about Jim Scott

You may also visit a blog I have for the car as a way to find what survivors there are out there. My ultimate goal is to build a registry for the 116, the internal designation for the 4-cylinder version of this chassis, so I can determine how many of the 13,715 cars imported into the U.S. still survive. These cars have had no real following with Alfa die-hards and they were made from rust loving cheap Russian steel.  Cursed from the onset by a smog-choked motor, poor second gear synchros and oft-replaced drive shaft rubber doughnuts, they never caught in spite of the superb chassis.  

 There are very few left as most have met the crusher. A few show up on Ebay, usually parts cars and mostly for less than $2,500. Every now and then a good one shows up for more than $5,000 but less than $8,000. I like to think mine is one of the best, if not the best, left in Europe or America. I know there is a very low miles red example in the Bay Area but there are only two others in San Diego that I have spotted. One is owned by an original owner, painted a Dodge mini-van green,  and the other is a rust infested cream 76′. 

I bought the car new in July 1980 and it was the last Alfetta in stock at Rusnak Volkswagen in LA. I think the ugly brown color made it a tough sale but it was very discounted at $9,488. I loaned it and later sold it to one of my best friends around 1987 or so and bought it back in 1995. It now has about 91,000 miles on the car and it is very original.

The Alfetta was the car Alfa Romeo built to replace the popular GTV coupes. The Alfetta was introduced in 1975 and was rebadged in 1978 as the Sprint Veloce. Always a poor seller, the car was discontinued in 1979 but later reborn at the GTV-6. The latter was a way better car although the I think the styling changes on the newer car were poorly executed.

This photo shows the most controversial part of  Giorgetto Giugiaro’s design of the Alfetta. Note the central placement of the tach directly in front of the driver with no other standard instruments. They are all located in a pod over the shift lever. While unusual, it is certainly not a case of form over function. The system works fine and I love the way it looks.

I installed the European bumpers a few years ago. I got them from a guy in New Zealand. They had been painted and I had to polish them, fortunately they are stainless steel and with some work you can restore the gloss. I still have the U.S. turn signals as getting the European models will be a long search. I missed out on a set a few years ago on Ebay. There is a good story on the bumpers as the guy in New Zealand sold 7 of them to two people in Oakland.  I ended up sending money to all parties for customs, shipping and the bumpers themselves. About a year later, one of the Oakland guys arrived at my office unannounced dragging the bumpers behind. There is much to be said about the Alfisti.

     The car has often been in the repair shop for a series of ordinary problems and the dreaded bi-annual smog check. I also can do a fair amount of work on it as there is plenty of room to work on the car and no computers. The body still has a good fit and finish and about 1/3 of the paint is original. The exhaust system is completely original and the only repair to the engine was a head gasket replacement years ago. The SPICA fuel injection has been trouble free and I have learned to make basic adjustments.  The clutch is original as is the alternator, starter, radiator and all of the electrics. The water pump and catalytic converter have been replaced and of course the hated driveshaft rubber doughnuts have failed every 30,000 miles, exactly as advertised.