Bill's Berlina

Frt
Originally uploaded by hraroc.

E-mail from Bill Sinclair -

Well folks, now I've went and gone and done it. I drove up to Pittsburg on Saturday and bought a non-running '69 Berlina that has been gathering dust in an old carrige house for 15 years! It's much less rusty than my 73, solid rockers, only two bondo spots. It was last registered in Georgia in '82 which may explain how an unrestored east coast car could have so little rust. It does have some collision damage in the front but it comes with a front panel from a 2L Berlina. Not sure yet how I'll effect that repair. I don't neccessarily want a 2L grill on my 1750. Oh, and it comes with a complete spare interior in great condition (once the mildew is cleaned off)! It has only one small crack in the dash. AR 1555849, 516 Faggio paint (plum?) and the dark tan interior. The spare interior is black though. I've got a spare running 2L from a 74 Spider that I plan to drop in it. Interestingly, there's only one brake servo instead of the two that I thought all 69s had. I'm not looking forward to renewing the brakes on this car with the apparently unobtanium master cylinder.

I'm pretty jazzed about the car overall, can't wait to tow it home in a couple of weeks. It's gonna be a lot of work but it's a much better starting point than "Bernie" (my rusty '73 Berlina). Not sure what's next for him, but he's still too good for a parts car. The seller's name is Howard West, he's been into Alfas for a couple decades (or so)owning a couple GTCs, a Giulia 1750 Zagato Quatrowhatever, a Jr. Z (recently sold to someone in CA via the Alfa Owner) in addition to his current stable, a 65 Giulia SS w/65K orig. miles (stunning), a 63 Giulia Sprint, a 67 Duetto and a 67 GT Sprint Veloce, all in great shape. It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with him. He also has another 67 GT Sprint Veloce that he wants to sell but it's probably terminally rusty. Had to share the news with someone similarly afflicted.

Bill Sinclair (Hampton Roads expatriate now in Hagerstown, MD)