Parked For 35 Years: 1967 Alfa Romeo Spider
So here’s to you Mrs. Robinson…yeah, yeah, I know, the Alfa Romeo used in the 1967 film, “The Graduate” was actually a ’66 model and not a ’67 but every time I spy an Alfa of this era, that’s the first image that flies into my mind. After a long slumber, the seller has woken it up, detailed it, and is now ready to find a new home for this ’67 Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider. It is located in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, and is available here on eBay for a current bid of $11,304 (U.S.), twenty-three bids tendered so far.
First up, there is a great video included with the listing and you should review it here. It details this Alfa’s awakening and all that has been done to it to prepare it for sale. It’s pretty extensive and well-produced! The finish brightened up nicely with a buffing, the seller indicates that it is a repaint. The body appears to be mostly free of rot and there is no identifiable crash damage. There is some bubbling and chipping in front of the rear left wheel so that could be indicative of a bigger problem. The exterior has been adorned with new headlight covers, a new top, and new tires. It looks good!
The interior cleaned up nicely too. It is showing a few signs of age but is very typical for being original and over a half a century in age. The seller does suggest that this Alfa will require floor repair or replacement due to rust. The driver’s seat is starting to seam-separate and the driver’s door needs a window regulator replacement, included in the sale, but beyond that, and the missing sun visors, it’s pretty complete and tidy.
The video contains a segment of this Alfa motoring along and it would seem to run, drive, and stop very nicely. The seller replaced the spark plugs, battery, and coolant as well as changed the oil. He then takes it for a drive and all goes well. The engine is a 1.6 liter, in-line, four-cylinder, DOHC unit with dual Weber carburetors and is good for 108 HP. Backing up the engine is a five-speed manual transmission; Alfa may have been a bit ahead of their time with that inclusion as four-speed manuals were still pretty typical.
I don’t know what to make of Alfa Romeo, they were gone from U.S. shores for many years and there is a valid reason for that. They made a return in 2016 but that return does not appear to have so far been the sales or reliability success as originally planned. It is a storied marque with a successful past and was known for its performance chops. The Spider, while not an enormous sales generator, 124K units over 28 years (1966-1993) or 4,400 average per year, does have longevity on its side. Small two-seaters have a limited appeal and that appeal has shrunk in recent times, at least as far as new model offerings are concerned.
But forget about the present, you can relive Dustin Hoffman’s starring role in this ’67 Alfa if that sort of thing excites you. If not, you can just enjoy an old school two-seater that you actually get to drive instead of having it drive you like so many new cars do. This is a true barn find resurrection and the seller is to be complimented for the effort that he invested to make this Alfa an attractive purchase candidate. I would be interested to know if any of our readers ever owned an Alfa Romeo Spider and if so, what did you like or dislike about it?
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Comments
Love the “Graduate” reference. Probably put Simon and Garfunkel on the map. Fantastic cars, a Fiat, it ain’t. That’s why I said, there’s better Italian cars than Fiat, here’s one right here. My brother had a ’63, kind of similar, same type of motor, the 1st car I ever drove with a 5 speed. To say it was an exhilarating experience, would be an understatement. You never forget the sound these made, which sadly, I haven’t heard in quite some time.
Ok Howard
How? How and why is it better. I own both a 1967 Alfa Spider that could be a twin of this one for sell and a 1972 Fiat Spider. I know the pros and cons of the vehicles very well.
So my simple question is how is the Alfa Spider better than the Fiat spider.
Oh I also own a 64 Alfa spider which should be the near twin of your brothers, but depending on when his was built it may have had front Drum brakes where mine has front disc.
Hi Kevin, out of respect, I’ll try and answer that. 1st, I’m no Italian car expert, like you, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I can tell you all about a Cummins 855 diesel, or an MGB front to back, Italian cars, not so much. AS a layperson on Italian cars, but with vast mechanical knowledge, I look at the obvious. Right off the bat, it’s got chain drive cams. I won’t own another car with a belt. Alfas seemed to have better build quality than a Fiat, and I thought those Alfa front drum brakes did as good, or better job than the disc. There is a difference in cars design. I’d compare an Alfa to a Fiat, like a Packard or a Ford. I can appreciate your passion for Fiats, but it will be a nice day in Wisconsin before I’d own one. Alfa, I’d love to have.
Hey Howard you do realize that the Fiat spider and Alfa Spider were built in the same factory. The cars were both built and styled by Pininfarina. I have a picture in a book that shows them both going down their respective assembly lines about 50 meters apart. Bertone did the same with the Montreal and the 850 spider. Pininfarina built and designed both of these cars, Alfa and Fiat just supplied the mechanical’s.
I don’t have an issue with the Gilmer belt. They are good for 60k miles and easy to change. I just did a chain on a GM 3.6, and a Mini cooper, and previously a couple of v8 jags. I will take a belt all day long vs the chains in a modern cars. It doesn’t really bother me on the Fiat or the Alfa that one is chain and the other is a belt.
As far as engine design goes both engines are good but the Fiat is better, and it should be as Lampredi designed it 10 years after Busso designed the Alfa engine. Both were successful in motorsports but the Fiat was more successful winning several world championship with them.I can go in depth of the pros and cons of each if you would like.
I like both and own both, if you hide the badges most people could not tell you one is better than the other, and as far as aesthetics go when they came out the Alfa was panned and given the nickname “Osso di Seppia” or cuttlefish bone, while the Fiat was compared to a 275 GTS, all were designed by Pininfarina and time has been kind to the Alfa.
As a side note I have two patents with Cummins. I did a spherical bearing piston design, it never went into production but some of the coating that we were working with did, and I did a water pump seal design which did make it into production on the N14. That was 30+ years ago.
Of all the Alfa Spiders, the early long-tail Duettos (for some reason, I don’t think the name was used in the U.S.) are my absolute favorite. Beautiful, distinctive design, a wonderful engine, with everything else every bit as delightful.
Never drove one of these when they were new (did drive a well-restored example much later), and drove a number of later Kamm-tail Spiders, which were somewhat less than ideal in many respects. by the time the bumpers were beefed up to meet government standards, the structure was a little, well, limber, and emission controls did the engines a power of no good. I even drove one fitted with an automatic transmission, which was a real buzzkill.
I would worry about rust (more, perhaps, than the seller mentions, because that’s what Alfas do) and for me, the current bid price is all the money considering the costs of getting this fully sorted. Aside from that, Duettos are charming and a blast to drive. I could be tempted, but probably not by this one.
“Mrs Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me.”
Got some rattle can undercoating, which is troubling, but the seller says right out that it need floors. Great pics. Good inspection with a magnet. Could be a nice project. Know what you are buying. Good luck and stay safe.
Cheers
GPC
I looked this one over and it looks decent.
The good points is that it look pretty decent and complete, and that the brakes have been changed from the horrible Dunlops to ATE. This is a great mod.
The bad
It does have some rust. In truth I would like to poke around the car to see how bad it is. If it is not to bad I usually tell customers to drive it a year or two and enjoy and before you drop money into a paint job because to fix the rust and paint it is going to be expensive and it is better to make sure you really like the car.
The rear trunnion side bushing are gone and it probably is going to need a lot of bushing replaced.
The sitting pedals do not like to be inactive for long periods of time and are likely to freeze.
These are great this time of year and I am splitting my daily driving time between one of my Alfa’s or Fiat’s with a little Morgan driving thrown in just for fun. I have the Alfa virus pretty bad and own way more than I should including one that is the twin of this one. I like it but in truth I prefer both my ’64, 74 and even my 90 to it. The 64 is a 101 car and the chassis are just better than the 105’s. The 74 is an early kamm tail, and I prefer its greater windshield rake, the better trunk and the hanging pedals. It also has more power which doesn’t hurt. The 90 is just an oddball series 3 with the series 4 motronic engine, and it just runs so well and has AC for those hot days, and it is boringly reliable.
Fun cars but they can be addictive.
Oh my guess on the going price for this one 15 to 20k and I would not be surprised if it goes closer to 20, though with the issues of rust and sitting it is better priced closer to 15
It seems cars with italian bodies are rust buckets. I owned a 1969 Alfa Boat Tail Spider which was a gas to drive, but lacked reliability and was prone to rust and later I had my favorite car of all time, a 1967 Glas 1700 GT which was stupendous, alas a rust bucket, body built in Italy by Bertone (I think)
The Glas was actually made in Germany. I had to look up the designer and it was Frau, so that explains the Italian looks. Pretty nice cars with BMW mechanical.
Everything built before the 80s rusted and on any vintage vehicle you have to look and make the determination if it is worth it.
The Glas was designed and built by the Hans Glas GMBH in Dingolfing and was a totally independent design having nothing to do with BMW. They bought Glas at the order of the Bavarian government in 1967, used a 1056 left-over 1700GT´s by installing a BMW mill and front suspension. The body was designed and built in Italy. Hans Glas was an astounding designer of 2-stroke and 4 stroke engines, water cooled or air cooled, in-line or boxer format, excellent motor scooters,and the wildly successful micro car Goggomobil.
Wiki gives credit for the design of the body to pietro Frau. Not sure it is accurate but it looks like one of his.
Hey Kevin, a question, which later model Alfa Spider in your opinion is a good deal. I see lots for sale, seemingly well kept, for reasonable prices. You have a 1990? You can email me directly at: [email protected] so as not to take up BF forum space………PS….I had a 1970 Fiat 124 Coupe that I loved
This car belongs to the guy from “Curiousity Inc”. There are some videos on the repairing and restoration of the Alfa.
I have owned several of the later Alfa Spiders as well as a fleet of Fiat Spiders, 124 coupes (which you never see) and even a couple of X 1/9. Rust is the #1 killer of both these marques. So much so I would quickly pass on any crunchy example unless I finally take that welding course at the votech college.
I have a 71 1750 Spider and am well acquainted with where the rust is! This is a nice find but I sure would like to see more photos of the driver and passenger floorboards, rocker panels and the undercarriage before I bid. Otherwise this could be a real find. Good luck!
ended early
This is my favorite of the Duettos. Covered headlights, smooth tail with slim taillights and skinny bumper(ettes). My friend, and Company commander, had a light blue ’67 (in ’67) and he enlisted me to help clean and do mechanical work (yep, adjusting those cam chains) and then we’d head for the winding roads in our area of Germany. Great sounds, and very different from my monster high performance 390 Ford V8. Anyway, it was great when it was nice out, but I was nearly 6’4″ then and wouldn’t ride with him if the top was up. He actually managed to spin it off the road avoiding a worse accident and put it on it’s top in a ditch. Luckily for him the roof supports (at low speed) held and he walked away !
“Now listen, Ben!
I think it’s fine, that a young man,
after he’s done some very good work,
get to lie around, drink beer, and so on. . .
. . .but after a few weeks,
I would think that young man
would like to take some stock in himself and in his situation,
and start to think about getting off his ass!”
-Mr. Braddock to Benjamin
(The Graduate, 1967)