Velocissima, not Mille Miglia-

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

Bret Powelson, owner of a genuine Mille Miglia Edition Alfetta, knows whereof
he speaks in contradicting my jumped-to conclusion that Terry Akins' car is a
'Mille Miglia', and suggesting that instead he has a 'Velocissima' (terminal
'a', not 'o') Edition or a 'Mario Andretti' Edition. 'Velocissima' more
likely, if not certain. Alternately, Terry could have a "Bitsa", a car
assembled from a standard Alfetta and the tack-ons salvaged from a dead
'Velocisima'. 

My excuse? Terry's car is a '79, the last model year (I thought) that Alfettas
were sold here, and I had leafed chronologically through a pile of "Alfa
Owner" magazines before finding the 'Mille Miglia' announcement in the
November 1979 issue and the advertisement by ARI in the January 1980 issue,
both long after 1980 cars would have generally been announced, and I stopped
looking. (I had started in '74, expecting to pick up others, but "Alfa Owner"
apparently ignored the 'Mario Andretti'.) 

If I had only gone one month further- the February 1980 "Alfa Owner" has the
'Velocissima' on the back cover.

The text says "At the present rate, its going to be difficult to find an
ordinary Sprint Veloce. Hard on the heels of the 'Mille Miglia' limited
edition Alfa Romeo Inc. has announced the 'Velocissima' Aerodynamics System
coupe designed and modified by Roberto Magris of Florence, Italy. To our
knowledge, the $1,850 package of modifications makes this car the first to
take a name already used by one of our chapter newsletters, rather than the
other way around. 'Velocissima' is the monthly publication of the Alfa Owners
of New England. (Then edited by, and mostly written by, one Fred Di Matteo-)

"The accessories found on the 'Velocissima' are: the lovely Ronal wheels so
widely used by rallyists in Europe; Rallyguard fog lamp protective brackets;
Cibie 95 halogen fog lamps mounted under the front bumper; a right side
Tornado rear view mirror; Blaupunkt CR-2001 cassette-player-radio; Jensen
coaxial speakers; Hirschman amplified antenna; and halogen high-beam
headlights.

"The 'Velocissima' Aerodynamics System includes the following body
modifications: front spoiler integral with air guide front fender flares; air
guide rear fender flares; a hatchback-mounted boundary layer air guide; a rear
air dam; and side ventilation extractors."

It goes on for a couple of paragraphs of what sound like quotations from an
ARI press-release. "ARI says", "ARI adds", "according to ARI", but the "Owner"
ends on a slightly skeptical note by discussing the aerodynamics of the Giulia
TI and saying "No coefficient of drag is given for the new Velocissima, but
the TI's was 0.341".

One point suggesting that this is a "Bitsa" rather than a pukka 'Velocissima'
is that Terry's car has a factory sun roof, which is not mentioned in the
'Velocissima' description and also is not visible on a 'Velocissima' pictured
in Joe Benson's book (with incorrect Daytona five-star wheels).

I have nothing on the Mario Andretti, apparently ignored by "Alfa Owner" and
not illustrated by Benson, although he describes it briefly: "The Mario
Andretti Signature Edition was first, and featured a rear spoiler, special red
carpeting, an Ansa exhaust, Koni shocks, some trim decals and a signature
plaque." 

Onward to Terry's questions, which I was starting to answer before Bret
Powelson's correction showed up.

>>1. (snip) Did Haynes make a manual for this car?

Yes, and Autobooks did too, both good and it is often useful two have two
versions of a process, especially when they are written in English-English.
Try the usual sources, if not available I could probably flush a spare copy of
one or the other out of the stacks. You still need Spica instructions (AROC,
Wes Ingram, Braden) as the two Brit manuals cover only those obsolete
carburetors.

>>2.Anybody have exact numbers on how many Mille Miglias were built? What is
the value of the car?(Driver's value, not necessarily monetary investment
value.)

Extremely doubtful that there is any record of the numbers built, no more than
500, but that was probably an in-house joke as neither the coupes nor the
sedans were selling well here - as Bret Powelson pointed out, "not very many
Sprint Veloces were made that year", and some unsold '79 Sport Sedans were
eventually shipped back to Italy and dumped. If you look at the year-by-year
sales figures for Milanos and 164s it is hard to escape the conclusion that in
the US everyone who wants a new-model Alfa one buys one early, everyone else
waits-out the depreciation curve, and the new-car sales curve quickly drops
and flat-lines. If the last year of Milano sales in the US had ended with a
"Targa Florio Special Edition" with special wheels, a few badges and maybe
some plastic "wood" trim on the dash would they have sold 500? Doubtful.
 
On value, the 'Mille Miglia" ads were headed with "COLLECTIBLE" in big bold
type and quotes, credited to "Phill Hill, Champion Driver/Automobile
Collector", but today it would be a stretch to call any mechanically standard
Alfetta a collector's car. There are a few discriminating people who would
rather have an Alfetta Sport Sedan than a Milano, but not enough of them to
support a premium price. Eventually the Alfetta coupes may be more prized than
a GTV-6, for the same reasons as a Giulia Super trumping a Berlina, a stepnose
trumping a 2000 GTV, or a 750 Giulietta outpricing a 101, but that will take a
while. I would certainly pay a bit more for one with the Ronals than one with
wheels I didn't like as well, but zip for the badges and superspoilers (of
either version). Someone else might.

>>4.Were the door handles painted on these cars?

Not in the ad or the magazine photos, of either version.

>>5.Is there a specific VIN coding/sequence of numbers that signifies the
special editions?  

Very doubtful. My best information is that the USA "special editions" were all
done after the cars got here, although the "Owner" description says the
'Velocissimas' were "designed and modified by Roberto Magris of Florence,
Italy". Given the slow sales of '79s, I have a hard time believing that the
otherwise US-spec cars would be built in Milan, modified in Florence (great
city, but not a logical car center) and then shipped here. More logical to
ship the ad-ons here and assemble in New Jersey. The absence of these mods
from Italian books on Alfettas which seem to cover 'kits' thoroughly might
support this. A recall notice I have on 1979 Spiders fitted with a particular
design of wheel (a Campagnolo 'dish' style), perhaps an aborted "special
edition", lists 61 cars with serial numbers between 6118 and 6773, with just
two pairs of cars having consecutive numbers, and I would expect all non-
factory "special editions" to be similarly random. 

For the mechanical questions, giubos and fans etc, they should be straight
Alfetta.

>>12.Where could I get some photos of this car?

I'm not sure about now, but until the recent move AROC members could buy back
issues, November '79 for the Mille Miglia and February 1980 for the
Velocissima. Otherwise, I could snailmail photocopies.

Thanks to Bret Powelson for correcting me. I needed that.

Cordially, 

John H.
Raleigh N.C.

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End of alfa-digest V7 #420
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