1974 GTV Seats...

Hello guys, I have been toying with the idea of buying a Junior, GTV or similar Bertone coupe for some time now, I have just seen a 74 GTV on E-bay (USA) and wanted some advice re seats. Are these standard seats for the GTV? (Please see link)...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ALFA-...QQcmdZViewItem

Those look like retrimmed 1750 GTV passenger seats. The 1750 was the model before the 2000.

The 2000 GTV (at least in Europe) had seperate headrests with wood effect supports!

Like this: http://www.classicalfa.com/shop/imag...gtv%20seat.jpg

Are you USA based?

Thanks for that. No, I am based in the UK in Suffolk. With the exchange rate as it is, it's cheaper to import a car from the USA. There seem to be more cars available, and most "seem" to be in better condition.

Bobcoralfa.com have a good selection from time to time, and the odd few appear on E-bay.

Could tie it in with a trip to Florida...

Only thing with doing that is you end up with LHD and worse still - Spica injection which is a real pain in the arse. The exchange rate is excellent, but what will the shipping costs add, £2,000 or so?


If you can live with LHD, I would think you would be better getting a European spec car from Southern Europe.

I presume you keep an eye out on:

http://www.classicalfa.com/cars.htm
http://www.alfaholics.com/cars_for_sale_menu/
http://www.velocesport.com/mainsales.htm

Yes, cost of shipping isn't as bad as most people think, would cost approx £600 to £800 for shipping from Florida to S/Hapton. California conncection could take care of this for a fee, or could do it myself (6 years experiance of importing from Japan).

The USA are similar to Japan in the way they modify their cars, they tend to spend more on suspension and handling so you tend to get a lower, stiffer Alfa. The Italians, from my experiance, don't really get involved, meaning more work for me to get the car to the spec I would require.

Also, unless you are going to drive back from Italy, the cost of bringing the car back may be close or exceed the cost of importing from the USA.

Didn't know about the inj system, so thanks for that...

P.S. For some reason, I think I would prefer a LHD, a little bit different... (several years of driving a Barchetta and E30 M3 I guess)

Originally Posted by 166SuperLusso

Didn't know about the inj system, so thanks for that...

No problem.

It was a US market only fitment, so you will struggle to find spares and knowledge to set it up over here, and it is also "perceived" (rightly or wrongly) to be inferior to the traditional twin carbs of the European cars so UK buyers will value a car less with it on. It is quite a complicated setup and often gets junked in favour of carbs. Also the US cars were down on power as the early 1970s were the start of emission control and you get some heavy handed detailing like extra lights and what have you.

Keep us posted!!

Will do, thanks for your help.

I don't follow all the news on the U.S. "dealers" (used car lots/Alfa specialists), but if you're interested in buying a car from Bobcor, I'd head over to Alfabb.com take a quick search around for some opinions. If (and it's a big if) I've got my specialists straight, I think Bobcor has the rep for over-pricing his products (although as I said, I could have got that business confused with another one).
--Toronto

Originally Posted by RicksAlfas

...and worse still - Spica injection which is a real pain in the arse.

US owners thought the same thing until information on how to properly adjust the Spica system became available. It is actually quite easy to work on. And once set up properly, will go tens of thousands of miles without further attention. The only weak link is the thermostatic acuator, the Spica's equivilent to an automatic choke. However, rebuilt T/As are available from a couple of vendors in the US.
The power issue is the result of the US spec emissions cams used, not the Spica. Installing a set of 10548 Euro cams will bring the engine power on par with it's European siblings and because of it's 4.56 differential, will out accelerate the 4.10 differential Euro cars (at the expense of top speed of course).
If you do end up with this very nice looking example, I can provide you with all the US spec info you may need, including the Spica.
Good luck!!

I think Rick has covered all the bases and as a relatively new owner I'm not setting myself up as an expert but you asked for comments.

It looks nice overall but the seats aren't right as he says and they look poorly recovered in leather. The steering wheel is wrong (if that is a concern at all) and I think the two-tone door cards aren't right either.

It would be strong money for a Bertie if the dollar wasn't so weak against the pound at the moment.

I agree with you on freight costs but not sure if you have to add duty at purchase price even on used cars nowadays on top of import and clearance charges.

I would also want to inspect it or pay to have an expert inspet it prior to shelling out that kind of money.

Good luck with the hunt.

Does seem expensive, but it also does look immaculate, so it could be worth it.
If you want originality, as others has said, it's got 1750 Mk1 seats, the wrong steering, wheel door cards and also tail pipe, personally I don't much like that style of Alloy wheel either. But and it's a big but, these are only opinions, and originality doesn't mean much to me either.

The Spica would worry me more to be honest, as Papajam says it can be made reliable and may or may not affect the power, but you will struggle to find somebody in the UK who has much experiance with it and might end up having to swap it for a pair of carbs.

My general feeling is if you could get the car at considerably less than current UK prices then it would be worth it, but as it stands I don't think you are doing and unless you really are taken with it, you would probably be better finding a good UK or continental based car. Try the Dutch they love their Alfa's and it's not far on the ferry to check one out.

Good luck though and I'm sure you will find another, if you decide against this one

Thanks for everyhting guys.

I was going to buy a stepfront approx 3 years ago when prices where lower than they are today, and I had more money!

To buy anything decent these days I think I would need to be looking at an early 70's GTV.

Performance isn't the most important thing to me, I have a decent 166 3.0 Super as every day transport, but I do want a car that "looks" right to me. Not to everybodys taste, but I wnat it on uprated shocks, period alloys, clean and tidy interior and no major bodywork issues. The seats in the GTV I mentioned initially, are of interest to me mainly due to the design, which I feel is typically Italian.

Spica fuel injection shouldn't be a problem, as I am very good friends with the owner of Holbay Racing Engines (now called Coltec), and I am sure he would be able to help me with any problems as they arose (and I am sure they would!).

I have attached a picture of the sort of car I am interested in, I warn you that its not original and won't suit all of you!

Originally Posted by 166SuperLusso

I have attached a picture of the sort of car I am interested in, I warn you that its not original and won't suit all of you!

Can't really fault that idea... here's mine!


http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...0055lowres.jpg

A very nice car! Sort of thing Iam looking for...

Thanks!!


As mentioned above, keep an eye out on ClassicAlfa and Alfaholics websites. Using 105 coupes for trackdays and motorsport is getting more and more common so you will be able to find something I'm sure.

The only thing I'm confused about is the the original US Ebay green one was a lot different from the red hot rod one you posted today! It was much too mint and shiny for hooning about in!

With the green e-bay car I was most interested in knowing the age of the seats. Defo' the seats for me!

I have a huge collection of Japanese, American, Dutch and English books on these cars but hadn't remebered seeing these seats before, after posting though I found several on alfa buletin board, typical!