May I have your thoughts on Alfettas?

I know I have come to the wrong place to be talked out of this...

Instead of doing my homework tonight I decided to watch The Graduate. Of course after it was over I immediately got on Searchtempest to see if there were any Alfa Romeo's in my general vicinity. I was expecting to find ratty 80's vintage Spiders...and I did. I also stumbled across this gem:

http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/cto/1450121030.html

Now it is an Italian car in Detroit so it is hard to believe minimal rust, especially for $400, but I want it bad.

Way, way cool. Craigslist is dodgy, so I would definitely get up there to check out the car in person, as well as run an Autocheck and a Carfax. Get more pics, go over it with a fine-toothed come. For 400 bucks, I would expect $400 worth of car, but if it's all there I say go for it.

Well, for an alfetta, minimal rust includes any that are still recognizable as a car.

Good things: Rare fun to drive cheap for an 4 cylinder alfa they sound cool they handle well, and tons of suspension parts (swaybars, springs, quality shocks like bilstien and koni, poly bushings for everything, etc) are available.

bad things

Rust, rust, rust. They were rusty from the time they were new, and you can watch the holes get bigger. They are just made from bad quality steel, so all you can go is keep it inside and repair it as it gets new holes in it.

Probably the most poorly made of any alfa

Lots of no longer available parts, like glass, any trim stuff, although the engine and suspension isnt too bad.

There is a part in the steering column (a coupler thing) that has rubber in it, and when the rubber wears out the steering wheel and front wheels dont nesessarily point in the same direction. The part is also NLA, so you either have to repair it, or adapt something else

Spica mechanical fuel injection is probably fine if its running good, but has the potential to cost $1500 to replace everything that could be worn out.

If you dont mind rust and rather poor build quality, and you can keep it inside, buy it, it would be fun as long as its not too rusty.

Yeah, 400 bucks, and everyone's negotiable. If it's not on fire, I'd say buy it. They're fun little cars.

Definitely check it out in person, though. I'd be wary simply because the owner has misspelled 'Romeo'. Also, if he's done any of that head work himself, it could be slightly dodgy.

Did you have to specifically search for "Alfa Romero" to find that? Enquiring minds want to know.

Doesn't say if it's stick or automatic. I guess we assume stick. I think the autotragic models had the loathed self-leveling suspension that costs two million dollars to repair (can be replaced with standard bits tho').

That's about all an Alfetta sedan is worth. The GTV is much sexier, but even it doesn't have much of a following. Expect a shifter that feels like it's stirring porridge. I can't get past the feeling that, looking at that one pic, this thing is a money pit. Resale value? Zero. Save up some coin and buy something better.

No, stirring porridge actually results in a more fluid motion than shifting an Alfa transaxle. But seriously, they're not that bad. You'll just end up double de clutching all the time.

While this one does look like a pile, and an Alfetta sedan will never be particularly desirable, I bet you wouldn't find another $400 car with as much character and driver appeal.

I was half expecting to see my former Alfetta GT up for sale- I sold in here in SE MI 14 years ago.

Funny enough, a friend found a rust free Alfetta Sedan out in Tecumseh about 6 years ago- I was pretty stunned by it's conditiion. Interior was shot, but the rest of the car was amlost perfect. Great track car, Challenge car, Lemans car, etc.

I've seen that a lot of Alfettas have run the Lemans races over the years- they are solid cars when well maintained.

I'm a huge fan of the SPICA, and it's really only a $950 rebuild if the unit is broken. If not, Dean Russell at Trail Auto in Derbron is really, really good at tuning those.

The 4 cyl 116 cars are kind of in no-man's land here in the US. There are some really, really nice ones out there, but they are that way due to TLC and enthusiasm vs. the investment. On either end is the 105/115 cars- which are classic, and priced as such, and the 6cyl 116 (aka GTV6) and 119 (Milanos). The 6 cyl gets more "love" for the grunt, but the 4cyl can be great.

There's at least a handful of very, very quick Alfetta Sedans out there. Some will argue that the Sedan is better than the GT- stiffer and lighter- but I've never confirmed that.

If you do get it, please consider joining AROC-Detroit. http://arocdetr.ipower.com/ We have some fun events.

And also consider doing a Challege. Lots of people around here will help a lot with technical details...

Eric

CraigsList ad said: Pointless ignition

But really, aren't they all?