We've featured a handful of Alfa Romeo GTV coupes on CICFS as of late, however, none as nice or original as this car, currently for sale in California. This GTV is a one owner, original car with a shade over 34,000 miles on the clock. Yes, you read that right. From the factory applied cosmoline underneath to the spare tire having never touched the road, this is a time warp car if I've ever seen one.
1974 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000
This is a one owner from new 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000, it was delivered new in Oakland California by Ken Block Alfa Romeo, 3074 Broadway, Oakland, California, It has covered just 38,629 miles from new, a truly incredible car, having never seen rain or inclement weather of any sort, the single owner was absolutely fastidious in keeping his Alfa in pristine condition
Documentation
If you like documentation then this is the car for you, he kept every piece of paper from the original sales contract, window sticker, sales brochure, even the card of the selling salesman. There is a plastic sleeve with all of the yearly registration documents including the first "drive away" permit, Xeroxed receipt for purchase and of course the Alfa Romeo owners manual plus the Service book complete with the credit card style owners identification. There are bills for service work and repairs spanning the years plus a note book annotating service work and mileage in the 80's.There are two Concours trophies from 1977 and 1978, one for first place the other second, these are carefully wrapped in tissue paper. In 1985 the chosen marque of the Monterey Historics was Alfa Romeo and members of the Alfa Romeo Club were invited to take part in the parade of cars driven on the famous circuit, each car was given a large race style sticker with a race style number which was displayed on the front hood, after the parade the sticker was removed, carefully reapplied to its backing and preserved in the file of documents, there is also a brochure for the 85 event with a pull out supplement detailing the owners club cars that took part in the parade, this is also included
Underside
As you can see from the pictures the underside is rust free and original, all of the factory applied Cosmoline is still there covering the sub frame, floors, inner arches, all panels are still in their white paint under the Cosmoline, the suspension is black, the Alfa Romeo white lettering on the shock absorbers is clearly visible and the nuts and bolts still hold their zinc plating. The drive train is clean and tidy with no visible leaks, the rear axle complete with limited slip diff is in its original alloy finish, the gearbox and motor look factory fresh. The sump is protected by the steel fence style sump guard which I am told is an option. Please note that the dealer "window sticker" is included.
Interior
A remarkably well preserved, original interior, the dashboard has no cracks, the door panels are superb, the factory carpets are fresh and black and there is no fading to any of the black finishes. The instruments are clear and bright and all of the switches and gauges work faultlessly, the center tunnel covers are without cracks or flaws and the wood paneling is perfect. There is the addition of a radio-cassette in the dashboard along with a switch under the steering column for a european style rear light. The stitching on the seats is excellent, there are no rips or tears son any of the sides or surfaces. The seat belts work as they should. The only items at fault are the gear lever shroud and the handbrake shroud, they are both torn.
Engine Bay
The motor compartment is clean and tidy, it gleams in its Alfa Romeo white surrounding the lovely twin cam 2.0 power plant, the Spica injection is complete and works flawlessly. The underside of the hood displays the correct factory stickers along with the two concours badges. The original Spica fuel Injection system is still present and works perfectly. The windshield washer bag is present along with the original radiator showing the factory paint markings on it's top surface. Inside the hood all of the original spot welds are visible, the stickers are still under the hood as you would expect.
Trunk
Simply superb, it could be two years old, the original floors are without equal, the paint is superb even in the wheel well and the spare wheel wears its original Michelin XWX tire which has never seen the road. The unused jack is there along with the correct factory toolkit
Bodywork
This car gleams from top to bottom, to say "rust-free" would be an understatement, I cannot find one single rust bubble anywhere, I believe this must be one of the finest GTV 2000s available for sale today. The spot welds are clearly visible on all panels, inside the front and rear hood, the rockers and inside the wheel arches, these are impossible to duplicate and are never seen on restored cars. The sides are flat and smooth without door dings or waves, the gaps are all perfect apart from a slight variation behind the passenger door, it looks like there may have been a dent there at some stage. I bought it from the owners son who assured me that the paint was all original apart from the front hood which had been repainted after it was scratched, this may well be but I feel certain that after forty years it must have been painted, but it's such a superb car and the finish so dazzling that its really hard to tell, I can find no sign of overspray or masking, the front and rear screens appear never to have never been out and it has the characteristic darkening of the paint where it has kissed up against the rubber. The passenger front fender has definitely had some paint below the swage line and backward of the side marker, it is a slightly different shade. The brightwork is absolutely straight and perfect, the bumpers are correct stainless steel and are razor straight, all badges are excellent, all lights clear and bright. The rear signal units were replaced for European spec. orange lenses, the originals are included in their proper Alfa Romeo parts bags, the plastic badge on the trunk was changed for an earlier enameled one, again the original is included.
With about three days left in the auction, we are past $30,000, with a buy it now price of $41,999. While most GTVs of this vintage sell anywhere from $20,000 to $35,000 depending on mileage and condition, it doesn't make the price of this impressive coupe seem unreasonable. The only problem is, of course, do you drive it, or do you continue to use it sparingly as the original owner has? These cars are meant to be driven, and given that reality, regrettably, this would not be the car for me. I'd rather have a car I could use without feeling guilty every time I left the garage. Still, there is no denying just how exceptional this car is. Kudos to the original owner for preserving one of Alfa Romeo's best coupes.
-Paul
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