I'm not too sure whether it was driven there or not. Theres no battery between the two bulkheads and surely it can't have an MOT certificate with the amount of rust on it?
It had more holes than Swiss cheese!
How did it do in the Concours ?
Mind you my old Gold Cloverleaf had Black Gaffa tape covering the rust on the front wing's and rear arches before i restored her.
Its very rusty, but don't be fooled by the registration - its a 1972 dealer car, possibly the earliest in existence in the UK - it was trailered to be event, the guy that owns says it runs, but has no oil pressure. The car was last used in 1980
Its going to be sympathetically restored back to its former glory, but where to start???
Even the header tank is made of steel. Amazing machine... but clearly not a concours winner :lol:
Hahahaha , thats what i was thinking when i saw the pics ..... Well , you could say that this one is a full equipped Sud , with rust on all proper places.
I think certain cars look OK rusty VW Beetles and Vans but not Italian cars - these were cars people ridiculed for rust and buried Lancia for it so best not to emphasize I-tie rust by bringing rusty old wrecks to a concourse event.
Where were these cars left...? In the Severn Estuary Eh?
i enjoy seeing cars like this at events, it shows what most of our nice shiny cars were like before we restored them, and how they would look if we never devoted so much time and money on them.
It's a June 1974 car so not the oldest left - mine is August 1st 1973.
I recognise the car though - I think it used to go to Stanford Hall in the mid 1990's but had a different and unusual number plate - the pics show this car wearing very shiny new looking plates so I wonder if it's had a plate swap. The car I'm thinking of lived in Haverfordwest (West Wales) most of it's life and that was also a June 1974 car.
It looks like a nice project and I hope it's saved.
Hi Andyboy - the '74 plate was issued when the car was finally pensioned off the show circuit. Prior to that it was unregistered. The car was actually built in 1972, which is why it is claiming to be the oldest 'Sud in the UK - although with an August '73 plate your car must be running it a close second
Do you have the VIN number for it? I only ask because AFAIK, RHD production began in May 1973.
It's not the Sud I'm thinking of which was TOT813M, same colour blue.
Either way it's a superb find - did the owner bring it to show before he restored it, or was it for sale? Mine is a file of festering scrap and would need a bodyshell as the original was far, far beyond repair 15 years ago when I last clapped eyes on it! Front floors missing, inner wings actually breaking away from the knackered bulkhead resulting in a fractured chassis leg above the n/s driveshaft, screen surround completely missing.
It was last taxed in 1978 when it was written off by the MOT tester as dangerous. It was five years old, and scrap. Proper Alfa!
I'm afraid I don't know the VIN number. The owner brought the car on a trailer as the engine has no oil pressure and the car was last road taxed in 1980! He wasn't selling the car, I think he was after some advice on what best to do with it. Apparently it was a motor show car, so maybe was a prototype RHD version, I have no idea. Like you say, what a find!
Structurally its not half as bad under the bonnet as your car - inner wings intact, bulkhead intact, steel coolant expansion tank (same size and shape as the plastic ones), steel fan housing, standard 1186 cc engine...
I can do an HPI check at some stage. Very early ones also have steel shrouds over the front brakes which bolt to the calipers and the bottom of the gearbox. That one still seems to have the foam cladding around the oil filler tube.
I can't recall what the blue was called - it was similar to Dutch blue (iirc) on 105 Alfas.
Mine was Alfa GB's original press demonstrator. The blue one at Stanford Hall has had new front wings so it wouldn't have been very old when the originals fell off.
Scary isn't it??? Cheap re-processed steel, a factory by the sea, and bare shells left outside in the salt air waiting to be painted. Not a recipe for longevity...
:lol: Quite right - I've heard people say that they found trade union graffiti on the inside of the doors from when the cars were built - "down with the management", that kind of thing
I know this car a little bit, it used to be located in North Wales a few years ago. I can see from the pictures that the car is from 1974, so it is not a 1972 or 1973 model. 1972 should be impossible for a RHD Alfasud annyway I think, as RHD Alfasud's came to the UK in 1973.
This is the info I have got on it:
First registered in July 1974. Total is miles about 48000. Story from the first owner was that the car was prepared for the motorshow held in Cardiff.
I was told that one of the original 1973 English motor/car magazines road test cars is stil there, although it is in very bad condition. I was told it wil be rebodied with a later Alfasud Super body, so it is no longer the real original car although once finished it wil probably be told it is....
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