ALFA ROMEO TIPO 102 - testarossa bella!

ALFA ROMEO TIPO 102 - testarossa bella!

Robin of Omaha was recently walking the increasingly pleasant streets of Gowanus when he encountered one of the most beautiful cars ever produced. Just look at this sexy ride:

Dayum! This is a 1959 Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider in Alfa Red. The company referred to this car as the Tipo 102 (Tipo meaning Type). This is just an insanely good looking car on par with the 007 Aston Martin DB5 in my opinion.

That shield shaped center grill is now as iconic to the brand as the kidney grill is to BMW. Alfa Romeo started producing cars in 1910 but it wasn't until 1939 that the shield debuted. This entire front end is fantastic with it's side grills inset into openings that protrude slightly. The turn signal/running lights are more complicated than first glance might suggest. That double snorkel hood feeds air to a 1,975cc inline 4 cylinder. Top speed was 110mph in stock form but Alfas are really race cars waiting to be tuned up.

This car was only built from 1958-1961 and less than 3,500 total were produced. It's always interesting how certain classic cars end up where they do. There's obviously a concentration of wealth in NYC but why should this ride be parked between 3rd Ave and the Gowanus Canal? The "Oldest Italian Restaurant in Brooklyn" is on this block (their claim) so maybe it has something to do with that?
There ought to be a soft convertible top under that boot. Most seem to have a removable hardtop as well that looks great when installed. This is a pure Grand Tourer as it's a 2 seater.

From the rear quarter angle this has more than a passing resemblance to the Ferrari GT California made famous in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Italian cars tend to be beautiful more often than not (especially in this era) and most convertibles were handbill by separate coachworks. This car was bodied by either Bertone or Touring. Bertone is also responsible for legendary models from Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati so we're talking first class all the way.
Take a good look at those legit and mint spoke wheels with knock off spinners.

The Giulietta was Alfa Romeo's more common and popular car in the late '50s. It was available in both hardtop and Spider versions but it was smaller than the 2000. This ride sports unibody construction which makes for a combination of rigidity and relatively light weight.
*Dig the taillights with their graduated step.

As befitting a classic Tourer the interior is perfect. The dash has a straightforward cluster of big gauges flanked by old school toggle switches. An AM radio even roosts below the dash mounted rearview mirror! The window crank is plainly visible but the door handle placement is bizarre; all the way up at the front of the door panel. I guess you have to pull the handle and kind of use your elbow to open the door from within?

Since it is so rare I could only find one listing for a '59 2000 and the European auction estimate was €90,000 - €110,000 ($102,816 - $125,664). If I had a car this nice I wouldn't park it on a street with so much loose gravel and dirt but then again I might as well decide on a color for my personal plane.
This is far and away one of the most attractive rides that's ever graced the NYCHoopties blog. In the realm of hand built exotic classics the price is very fair (considering that similar Ferraris are well into the millions these days). If I ever see the owner I will do my damnedest to score a ride in it at least once. Bellissimo!   

Show Car Sunday returns with an Italian supermodel

A CAR WITH SUPERFLOW (IV)

Preamble preamble blah blah blah, just look at this car!

This is a ridiculously sexy 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider 1600 in Verde Vivo (Live Green?). The official name is Spider 1600 but everyone in the classic car game calls it the Duetto.

This is a hard ride to oversell as it is a landmark design in automotive history. Its worldwide popularity skyrocketed when a first year (1966) model was used in the movie The Graduate. For the record the movie uses the actual engine sounds of a '66 Duetto (something that happens less than you might expect in film), as well as highlighting the electrical foibles inherent in a '60s European sports car (the gas gauge doesn't work in the movie even though the car is new).

This charming 3 piece grill was only used from '66-'69. In 1970 a single body-width grill replaced it.

Look at that poor Mini Cooper getting upstaged when she's used to be being the cutest girl in the room. This car was parked on a lovely block in Carroll Gardens. Its mere presence made it look like a movie set.

I love these early covered headlights that are reminiscent of a Jaguar XKE. When this car was new it cost just under $4,000; a huge sum in '69! The Jag was priced pretty close.

This little beauty is wearing a set of Campagnolo C35 wheels that were optional on Alfas from the '80s. They are made from magnesium and are super light as a result. The original wheels & hubcaps from the factory were decidedly more delicate.

The Duetto was largely based on a 1960 Alfa show car called the Superflow IV. In fact it is so beautiful that I'm posting the pic from Wikipedia as an example:

YOWZA! I mean, this is a legit supermodel of a car. However look at the rear end and how it compares to the Duetto.
Incidentally this rear overhang is referred to as Osso di Seppia in Italian and Boattail in the U.S. The 1970 redesign gave the rear a flatter, more conventional look.

Seeing this parked on the streets of Brooklyn made ME nervous! All the edges are delicate and exposed, as is the very low rear deck. One thoughtless parking job by an SUV could ruin it!

The top looks perfect like everything else.
With the exception of a couple of mild facelifts this design lasted from 1966-1994; a remarkable run! Even more remarkable is that is heralds from the pre-safety regulation era and managed to meet requirements as they added up all the way through the '70s and '80s. The Beetle, Corvair, MG, and many others fell by the wayside as they couldn't keep up with newer laws.

This is a purists sports car. Plenty of actual gauges, wood steering wheel, stick shift, and that's about it. Somebody added a radio, but the windows, locks, and top are manual. There is a cigarette lighter right where your hand would normally fall because this is Italy in the '60s right?

In 1969 that mirror was relocated to the door from the front fender. That, combined with the rounded rear and 3 piece grill means this can only be a '69.

Too bad at least one thoughtless bastard parked by touch. From the odd placement you can see how this is a rear bumper that was trying to fit into a spot. Having had a VW Beetle with the "Cal Look" (front bumper removed) parked on the streets of San Francisco I know all too well what it's like to come out and find your baby with a black eye.

Well there we have it; a sweet little Italian job from the era of hi style. These were rare when new but luckily they've always been coveted so the survival rate is decent. To own one today you'd better be a tinkerer with a garage, an Italian mechanic, or someone with enough cheddar and patience to allow for frequent trips to the shop while you're driving the Other Car. Regardless you'd be hard pressed to look classier rolling down the street, especially if you're a lady. Bellissimo! 

Show Car Sunday returns with "The car you can test drive for the rest of your life"

GREENWICH VILLAGE ALFETTA

Italian cars tend to look recognizably Italian much the way American cars look American. The following ride is so Italian it's out of control!

I found this little dart crouched on Greenwich St in Greenwich Village looking like a red arrow. From the color to the exotic, sexy shape you can tell this was built in Italy.

This is a 1985 Alfa Romeo GTV-6 2.5. The name is a mouthful to be sure! It is the high horsepower version of the venerable Alfetta (as it was known in its home country) which was introduced in 1974 and continued through 1987 with only a minor facelift in 1980. The long run without a body change is a tradition in both Italy and the UK where a car might go several decades without a restyle.

The slippery roofline is beautiful on this ride, as is the trapezoidal overall shape. Remember that this thing left Milan during the era of perfectly square cars.

This was basically a factory built hot rod which prompted the print advertising slogan "The car you can test drive for the rest of your life". The larger engine of the full-size Alfa 6 Saloon was installed in this tiny ride, replacing the standard 2.0 liter engine (and a mere 1.6 before that). The motor was too large for the bay so a pronounced hood bulge was fabricated to make room.

Pinning down the date on these rides is almost impossible as this looked exactly the same from '80-'97. However, those particular wheels were standard only for the '85 GTV-6, so assuming they are original (and the car looks to be unchanged from new) then it most likely is. I say most likely because Italian automakers are legendary for their nonchalant record keeping. I read an article once about a guy trying to restore a Fiat X-19 and he couldn't get a single straight answer about how many were built, what year things changed (often midyear with no announcement), or which parts went with which models! The prevailing attitude seemed to be "Yeah we probably built that car, and it's beautiful and fast, so what's the issue?"

It is beautiful though. That side molding jjust under the door handle is a bit of a mystery as I found some Alfas that have it but most don't. Who knows?

The wooden steering wheel is beautiful but not original as far as I can tell. It looks identical to the one from the mid-'70s Alfas that came before the GTV-6. The radio is super duper for 1985 playing all kinds of cassettes and having lots of little buttons.

Just look at this sporty little wedge!

Here you can see the additional engine clearance in the form of a hood bulge. I find the black bit of plastic on the hood confusing because it seems like the location for a hood scoop but it's all sealed up. I tried researching it but the consensus from Alfa collectors is that it was just an '80s styling add-on that served no particular purpose.

One more look at that plastic rectangle on the hood.

One detail that makes this car so much tougher looking than the pre-1980 version is the fact that the chrome has been replaced with blacked-out trim from the factory. The window surrounds, vents under the wipers, and grill would have all been metal or chrome in the '70s but it looks great like this.

A close-up shot of the Speedline "Phone Dial" wheels that mark this as an '85. The funny thing is that these wheels earned their nickname after touch-tone dialing had already taken over.

We'll leave this little red rocket here to hold down its corner of the Village. After the 1987 model year the GTV6 was finally discontinued which left a hole in the Alfa Romeo lineup that wasn't filled until the GTV was released in 1995 (which unfortunately coincided with Alfa Romeo pulling out of the U.S. market). The fact that this design, whose roots hail from 1974, looks as fierce today as it did then is remarkable.