A Taste of Italy

Last time I saw an Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce in person, it was sitting right next to another Spider Veloce at some sketchy used car dealership in New Jersey. Both cars were on their last legs.

They were most likely being used as parts cars but the salesman was trying to sell me them as a pair saying there was one complete car between the two. On the phone, he said he had a Spider Veloce in good shape.

Four flat tires, rusted panels everywhere, a misfiring motor, bad electrics and an oil stain on the underside of the hood apparently meant “good shape” to him.

Anyway, that’s definitely not the case with this 1984 Series 3 Spider Veloce shown above with and without the hardtop. It’s now owned by my wife’s company’s photographer, Courtney.

Purchased by him in 2000, the plan was to put it away and fix it up. That work is well underway and the car should be back on the road in a few months, just in time for the Spring.

At a glance, an Alfa enthusiast might think it’s a Series 2 since there’s no rubber spoiler, but this car had its spoiler removed at some point. Along with the spoiler, the A/C unit was removed in the past so the current owner had his brother make a fitting for the lighter in place of the A/C controls and some added mahogany pieces that give the interior a nice vintage look.

I’ve been trying to get my hands on a quality Spider for some time but unfortunately they are few and far between in my area.

I’m just happy to see people like this keeping classic Alfas on the road no matter how difficult they are to maintain.

Thanks to Courtney for allowing me to feature his photos on the blog. You can see some of his professional work here.

~Jeff