by Brian Shorey
AONE Director

Yeah, right.

The closest I ever came was when I stumbled across a ’69 GTV that was taking up space in someone’s garage.  Mom wanted it gone, and I was happy to oblige for the token sum of $25.  Got it home to find that the engine and transmission had been rebuilt not long before it stopped running many years earlier; new plugs and a jump start and it fired right up!

But I digress…

A month or so ago, I was contacted by Tom Sahines, west coast ARA tech advisor and Alfa guru of the highest order.  Tom is a member of a closed 1900 list, and had some information about an alleged old Alfa located somewhere close to Boston.  It had a Ghia badge on it, and the general feeling was that the gentleman in possession of the car probably had an old Karman Ghia but, since the gent seemed to think it was an Alfa, it might be worth checking out.

Enter Dan Miller.  Dan’s not new to the car scene, having owned some interesting beasts himself, and having spent some time running in local time trials some years ago.  Dan spends a lot of time buying and fixing properties, and has come across a lot of interesting items in his travels, including some old cars from time to time.  He’s pretty sure that this one is an Alfa.  I got a basic description of the car, and made arrangements to go and look at it the following day.

After work the next day, I travel to Lawrence, MA.  Lawrence is an old mill town northwest of Boston, once thriving but over the last ten to twenty years fallen victim to crime and urban decay.  Not a very likely place to find an old Alfa, certainly not one that might be of any value.

Dan pries open the door to the garage and opens it.  It only takes one glance at the front grille to know that this is an Alfa, and not just any Alfa.   This one is something special.

At first glance it appears to be early 50’s, primered steel, I’m guessing something post-war, six-cylinder.  It’s like no Alfa I’ve ever seen, however.  It has Ghia badging, and what at first appeared to be primered steel turns out to be aluminum.  This is clearly something coach built, and clearly something very rare.  I’m starting to think 1900; Dan mentions that someone on the Net told him it was a 1900 Ghia coupe, which sounds like a reasonable place to start.

There is some bad news.  Someone who didn’t know any better appears to have used the car as staging to repair the roof of the garage at some point. The roof is severely dented, the front glass is broken, the rear plexiglass is broken, and the hood is dented – what a shame.  In addition, at one point someone in the neighborhood spent a lot of time scrounging around for aluminum to sell for scrap.  This doesn’t spell good news for finding the cylinder head intact (the engine and transmission are not in the car).  Dan mentions that the guy who owns some of the other cars in adjacent garages told him that the car had been completely intact at one point, and in pretty good condition.  This Alfa has been sitting here for at least 25 years – the guy with the other cars says he has never seen it move, and the two cars he has stored close by were both last registered in 1975 and have been sitting here ever since.

Dan takes lots of pics (including the mystery photo), and I agree to go home and try to do some research.  I’ve got a copy of the Fusi book, an Internet connection, and a direct line to John Hertzman – what more could I need?   Dan also asks me if I could help him field questions from the Alfa community, which I’m more than happy to try to do, although I’m no expert in this genre of Alfa by any stretch of the imagination.

I should mention at this point that I did have brief thoughts of buying the car for myself.  While the restoration will be expensive and clearly beyond anything I’m capable of, there’s something to be said for having bragging rights to a coach-built Alfa in your stable (gosh Jeeves, my coach-built post-war Alfa Romeo is awaiting restoration).  No, on second thought, I’ve already got too many projects, and this car deserves to be restored by someone who’s a real fan.   Besides, the wife would go ballistic if I brought home something in this condition.

I go home and straight to work.  First, I crack open Fusi – it’s not in there.  Hmmm, it must be really rare.  John Hertzman delivers immediately; I haven’t even sent him pictures yet and he sends me the complete history of Ghia-built Alfas.  This complete history is quite brief; it basically boils down to: a small series of four- and five-seaters, more two-door sedan than coupe, called "Gioiello" (Jewel); another more attractive small series of three-window coupes called the "Supergioiello" (Super Jewel); plus maybe a handful of something called the "Supersonica".  A quick search on the Internet turns up a photo of a Supergioiello, and this is the car that’s sitting in a garage in Lawrence!

I relay my findings to Tom Sahines, who posts my brief write-up on the 1900 list.  This stirs up a lot of interest.  I still have no idea how rare these birds are, or what they’re worth, but I’m starting to get some ideas.   I’m also beginning to get a lot of questions over the Internet, from casual observers to serious potential buyers.

Dan, to his credit, is not looking to get rich with this car.   Rather, he recognizes that he has something out of the ordinary, and is curious as to it’s value, but he is more interested in seeing it go to someone who will give it a proper restoration as opposed to someone who might be looking for some parts.

It doesn’t take long for Dan to have more than one serious offer on the table.  In the meantime, I’m contacted by a local guy who is interested in the car.

Mike Vallee has always wanted a 1900, and thinks this one might be a good one to start with.  I know Mike casually through the Alfa Digest; he seems capable, having made pretty good progress on a comprehensive restoration of a Veloce Spider, but most importantly he’s local, which means that I’ll get a ride in it when it’s finished.

Dan seems to agree, as I’m contacted a few days later and informed that Dan has agreed to sell Mike the car.  At this point, I need to see this thing through, plus I want pics of the unveiling so I can write this story.  I volunteer to help with the extraction, and figure that it will be a worthy way to christen my new car trailer.

It takes us a while to dig the rest of the crud off the car.   Miraculously, there’s still air in the tires, although one is pretty low.   The right front wheel appears frozen; the rear wheels have been too buried to tell. 

A quick squirt of Liquid Wrench and the right front wheel frees up.   With some air in the tires it rolls quite easily.  We spend a couple of hours going through the pile of metal in the adjacent bay and uncover a bunch of VW parts, a Continental helicopter engine, an aluminum front bumper off something unknown, and then start to get lucky – we find two more of the wire wheels, a complete rear axle with drum brakes and differential, and a few minor odds and ends that look like they may belong with the car.

We load up the trailer and head off to lunch, then up to New Hampshire to drop the car off at its new home.  One glance at the work Mike is doing on his Veloce and I know that this car is going to a good home – nice, thorough, quality work.

Mike has gathered some additional information on this car, some on his own and some through Peter Marshall, who heads up the 1900 register.  Best guess is that there were 18 of these made, of which the whereabouts of only four are known (make that five!).  They were built in the early- to mid-50’s; this one, based on its serial number, was probably built around 1953.

So what have we learned?  We’ve learned that there are still precious gems hiding in the most unlikely of places.  You just have to keep looking.

Here’s where my narrative ends.  We’ll all be looking for Mike to keep us informed on the progress of the restoration, and I’ll be anxiously awaiting my ride.  Dan and I have agreed to pop the cork together in a few years, when it’s unveiled at the Italian Car Show in Brookline.

Best of luck to Mike Vallee, and a sincere thanks to Dan Miller from the entire Alfa community for recognizing this rarity and getting it into the right hands.