pre-purchase '90 spider

[Buchignani Richard M <BuchignaniRichardM@domain.elided>]

Ken: my 2 cents worth. 1st, a 12000k car should look like one particularly
the interior. check out the seats, floor mats, rubbers on the pedals, boots
on the stick shift and on the hand break. If you see excessive wear, suspect
something. If all looks ok, absolutely, get it checked by a qualified alfa
mechanic. It doesn't cost much and worth the investment. 

As far as the differences between the graduate, veloce and quad: The only
items yours will have different from a veloce are the seats, (vinyl vs
leather), alloy wheels vs steel although yours may have alloy if the
original owner took the option-if not you can get them rather cheap from
scrapped spiders if you are interested in that although steel with caps does
not look bad,  power windows, cloth top vs vinyl, CD player i believe came
standard on the veloce. I just bought a 91 spider-non-veloce. the only thing
I miss are the leather seats. Like yours mine came with option a/c, power
doors and locks + CD player-i would have preferred it did not come with all
of that. Only the a/c adds 5-600 lbs. to the car & really when will one use
it being a convertible and all.. And as Hal Taylor mentioned more strip down
is more the nature of a true sports car. 
The quad added spoilers all around. 

'90 vs the last 'duetto' models '91-'93 the major differences are cosmetics
particularly the rear end which was the area that needed it the
most-according to some. To my taste, it makes all the difference in the
world and I opted to wait until I found a '91-'93 before purchasing. the
only possible mechanical difference, but i am really not sure, is the
variable timing on the engine. Not sure if that came pre-'91. This is a
feature the Japanese makers are today tooting as a major
breakthrough/feature on their hondas and Toyota's. Oh yes, they added a
driver side airbag on the '91 models-advantage or not?

12000k cars don't come along very often though. I saw a '93 spider veloce
with 23000k advertised in texas going for $15 000. so you have to consider
your budget as well. If it's what it's advertised to be, looks like you have
a winner! Most alfas I have come by have a lot of k's on them-they are so
fun to drive!

best of luck 

Richard Buchignani
buchignanirichardm@domain.elided

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