We are covering this rare Alfa Romeo again because it has changed hands since it was last listed. JO

We feature barn finds and garage finds all the time, what would you expect, right? Well, some of those finds aren’t always genuine. The seller parks a car in a barn or a garage for a bit and then decides to sell it and voila’, a Barn Find. Here’s the real deal, a genuine garage find in the form of a 1952 Alfa Romeo 1900C. It is located, now, in Astoria, New York and is available here on Gullwing Motor Cars for $267,000 (gulp!). Thanks to Araknid78 for this great discovery!

While the Alfa Romeo 1900 (1950-1959) is not a particularly rare automobile (approximately 21K), the cabriolet version, designed by Pinin Farina, only saw 88 copies. This rarity spent its first fourteen years in Germany and in 1966, its most recent owner brought it to New Hampshire where it was driven sporadically. The pictured garage became this Alfa’s domicile from 1983 until now.

While appearing to be intact, there is a healthy coat of surface rust covering is cabriolet’s faded ivory finish, a finish that is claimed to not be original as records from a prior 1964 sale indicate that blue was the exterior color. Unfortunately, the rust extends to the chrome-plated bits, including the distinctive Alfa grille. The body panels, themselves, all appear to be straight with no sign of crash damage or serious rot-through. Fortunately, the convertible top frame is present and hopefully still serviceable – it’s probably not a commonly sourced item!

The engine is advertised as being a TIPO 1308 which is a 2.0 liter, DOHC, in-line four. It is “sought after” vs. the smaller TIPO 1306 which is a 1.9-liter motor. The 61K mile engine looks as if it has been dormant for a very long time. The transmission is a steering column shifted four-speed manual.

The interior is in pretty rough shape. It’s basically finished off in burgundy which wouldn’t have lined up with this Alfa’s supposedly prior shade of blue. Perhaps it has been changed? There are a few older images of this car included in the listing, and even though they are black and white photos, they don’t indicate that this car was ever blue unless it was a very pale shade. Anyway, back to the interior, it’s about as one would expect for a car that has been sitting, presumedly, in top-down mode, in a garage since 1983. The white painted dash definitely appears to be a respray as the paint is peeling in a fashion that looks like the undersurface wasn’t properly prepared. There is a large opening in the center of the dash where something has been removed, an original style radio perhaps? It looks like a later added receiver has been attached, crookedly, to the bottom edge of the dash. The interior is going to require, like the exterior, a complete makeover.

I’m not sure how one would value such a rarity but north of a quarter mil. seems steep, especially considering all of the work and investment this Alfa Romeo is going to need. That said, the seller is no stranger to rare cars in poor condition so he probably has a pretty good idea of its before and after value. In spite of the challenge, and expense, I hope someone (with deep pockets!) takes this Alfa on, it’s too rare to just languish and deteriorate further, wouldn’t you agree?