I have been an Alfa Romeo fan for years. Despite having been raised on a steady diet of British cars (my father is an avid Jaguar enthusiast) I loved Alfas from early age. Maybe it was the fact that my grandfather was born in Sicily and that I identify strongly with Italy’s love of cars and motorcycles, but I’ve wanted to own an Alfa ever since I was about 10 years old. Not even a brief experience with an old girlfriend’s mid 80s Spider Veloce, which seemed to need constant maintenance, was enough to drive me away from my lust for an Alfa Romeo. Over the years I looked at numerous models, including Duetto Spiders, Giulietta Spiders, Montreals, and Giulia Sprints. I did end up buying a 1967 Giulia Sprint Veloce for my wife which is currently undergoing a complete restoration, but I still didn’t have an Alfa to call my own.
It has been a dream of mine since I was a child to own a Ferrari. Growing up around a father who loved cars, I remember going to Concours d’Elegance shows with him as a young boy, barely tall enough to stick my head in to a car with a rolled down window breathing in the aroma of that leather. To this day the smell of Ferrari interiors transports me immediately back to childhood. The search for the right Ferrari ran the gamut from the only reasonably affordable front engine V12 models from the late 60s (365GTB4s, 330GT 2+2s, etc) to Dinos and mid-engine V8s. I was almost settled on a 308GTB when during a visit to a friend’s shop I struck up a conversation with a guy about Italian sports cars worth collecting. The topic turned to Alfas and I mentioned that I wanted something special, but that “I’m not going to find a 1900CSS for a reasonable price…” He interrupted me and said, “Actually I know of one locally that’s been in storage for 30+ years” Email addresses were exchanged and the next day I was looking at the closest thing to a barn find I will probably ever get to experience.
Anyone who is a Gearhead dreams of the barn find. It’s become synonymous with the pursuit of classic cars. Even before the term became popular, we used to joke about not being able to sleep at night, thinking about all the old cars sitting rotting in fields, barns, and driveways all over the world. Every time I’d watch “Chasing Classic Cars” I’d wonder why it was always Wayne Carini who got the call about the Ferrari in the shed, or the Bugatti left by someone’s long lost uncle. But this time it was happening to me, and the feeling was magical. I tried to play it cool. I tried to keep my rational hat on, while also being appropriately respectful of the owner and deferential to the car itself. But I knew within 5 minutes of looking at it that I would buy it. I realized quickly that I was essentially interviewing for the right to buy the car. The guy who showed it to me is an avid and well known Alfa Romeo collector and restorer, and was actually not the sole owner. Along with his co-owner they would decide who would be allowed to purchase the car. The story goes like this. The other owner purchased the car in 1981. It was located on the East Coast at the time, in Burlington, VT. He flew out, put the car and all the parts in a rented truck, and drove back to the Bay Area. His plan was to restore it, which is how it ended up in the hands of the guy who showed me the car, but quickly got interested in other projects, and so the car sat. For 30 years. Soon, they became co-owners, and eventually they decided to sell it. I took a few pictures and told him I’d be in touch, but in the car on the way home I was already clearing space in my garage for it. I actually went straight to another appointment where I looked at a very nice Ferrari 308GTB, but I didn’t get to drive it, and my heart was still with the Alfa. No, it wasn’t a Ferrari, but it was so much cooler than just about any Ferrari I could afford. That night I pored over every Alfa book I owned searching for information on 1900CSS Alfas. Sadly, there is not much to read about, which is probably the only thing that kept me from being up all night reading.
I was obsessed with Alfa Romeo 1900s, and a few days later I called the owner to tell him I wanted to buy the car. I figured that since I did not try to negotiate on the price, the car would be mine, but I was wrong. There was another interested buyer. Someone from New York who had looked at the car prior to me, and who was supposed to get back to them with an answer on whether or not he was interested. Suddenly my dream of owning the 1900 seemed in jeopardy but I tried to remain positive. A week or two went by, and the next time I talked to the owner, he said, “we want the car to go to you”
Three weeks later we unloaded boxes of parts and then pushed the car in to my garage. My dream had come true and come home.
And that is the story of how I came to be the owner of Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Tipo IV #10321. It is one of 270 “three-window” models built by Carrozzeria Touring in 1957 and built on January 8th, of that year. First sold in Legnano, Italy a few weeks later its history immediately after that is currently unknown. I do know that it was owned by a Pasquale Sforza of Huntington, New York, and later George Bauer, who then sold it to Bill Meinhardt of Burlington, VT. My car has the 5 speed floor shift gearbox (earlier models had 4 speed column shifters) and a beautiful Nardi steering wheel. Despite its very simple construction and relatively small amount of chrome and body trim, it is an exquisite piece of Italian design. It oozes style and beauty. I am quite simply smitten.
Stay tuned for the next installment which describes the beginning of the discovery and parts cataloguing process.
Stay on the throttle!
-tj