Comments on: Spider Veloce market review 2009

By: Joel Stein

Joel Stein — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:59:10 +0000

Had a ’56 Veloce Spider 1996 – 1999(one of 6 left) and never got in the MM. Never got in with a Lancia B20 GT either (1989 – 1996). Got in with a Moretti Sports Car (2003) that broke in half during the event. My bad…
Now I have a 56 Normale which is a hoot to drive and seems much more sporty than my 65 Veloce Spider.
Probably do some event with the 56 – Mitiche Sport a Bassano is a Barchetta Rally that is open to these geat convertibles. What a blast in the Dolomites in June. Not to mention the Milano-San Remo in March which is very upscale. Hope the Euro continues a downward trend so we can enjoy those great events!
JS

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:03:56 +0000

Martin Swig’s California Mille is based on the Mille Miglia and is 57 or before or continuation model – in this case a 61 Spider Veloce would be okay. CM is a big deal around here. I run with the California Melee crowd; cheap sports cars before 1975, no steam rollers.

Fantasy Junction always mentions eligibility in its write-ups.

Maybe I’ll do a post about event eligibility at some point.

Ciao,
Matt

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:22:57 +0000

I appreciate your reply and realize the information often times is 2nd, 3rd, or 4th hand. Here’s the article I refer to:

http://www.sportscarmarket.com/profiles/2004/November/Alfa%20Romeo/index.html

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I recently received the 2010 edition of Keith Martin’s
Sports Car Market “Pocket Price Guide,” and note that the 750′s still have the notation, “For ’56-’57 Veloces, add 50% due to event eligibility.”

In the case of the MM it’s clear why 1958 is the cutoff year since that’s the last year the original race was run. I’m unaware of other vintage/historic events that would accept a pre-’58 car but would reject a ’58 or later model that was otherwise comparable, if not identical. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

The Colorado Grand (www.coloradogrand.org), for example, has a cut-off date of 1960, which might be considered somewhat arbitrary as well, but most owners (or potential buyers) might consider that adequate compensation for not having paid a premium for a pre-’58 model that won’t get into the MM anyway.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:03:32 +0000

Dave,

Thanks for commenting. I have not read Keith’s write up -don’t have a subscription. I was basing the assertion on the information on the Mille Miglia website here: http://www.1000miglia.eu/inglese/home.html?http://www.1000miglia.eu/inglese/partecipare/informazioni/disposizioni_generali.html. I do note that the Spider Veloce is not on this list. I will take this into consideration in the future. As far as the politicies of acceptance goes, it’s good to know there is no point in paying extra for the early car purely based on a desire to someday try and go on the MM.

Ciao,
Matt

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:43:11 +0000

I note with some skepticism the opening comment about ’56-’57 cars being MM eligible, apparently the result of having read (and believed) Keith Martin’s write-up on the ’57 Spider Veloce several years ago (as well as in every issue of his annual Price Guide). While it’s technically true that any pre-’58 car is elegible, the fact is you’re never going to get accepted into the MM with a production Spider or Sprint Veloce–maybe an original Lighweight Sprint, but not a regular production car. I totally disagree with Keith’s assertion (in every Price Guide) that the ’56-’57 cars are worth “50% more” than later cars. For the record, I own a ’59 Spider Veloce and have a close friend who’s run the MM and knows the ropes.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:28:05 +0000

I think the $50,000 black spider will have been incredibly well bought in the years to come when prices rise. As for the ‘bit of training’ car, probably the light blue one without an original Veloce engine.

Ciao,
Matt

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:26:01 +0000

Tom,

Thanks for the kind words. I am still cowering from the pain that will be compiling Spider sales!

Ciao,
Matt

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:13:49 +0000

Matt,

Love your year end market reviews! Great how your have collected and compiled throughout the year. Actual data that is so valuable for any buyer or seller …. or just plain entertaining reading for those on the sidelines. Great job.

Tom

By: norm

norm — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:08:22 +0000

Matt, of the 15 or so Veloce’s you listed for adoption, in your opinion, which one was the Pick of the Litter and also which Veloce was the Runt that could have been a nice companion with just a little bit of training?

Norm