Restoration 2026 information
1969 Sold new to GB, Framingham MA USA
1980 Rear-ended at 30 mph, front & rear shunt
1981 Rebuilt by CB Pres. New England Alfa club
1985 CB died, sold to DH 3rd owner 59,403 mi.
1988 SB 4th owner, 70,171 mi.
My ownership
1990 Purchased by me 75,900 miles RI plates
1995 Ingram-rebuilt Spica with 1/4 race cams
1995 Hydroblast repainted in classic Alfa red
1995 New brakes, tires, all the bits that wear out
1997 Moved to New Zealand – container leaked
1998 Began a complete body restoration
1998 Floor replaced with original pressing
1998 Fenders and rocker panels replaced
1998 All rust removed, begin reassembly
1999 Workshop became sloppy, towed it home
The body was perfect when it arrived at the workshop. The workshop did quality work, but their apprentice was sloppy. The car had small dents from tools dropped, spilled paint and missing parts. 
I gave up and towed it home.
Then the first-registation rules changed in New Zealand, requiring any evidence of repair must be certified, which adds $15,000 to the cost and includes invasive damage to restoration. So I parked it in the too-hard bay and moved on to other projects.
When I finally turned back to it, sitting for 25 years, the brake fluid turned to jelly. I had to replace the master and brake cylinders as well as the lines, and the same for the clutch. Was not able to bleed correctly (it’s a complicated bleed), so it then sat for more years.
The engine has not been started since 1997. The workshop removed the windshield that needs to be reinstalled. The new convertible roof and seat upholstery are still in the box, needing to be installed. The body repair was left in primer, and while it was garaged the whole time, it was not climate controlled, so may need some attention when painting.
Bleed the brakes
Ditto the hydraulic clutch
Carefully start the engine
Professional to reinstall windshield
30 year old “new” tires probably need replacing
Install the convertible roof
Install the seat upholstery
Sand, re-prime and paint the body
Reinstall the new carpet
Send stainless steel bits off for polishing
Repair whatever has been affected by sitting
This car is one of those time capsules. Documented 78,500 miles since new, five owners, lived a gentle life except for a rear-ender in 1980. Except for the 1/4 race cam supplied by Wes Ingram, it is completely original – none of the midlife mods.
Other than a few Lyme Rock club days, it has lived an unexciting life. The first owner was a renown international photographer who used it as her stateside car when not travelling.
After she was rear-ended and spooked, it was rebuilt by Carl Bolivar, President of the New England Alfa Club for his wife Faye to be used in road rallys (held on public roads where the driver and navigator follow a set route to arrive at checkpoints at specific, scheduled times, rather than racing for speed).
The car was originally white, but when it was rear-ended, the shop decided using a rear clip from a red 69 Alfa was easier than panel beating. Faye selected a metallic lavender color (purple haze) which can still be seen in the engine bay. She sold it when Karl died.
The car went through two more short-term owners until I bought it to use as a summer car on our island in Rhode Island. It was kept in a carcoon all winter, and started on the first turn every May.
The paint was looking a bit worn and I had an excellent paint shop in Fall River, MA who did three of my Alfas as well as one of my Bristols. I also found the cold-start solinoid was a problem, so I sent the Spica off to Wes Ingram to be rebuilt. He proposed tuning it to a 1/4 race cam that he sent me.
All good until we moved to New Zealand. The shipping container was damaged enroute, the cars got wet, so I decided it was time for a full makeover. At the time, Alan Bowden of Classic Car Restorations had made a series of 105 floor pans following the correct Alfa pattern, so I had the floor, sills (rocker panels) and guards (fenders) replaced.
But the workshop doing the welding took too long and I got tired of writing monthly checks. That was then. Now over a quarter century later, my wife is insisting I deal with it now. It’s called döstädning which means sell it or fix it now while you are alive and able to do so. Don’t leave it for me after your are gone.
At age 74, living on a small island and owning a SLK for our summer car, I’m questioning if, once it is done, and the money spent for New Zealand compliance, I will derive the pleasure from ownership it deserves.
One option on the bucket list is to finish it, ship it to Europe and spend the summer driving the roads for which it was designed, but that may be too much work for the pleasure.
Of course, I could put it on the local auction site with a $1 reserve, but is the fun in that (and bids would be low since it has not gone through compliance)?
The other is to sell it in the USA. It is a US Spec Alfa imported into the USA in 1969. It still has its Rhode Island plate on it (SPYDER) and I have the documentation from when it was exported from the US in 1997.
As I remain the same owner, it should not attract tariff or import duty. Question is whether I should restore it here, or send it to a US restoration shop (probably Ingram) to partner to sell it.
To get it to this state (99 point car) probably is a goal too far, but the hard work has been done. The corrosion was professionally addressed, and because it had so few owners and sat unused for half its life, it is very original.
