'67 2600 Berlina - from John

["Shadle, Scott <NHTSA>" <Scott.Shadle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Having owned a 2600 Berlina, I can give you and your friend some info and=
 advi
ce.
First, there are not any "regular production" '67 2600 Berlinas.  Accordi=
ng to
 Fusi and several other resources that I queried when I owned mine (in 19=
75-19
76), including Don Black, production ceased in calendar 1965 (I believe i=
t was
 sometime after mid-year).  However, mine was reportedly built in 1966, a=
nd th
e DC registration that I was given when I bought the car said it was a '6=
7.  A
ccording to the resources mentioned above, the serial number for my car d=
id no
t exist; it was much too high, several hundred above what was supposed to=
 be t
he "last one built."  I bought mine in Washington, DC from someone who wo=
rked =

at the Italian Embassy.  The story was that the Italian ambassador in the=
 mid-
'60's like the 2600 Berlinas and wanted 2 to use as staff cars at the emb=
assy;
 but they were out of production.  However, since Alfa was owned by the I=
talia
n government, they simply ordered that two be built from spare parts.  In=
 tryi
ng to get my car in good working order, I got a parts book and basic manu=
als a
nd went to work.  I quickly found that there were many things about my ca=
r tha
t "weren't right."  Many trim parts and accessories didn't match; which c=
ould =

make sense if the car was really a "spare parts bastard."  Anyway,  It's =
possi
ble that her car is one of these Italian embassy cars, hence the '67 desi=
gnati
on.
Also,  somewhere I recall seeing information about some custom bodied 260=
0 Ber
linas that were built after the factory cars went out of production.  But=
, if =

your friend recognized the car from photos of a regular one, that is unli=
kely =

since the photos of the custom cars that I've seen show very distinctive =
cars =

with very sleek (at least compared to a regular 2600 Berlina) 4-door.
As for value, if the car is in very good condition, particularly the body=
, gla
ss, interior and accessories, it may be of some value to an "odd-ball" co=
llect
or (not the collector being odd-ball, but a collector of odd-ball cars). =
 My c
omment about body, glass, interior and accessories comes from my experien=
ce in
 '76 trying to get parts for the car.  Most mechanical parts for engine, =
drive
 train and suspension were readily (by Alfa standards) available, but any=
 part
s not shared by the Sprints and Spiders were virtually unobtainable (at l=
east =

20 years ago).  Not being able to get parts, I sold the car to Bob Cozza =
(spel
ling) from Bobcor in NJ.  Reportedly, his wife liked the car and he inten=
ded t
o restore it for her.  Well, I was told that he had so much difficulty in=
 gett
ing parts that the car was never finished  (but I don't know this for a f=
act).

Regarding "odd-ball", if your friend doesn't know how to drive a manual s=
hift,
 it may not be a good idea to try to learn on the 2600 Berlina since it i=
s a 5
- -speed on the column!  I gotta tell ya', but did I get many a odd stare p=
ullin
g away from a stop light after I shifted for the third time, but when I s=
hifte
d again there was usually an exaggerated double-take.  As owners of older=
 Alfa
s know the cars had "heater blower fan lights."  Well, on the 2600 Berlin=
a you
 needed one.  The heater cores (yes, there are two of them) are underneat=
h the
 headlights with the fans right behind them and then there are ducts into=
 the =

passengers compartment (without the light there was no way to tell when t=
he fa
ns were running).  The car was a great cruising car, being quite heavy, b=
ut so
mewhat firmly sprung and shocked.  Also, the lack of "ANY" compliant susp=
ensio
n bushings (it has no ball joints; it has real "kingpins" and all the sus=
pensi
on joints were steel pins the greased bronze bushings), gave a very tight=
 feel
 on the highway.  However, with 29 (if my memory is good) grease fittings=
 and =

more than 7 quarts of oil, your friend will never qualify for the  19.95 =
oil c
hange/lube special.  John, if I can be of more help to your friend, you c=
an co
ntact me directly.
Scott Shadle
Safety Defect Engineer
=0D Office of Defects Investigation
Nat'l Hwy Traffic Safety Admin.
(202)366-2583-office
(202)366-1767-fax
(301)589-8168-home
sshadle@domain.elided
'58 Giulietta Spider Veloce
'69 1750 Spider Veloce
and the "twins"
two '87 Milano Platinums (both dark blue/grey)
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End of alfa-digest V7 #294
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