re: US Alfasud sold

[Johnson David-QA2282 <David.R.Johnson@domain.elided>]

Andrew Watry wrote: "I saw in a recent Classic and Sportscar from the UK
that Tom Zat's Alfasud (ti, I think) (reportedly the very first one? brought
to the US by ARI for evaluation?) sold at auction for a reported $7000 +.
Can that be right? Anyone know the details?  Did it run, etc? Most of Zat's
"museum" cars that I've heard of needed extensive work ...  How many
Alfasuds could you buy in Europe for that much? All of them?"

When I visited Zat's collection a couple of years or so ago, I saw this car.
Most, but not all, of the cars Zat lists for sale on his web page (see
http://www.alfaheaven.com/AHI_Text_Pages/AHIcars2.html ), were in a modern
barn or warehouse type building, which appeared dry and warm when I showed
up in the winter season.  This particular Alfasud appeared to be
cosmetically in good condition, admittedly under cursory inspection in
poorish light conditions.  It certainly did not appear to be a basket case
to my eyes, and if it has significant rust then it is either not visible or
is well covered up.  However, all of these cars have not been driven for
many years, and I don't believe they were properly prepared for storage.
Therefore, the buyer will likely find that (s)he has quite a bit of work to
do to the braking system, fuel system and so on to replace everything which
has degraded or become gunked up with time.

As to whether the car is worth $7000, with a car this rare in the US that is
really up to the buyer.  Assuming the body is solid due to indoor storage,
and the car really has the historical provenance that the web site claims (
and I would want clear proof of this before I parted with my pile of cash),
then I can see the car being worth this much to someone who cares about
these things.  Indeed, I doubt many American buyers would purchase it simply
because they believed it would be an entertaining runabout.  Spares would of
course be non-existant over here, and even if the car was emissions and
safety approved (don't remember if they got that far before deciding not to
import), it would probably be a struggle to get it registered and insured.
If the car is DOT/DOE approved, then there would be nothing preventing one
from shipping a nice example over from Italy or another country with a
climate suited to Sud longetivity, a path which might well end up costing
less than restoring this car.

However, if the idea of owning a Sud in the US appeals it should be noted
that Tom has another example for sale on the same page, a bright yellow
Sprint body style which was apparently a pro-rally car.  I can imagine
running one of these in some kind of vintage racing series would be fun,
although finding a suitable class might be interesting.  But one would be
well advised to know what one is getting into, as Tom made it clear to me
that once he sells a car, there is no further support beyond a helping hand
to push it out the door.

Dave J.
1987 Milano Verde
1964 2600 Sprint

P.S. It'll be a brave but virtuous soul who buys the Colli wagon - it was
stored outside although under a roof, and looked to be full of rust two
years back!

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