1493.80.711 Sprint and Sprint Veloce Light, rear number plate (Carello)

This is the first post in a new series I’ve been working on, that will coincide with a car I’m working on and some other endeavors.  Project cars are called basket cases because many times you get baskets full of mystery parts.  The car I’m working on is no different except that occasionally an unmarked sandwich bag holds all the bits to a particular assembly, as was the case with this one, the famous ‘airplane’ rear plate light housing and trim flourish.  This assembly is pretty straight forward, a plated casting with some mounting studs (at least one of which is usually broken off), a light socket assembly with a mount, a lens and some screws.  This assembly is tricky, because all those parts are specific to it -except possibly the screws.

Not the best picture, but good enough -it’s hard to show those little screws and the big casting in the same picture.  That little Alfa emblem is and has been unavailable for years.  This one is pretty good, with only some light crazing.  Not sure if the triangular Carello lens is available.  Maybe Alfastop?

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Market 415: Giulia Sprint Speciale 381399 -the last one

Giulia Sprint Speciale 10121*381399.  Michael has made me aware that Ferrari of Seattle is selling this car right now for $125,000.  A pretty good deal if the last two projects I listed for $60,000 each are really worth that.  Just think, no bodywork, no rust repair, no parts hunting.  Just fly in, write a check, add it to your insurance and drive home.  Oh, and if you’re one of those people who likes ‘interesting’ VIN’s, this is the last SS they made.

Great color!  Everything looks straight and clean in this picture.  Is there anything to the theory that a high-end dealer would risk reputation selling a less than perfect car? Maybe. This will sell immediately I think.

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Market 414: SS 381122 ‘Boy Racer’ in Germany

Update 4/27/12: No sale at $47,000. Would you have sold?

Giulia Sprint Speciale 10121*381122Marty hipped me to this car  on eBay out of Germany right now that’s currently sitting at a comical $6100.  Body is in good shape if the shiny paint doesn’t hide any problems.  It has been gutted and set up for weekend racing and as such has a lot of shortcomings as a contender on today’s SS market.  Engine is not correct, nor are seats and some other stuff.  Wouldn’t be a shame to do with this as you will since it’s already altered quite a bit.  Wasn’t someone looking for a good SS to turn into a race car??

I wonder what the story is?  I am thinking this car is from when an SS was a $18,000 car and it was a parts donor for another better one.  Body looks really good.  Seller claims no rust -lets hope so.  Germany has VERY strict rules about how fit cars are to be on the road, so if it’s road registered it’s probably pretty good.

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Market 412: timewarp crashed in ’79 Giulia SS 1323

Update 4/16/12: Asking price has been confirmed to be $60,000! Still a better deal than the red one that just ended on eBay for just under $60K.

Update 4/10/12: Car has gotten some press on BaT, lots of experts with short attention spans chiming in in the comments section.  I don’t think this car rolled over -had an off-road excursion rather.  I maintain -not a bad project.

Giulia Sprint Speciale 10121*381323. This car is on Craigslist right now out of New York. It was purchased after an accident of some sort and mothballed until now, with the tow drivers grease pencil writing still on the windows. Body has some serious problems in the roof area, but I’m pretty sure most restorers would rather tackle some roof dents than rust.  I think the survival of this car is proof that there are a lot more SS’s out there than seems possible.

What happened.  Crashed into a tree that then fell on it?  Not nearly as bad as it would be if it was stored out doors.

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Market 413: Spider 10103 08586 in SoCal

Giulietta Spider 10103 1495*08586This car is available on eBay from Chequered Flag, frequent purveyors of classics.  Car is restored to mostly original with some ‘as fits the owner’ condition additions.  Mostly good, but with some deviations from stock that beg for a definition of ‘restored’.  At least the asking price is not overly inflated.

In the tradition of red.  Body looks pretty good, as does the trim.  It’s easy to nit pick a nice car, but easy to forget it’s hard to get one this far.  Put that top down already!

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Market 341: Nice Giulia Sprint in San Diego

Update 4/27/12: Seller sent me an email informing me that this car has sold for full asking price.

Update 4/12/12: This car is available again for the new asking price of $49,700, quite a bit more than it was when it first entered the market.  Detailing is thorough and some small problem areas have been fixed.  There have been some stellar examples of these late 1600 Sprints on the site over the years (see here for one) that have failed to sell for much, but maybe it’s a case of ‘that was then’ -after all the highest priced SS from the same time was a little over $60K.  Bravo for a an extremely well put together presentation.

Update 12/17/11:  Seller has been swamped with interest so the price is being rethought.

Giulia 1600 Sprint 10112 356435.  Kip informed me this car is available now from Motoring Investments in San Diego.  Color combo is great and the car appears to be in fantastic condition.  If it’s as good as it looks, it’s a bargain at $XXXXX and wont last.  You don’t see these 1600 Sprints very often.

I love these in Celeste blue.  Body looks fantastic.  Trim looks as good as the body and everything else looks as good as the trim.  If I had money to spend on a car I’d be on the phone right now (paying off my VW Jetta Wagon ;^)).

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Market 261: 1600 Spider 10123 375767 in Idaho (was in Buffalo)

Update 4/11/12: 18 months later this car turns up in VERY nice shape on eBay with a respectable $62,000 buy it now price.  List of work done reads like a wish list for my car.  Goes to show that even when you start with an excellent car there is a lot to do to make it ‘right’ if that’s your aim.  If you read the original ad below I mention that it had a Sprint seat adjusting knob and that I had an extra Spider one -I sold it to this seller, so a humble part from my stash is incorporated here.

Very nice Kevin!  Don’t know that eBay is the right place to list this, but it’s amazing to see the transformation.  Unusual perspective this.

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