor is a competent mechanic but not a skilled welder. The hope is that someone out there who is handy with welding kit will take this on and put the car right himself (or herself). If you have the skillset and the time then we feel that this represents a potentially incredibly rewarding project that can be secured at a rock bottom price.
As ever at Berlinetta, we have tried to show all the issues as well as any good points in our photo gallery. Some areas of the car look fine, but others are clearly intimidating - even to our relatively experiences eyes. The rear valance is almost comically awful, and many other areas would suggest that not only was this car once owned by Patch Adams, but that it was then handed down to Patch Junior II who in turn passed it on to further multiple ‘Patches’, all of whom added significant botched repairs to their predecessors legacy.
On the plus side, the car as presented now is absolutely devoid of any filler or other nastiness, and thus has no more unpleasant surprises up its (lacy) sleeve. It has been professionally braced and comes mounted on a bespoke dolly so it’s absolutely rigid and easily manoeuvred.
On that basis work can begin to start restoring strength and integrity to the shell without worrying that anything is out of alignment or is about to flex out of alignment.
Further good news comes from parts specialist Classic Alfa, where the following panels can be bought off the shelf:
That little shopping list would set the new owner back about £5,600 including the VAT.
To buy new front and rear wings (the latter are apparently due to come online soon at Classic Alfa) for the car would cost considerably more – roughly a further £8,000, but with handmade replacement arch sections the originals panels are perhaps saveable - and the new owner may choose to try to hang onto (what’s left of) as much of the original car as possible.
Naturally neither of the above lists are in any way conclusive. A great deal of time will have to be spent making up panel sections that are currently unavailable. Almost all the chassis box sections are more accurately now ‘n’ sections, the inner wheel arches front and rear will need to have carefully formed metalwork let in and whilst the engine bay is largely solid, the real challenge clearly comes at the front bulkhead where it should join the floorpans.
Phew.
Aside from the obvious challenge that the shell presents, this is an otherwise straightforward restoration. The engine needs a complete rebuild (the original cams are available – they were found knocking about in the boot) but again, parts availability is generally excellent and everything the home mechanic needs to rebuild an Alfa twin cam can be bought for well under £1,000. Indeed, mechanical components overall are plentiful, easy to source online and relatively cheap, so that's some good news! The fact that the car has only recently come apart means that nothing significant has gone astray, so very little apart from perishables and some brightwork will need to be bought new.
Alfas are without question objects of beauty (normally). Some would argue that perhaps it's time to consign this particular example to the great skip in the sky, but we can’t help but feel that this would be a terrible shame. Bringing this car, which has so clearly been subject to significant neglect over many decades, back to full and glorious health is undoubtedly a sizeable task - but what a task!
The ultimate Alfa restoration project? Something perhaps to tell your grandchildren about – although they might be well into middle age before you get there...
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