The cool older car that you want and could get

Cool car

After owning many VW Bugs over the years, my wife and I always wanted a BMW 2002, like xp8103 has pictured. Found one last June in Gadsden Ala., 2 owner 1975, pastelblau, had been stored for at least 5 years after the death of the 2nd owner. We are now starting thru the resto, surprised at all the rust it does not have. Good runner, and the parts are all available and are resonably priced.

radan2 said:

Alfa-Romeo Giulietta Spyder
Slow, unreliable, cramped, poorly made, sure to let you down at the worst possible moment. But so beautiful!

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Have you ever owned one? I restored a "63" Giulia Spider back in 1976, drove it from CT. to Ca. & used it as my daily driver for the next 5 years. It never stranded me anywhere & was a joy to drive. Much more leg room then any of the Brit sports cars of the time. The bodies were hand built by Pininfarina with all welded seams. They were only unreliable when owners neglected the regular maintenance.

Currently restoring a 1965 Giulia Spider Veloce, the last of that classic series.

We BMW riders seem to come from the same stock.

I drove a '64 Giula Spider from 1968 to 1972. It was everything its predecessor (an XK-150) wasn't: light, responsive, watertight, good brakes, comfortable. It was followed by a 2002, which I drove for nine years. They were both great cars.

radan2 said:

Alfa-Romeo Giulietta Spyder

Slow, unreliable, cramped, poorly made, sure to let you down at the worst possible moment. But so beautiful!

Click to expand...

35634 said:

And it had a gorgeous DOHC aluminum engine. Compared to it's British competition, the little spyder was a dream come true.

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I did my time in and under Brit bikes and cars while drooling over Italian beauties.

28796 said:

Have you ever owned one? I restored a "63" Giulia Spider back in 1976, drove it from CT. to Ca. & used it as my daily driver for the next 5 years. It never stranded me anywhere & was a joy to drive. Much more leg room then any of the Brit sports cars of the time. The bodies were hand built by Pininfarina with all welded seams. They were only unreliable when owners neglected the regular maintenance.

Currently restoring a 1965 Giulia Spider Veloce, the last of that classic series.

Click to expand...

I bought one in 1975. The previous owner had never changed either of the air filters, and probably never changed the oil.

The distributor cap fell apart on me while on the way to a wedding--fortunately, not mine. I fixed it with electrical tape.

The brake master cylinder rebuild took an experienced European car mechanic 9 hours.

It gave me nothing but 4 years of heartbreak and expense, interspersed with minutes of absolute pleasure.

I finally sold it to someone with the knowledge and resources (mainly money) to restore it. I saw it two years later, and it was gorgeous. I am glad someone who could afford to fix it and take care of it finally got it.

But I still miss it.

A 1968 Shelby Mustang, GT 500 KR, 428 SCJ. Thats me!

dbrick said:

We BMW riders seem to come from the same stock.

I drove a '64 Giula Spider from 1968 to 1972. It was everything its predecessor (an XK-150) wasn't: light, responsive, watertight, good brakes, comfortable. It was followed by a 2002, which I drove for nine years. They were both great cars.

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I've owned a 1602, 67 2000CS, 320i & two E34s; a 90 535i & 95 525i Touring. The two E34s are our daily drivers with the 535i (5spd/LSD) owned for 9 years & the Touring for 4. The 320i had more problems then any Italian car or motorcycle I've owned & I was glad to see it go. Owned a Nash Healey Roadster & Austin-Healey 3000 briefly as well as a couple of the old Saab V4 92s, a 67 Alfa Giulia Super, Renault 10 and a few other oddballs. There is a 1966 Alfa Duetto Spider waiting in the shop to be restored once the 65 Veloce is finished.

28796 said:

I've owned a 1602, 67 2000CS, 320i & two E34s; a 90 535i & 95 525i Touring. The two E34s are our daily drivers with the 535i (5spd/LSD) owned for 9 years & the Touring for 4. The 320i had more problems then any Italian car or motorcycle I've owned & I was glad to see it go. Owned a Nash Healey Roadster & Austin-Healey 3000 briefly as well as a couple of the old Saab V4 92s, a 67 Alfa Giulia Super, Renault 10 and a few other oddballs. There is a 1966 Alfa Duetto Spider waiting in the shop to be restored once the 65 Veloce is finished.

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According to the British Car Talk guys, you cannot be a true petrolhead unless you have owned at least one Alfa.

1969 chevy impala convertible. 396 factory air, oh wait, I have one.

Now for the money to restore it.

Rod

radan2 said:

Alfa-Romeo Giulietta Spyder

Slow, unreliable, cramped, poorly made, sure to let you down at the worst possible moment. But so beautiful!

Click to expand...

As an Italian who was born there, lives there and owned his own car business put it to me, Ferraris are beautiful to look at, but if you want a sports car that actually works, buy a Porsche.

I took his advice, so I did. But the styling of a 550/575 Maranello is hard to beat. But as they say in the HD world, "chrome won't get you home".

As much as I always wanted a 63 to 67 series Vette or 70 Vette with the LT1, I worked on a 93 Vette the other week; what a disappointment that was in the fit/finish department.