The Giulietta Sprint is a tidy little coupe and would foreshadow the next two decades of rear-drive coupe awesomeness to emerge from Alfa Romeo. This 1962 Sprint for sale in San Diego was originally an import from Italy and after 40 years, still wears its original paint.
1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1600 Sprint
This red Alfa was imported from Italy in about ’68 or ‘69 by a David Gemora who owned a machine shop in Tarzana, California. His main business seemed to be building prototypes for government agencies and according to his family he travelled extensively in Russia and China. After he died his wife gathered the kids together at their Woodland Hills home and said, “Now I can tell you what your dad did for a living." His children didn’t know until his death that he was involved in optical surveillance/global espionage with the highest private security clearance available from our government.
Mr. Gemora and a young family friend named David Skora worked on the Alfa at Gemora’s shop from about 1970 onward. Gemora and Skora rebuilt the engine and clutch in the early seventies along with performing other mechanical work to keep the car in good fettle for daily driving chores around Southern California. The car was painted in lacquer at that time also. Young Skora had always desired the Giulia and upon Mr. Gemora’s death in about 2005 was able to purchase it from the family. I purchased it from Mr. Skora.
Today: The paint work is very shiny, like a ruby but there are cracks and miscellaneous dings and dents here and there consistent with 40 year old paint and lacquer especially (the cracks). We have done everything needed to bring it to good mechanical fettle including but not limited to: New brakes, water pump, front engine seal, driveshaft support, flex disk, belts, hoses, fresh air ducts, rear suspension limit strap, carburetor kit, rod out radiator core and more…..(some of these items needed to be performed due to sitting in storage for the long period before Mr. Skora’s purchase)
She drives very nice and one does not have to jump through any hoops nor engage in any special shifting techniques to change gears smoothly. The engine starts easily, pulls strong, does not smoke or drop any large amounts of oil. When reversing briskly one needs to rest a hand upon the shift lever to keep it in place.
Inside there is a lovely period Nardi wood rim steering wheel. Also, there is a very cool, period anti-theft devise on the steering column (built in like it belongs there). There are two photos of it on the photo page. It snaps into place and you use a key to unlock it. I’ve never, ever seen one like it before. This car has a sound structure but is not virginal perfect. At first glance the undercarriage it appears to be rock solid but if one presses upward on the floors they seem to be thin. If one scrutinizes very closely some small perforations can be found. The floor in the trunk under the battery has the usual perforations as well.
I recognize that I am rather fussy with vintage cars and that everyone does not wish or have the resources to drive fully dialed in cars. Some would simply forgo this metal work and drive the car as is. For those in that category a discount can be arranged and this car can be continued to be used just the way it is as a pleasant daily driver. $47,500
The seller misidentified this car as a Giulia; in fact, that was the model to succeed this Giulietta. The last Giulietta Sprint we featured was priced just under $50,000, but that was a well sorted, tastefully modified example. With the few issues this car has I'd suspect it would be more realistically priced in the low $40,000 range.
-Paul
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