Berlina/Giulia
Register Newsletter No. 25 (November 2007)

Notes and Comment

Welcome to Berlina/Giulia Register Newsletter
25.  In this issue we have a
first-person piece by Gary Fortner about his turbo Berlina and his years as a
founding partner of JAFCO.  Also, my
writeup on the second annual Berlina Register tour, “Berlinas to the
Bovine.”  I’m under pressure
to add more tours, so I’ll try for one in the spring, and maybe a second
one later in the year in Southern California. We’ll see how it goes.  Big market report this time with some
big prices.

I failed to appreciate, or announce
in the first 2007 newsletter, that the Berlina Register is now 10 years old,
with 425ish Berlinas listed, 215ish Giulias listed, and 25 Newsletters to its
credit.  woo hoo.

Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.  Since last newsletter, I (1) fixed up,
drove for six months, then sold a 1965 Mustang since my son didn’t want
it, (2) bought a 1969 Ford F100 pickup that merely needs its 700-pound 360 CI
V8 replaced, (3) bought, fixed up, drove, and sold a 1989 Graduate, and (4) was
given a 1984 Spider Veloce.  Since
its engine would turn only about halfway before hitting something internally immovable,
I gave up trying to get it to run and sold it to APE.  A 1971 GTV that had sat unused outside for
15 years also passed briefly through my scuderia.  I spent a couple days getting it
roadworthy (fired right up), then sold it to a guy in LA who already had 19
other GTVs.

The big news is I bought a clean,
patina-rich 1961 Giulietta Spider Veloce from Bill Gillham. One owner for almost
40 years, then briefly passed through a couple sympathetic owners, then to
me.  Lovely, and the virtual twin of
my friend Jim’s Spider, in which we used to commit lawless acts of
highway stupidity during high school.
One or more cars will be on the auction block to pay for this.  I’ve been working on my
patina-too-rich Berlina steadily and it is dialed in to become a mild time
trial car, but weekend schedule conflicts dictate that I won’t get it to
the track til early 2008.  Squadra Patina lives!  My 1974 GTV will retire from track use;
after two spins last event, I need to do more suspension development, and
I’ve decided the car is just too nice to put into the wall at
Buttonwillow.

The keeper of the Berlina Register
and North American Giulia Sedan Register is Andrew Watry, email
[email-masked].  Send me
corrections to your register information or any other Giulia- and
Berlina-related facts, rumors, tips, or needs.  Always seeking articles for the newsletter.  The keeper of the international Giulia
Sedan Register is Barry Edmunds in Australia, email [email-masked]

Building and Living With a
Turbo Berlina

by Gary Fortner

I purchased my current 1972 Berlina in 1984.
My brother actually flew to Florida for me and drove it home. I found it in the
national AROC newsletter. I paid $3500 for it, and at the time, that was
somewhat of a high price. But I thought the cosmetics and condition justified
it. Unfortunately, when I personally examined the paint, it had those small
cracks indicative, so I’ve been told, of poor primer before the metallic
blue paint was sprayed. So, I decided to have the car stripped, re-primered,
and repainted. So now I was deep financially into the car. I dropped in a
rebuilt 2 liter motor and drove it as my everyday driver for about 10 years. It
was straight and beautiful, and I really enjoyed it.

However,
recently I started longing for the performance 1973 Burgundy colored Berlina
that I owned from 1976-1985. That Berlina had been the one of early test
vehicles for the JAFCO turbo system. It was the vehicle featured in Road &
Track in April 1980. My friend and partner, Howard Jackson, and I had formed
JAFCO (Jackson-Fortner Company) back in 1977. As a noted Alfa enthusiast since
the late 50’s, Howard was always into making Alfas faster. I met Howard
in 1971 when I bought his heavily modified 1967 GTV for $2500. He became the
mechanical “father figure” that my real dad was not. He spent hours
helping me with old Alfas that I bought and repaired. He was a really special
person. At nearly 40 years my senior, he had already lived a very colorful
life. As an ex-factory rider for Indian motorcycles before WWII, he had stories
about racing on the sand at Daytona Beach, betting Harley guys that his
“stock” Indian could smoke their Harleys, and the time he almost
killed his best friend when he ran up the rear end of his bike at over 100mph.
As that story goes, they were racing somebody for money, and Howard was
drafting behind his friend’s bike. As they sped through the determined
finish line for this race (they won), his friend lifted his chest up off the
tank to gain wind resistance to slow down, yet Howard didn’t realize this
until it was too late. He said he crashed right into the back of his bike. His
friend tumbled/crumbled to a stop; Howard said he slid on his butt until he
stopped. He said that his leather wallet really saved him from losing a lot
more skin. His friend nearly died that night in the hospital, but fortunately
survived to ride again. Little did his Harley competition know that Howard had
learned all the tricks for lightening internal components, cam modifications,
etc., from the best factory mechanics in Springfield, Mass., so all his bikes
were highly modified. Howard’s desire to always have that racer’s
edge was infectious. I came to desire the same advantage. Which leads us
finally to turbocharging the DOHC Alfa 1750/2000 engine.

Sometime
in the late 1970’s, Howard decided that the 1750/2000 engine was an
excellent engine to turbocharge. It had a proven bottom end, good heat
dissipation with the wet-sleeved liners, and mechanical fuel injection. At that
time most aftermarket turbo kits relied on “draw through” or
“blow through” carburetors. Each design had its pros and cons, but
most of the cons dealt with adequate fuel delivery in a greater-than-atmospheric
pressure environment. The obvious advantage of the Spica fuel injection was
that the injector injected fuel at very high pressure, so overcoming
pressurized airflow wasn’t a problem. Howard met with turbocharging
expert from that era, Ak Miller, and with Ak’s help determined that the
Air Research T04 turbocharger was sized best for the 1750/2000 engine. Howard
fabricated a “log style” manifold from steel tubing, purchased an
airflow restrictor from Ak to restrict the boost pressure to 7 psi, and soon
thereafter was driving his 1974 turbo GTV around Orange County. My first
impression of driving a turbo’d 2000 was the smoothness. The power seemed
to come on effortlessly. We used the term “lift off” to describe
the sensation of the extra torque coming on. It was great to feel the engine
pulling hard from 4000 to 6000 rpm. Back when I owned the 1967 GTV that Howard
had modified, he had installed a pretty wild factory race cam with lots of
duration. It pulled real hard from 5500-7500 rpm. The turbo probably pulled
just as hard, only it was way more fun to use that torque at the lower rpm.

It
wasn’t too long before the exhaust manifold began to crack, so Howard
located a mold maker in San Diego who was willing to build a casting mold in
exchange for us installing a turbo system on his 1969 Spider. The cast versions
of the manifold provided the necessary durability, and by 1978, JAFCO was
founded and we started to market our aftermarket turbo kit. Not too long
thereafter, Shankle came out with their turbo system, which used a draw-through
carb approach. A few years later, the Alfa factory offered a factory turbo
system on some Euro-only cars that featured, I believe, a pair of blow-through
Dell’Orto carbs. Our kit sold for something like $1895.

Like
any product, particularly a mechanical one, that doesn’t get enough
testing before it is released for sale (like Microsoft Windows), the problems
started cropping up: broken ring lands on the stock pistons, exhaust manifold
mounting studs that broke or sheared off, and burned head gaskets on occasion.
Supporting our original early customers with rework proved to be both costly
and tiring. Howard soon decided that he could make more money and have less
grief if he just worked on repairing Alfas (he had a loyal, local following).
So, around 1979, we decided to split the business. I took the turbocharging
side of the business, and Howard kept the shop and returned to repairing Alfas.

I
was a 25 year-old Alfa/engine enthusiast who thought this turbo business had
more legs. I opened my own shop in Santa Ana, named it Alfa Speciale, and began
building engines designed for the turbo. I set upon solving the aforementioned
problems. It was apparent that nearly all of the major engine problems were
caused by engine detonation or “pinging,” sometimes inaudible.
Detonation is caused by one or a combination of the following: too-lean
air/fuel ratio, too-advanced ignition timing, or too-low octane fuel.

Below
are the major fixes/improvements that I made to JAFCO turbo system after we
split the business:

Made low-compression, forged pistons a
standard component in the JAFCO kit. The sand-cast Borgo piston is just
too weak in the ring land area to risk in anything but a low boost (5 psi
or less) turbo engine. Since power increases exponentially with boost
pressure increases, running at least 10-12 psi really became the desired
goal. Providing stronger pistons capable of surviving higher boost pressures
became mandatory.

Offered an exhaust waste gate to
control boost pressure. The inlet side restrictor valve really put a lot
of undue turbulence on the turbo (unnecessary deceleration of the
compressor wheel). It was a sub-optimal approach to controlling boost. The
wastegate worked great. Also, boost pressure was made cockpit-controllable
with a pressure regulator.

Offered a proprietary fuel enrichment valve
that mounted to the stock Spica FI pump and enabled it to deliver a
greater volume of fuel and high boost pressures. An awesome improvement
that was designed by Mark DeCerro, another Alfa owner and helicopter
enthusiast.

Modified the stock Marelli dual-point
distributor so that it retarded spark advance ~5 degrees at boost
pressures above 6 psi. Really helped to maintain good low-rpm performance
with the low-compression pistons, yet protected the engine from detonation
at higher boost levels.

Provided an exhaust manifold support
brace to reduce the weight and stress of the exhaust manifold off of the
exhaust manifold studs. This solved the broken stud problem.

If my memory serves me correct, there were
approximately 40-50 JAFCO systems sold. Most of those were sold by me with the
improvements noted above. Between ~1985 and 2005 I lived a turbo-less life. I
got married and had two wonderful kids. Became a little league coach and
remodeled a house. But I never sold my 1972 Berlina and I hung onto my
remaining turbo inventory and engine supply, much to the chagrin of my wife.
But I knew my day would come.  With my son heading off to college in the
fall of 2005, I decided it was time to execute the plan. I had saved my second
turbo engine from the 1973 Berlina (I drove the first engine over 60,000 miles
of pure joy) and it was relatively fresh. I cleaned up the head, found the
complete 2½” exhaust system, and went about the installation. I
completed it just in time to meet the deadline for a dyno testing special event
held at MagnaFlow exhaust here in SoCal in October 2006. The results from that
dyno test were posted on the AlfaBB. I believe it generated just over 200hp at
the rear wheels with 11 psi boost. Pretty much the same setup as I sold in the
early 1980s (with perhaps a couple of extra tweaks…ala Howard).

For
those of you who haven’t ridden in or driven a turbocharged 2000 Alfa,
I’m sorry. It spoils you. My stock 1972 GTV feels pretty…
pretty… sluggish. Looking back, I don’t know how I ever made the
transition from my 1973 turbo Berlina to my 1972 stock Berlina. I guess I was
just into making that car a very original example. But given that the turbo
Berlina is just so damn drivable, I don’t see how I did it?!  Back
in the early 1980s, there just weren’t too many cars that I didn’t
think I could give a good run. Now today there are lots of fast cars. But the
Berlina may be still the perfect sleeper car. However, lowering it considerably
(~2”), and running 205/50 tires kind of gives a hint that there may be
something different about this car.

I
hope to begin running time trials with it this spring. It’s not as
cosmetically nice as it once was, so I won’t lose sleep over some paint
chips. I just need to sort out the brakes and the handling before I take it on
the track.

“Berlinas to the Bovine” Marin tour

On Sunday, Sept. 16, the
Berlina/Giulia Register hosted its second annual Berlina/Giulia tour, this year
from Berkeley to Point Reyes Station and back.  These cars (and bikes) and folks
attended, many from the ARA:

* Giulia TI, Dave Parmenter,
Michelle Muller

* Giulia TI 1300, Peter Gaudette

* Giulia Super, Andrew Watry

* 1750 Berlina, Craig and Jack Morningstar

* 2000 Berlina, David Johnson

* 2000 Berlina, Stevan Thomas

* 2000 Berlina, Richard Gray

* 1975 Alfetta Sedan, Jeff Barhoum

* 1979 Sport Sedan, Randy Lee

* Milano, Andrew Smith

* 1750 GTV, Ruth Ann Yager

* 2000 GTV, John Gaccione

* Giulia Sprint GT Veloce, Glenn Oliveria

* Giulietta Sprint Veloce, Nick Paige

* 1991 Spider Veloce, Jonathan Thames

* Lancia Fulvia, Shaun Pond

* Ferrari 308 GTS QV, Kevin Hurley

* BMW 2002, Derek Watry

* Porsche 911 SC, Tom Ramsey

* BMW R Paris-Dakar, Vince Bennett

* Ducati 1098 S Tricolore, Gene ??

* Suzuki SV650S, Jonathan Mandel

Also attending the festivities, but not going on the drive, were:

* Fiat Abarth 1000 replica, Walt Paladini

* Giulia Sprint Speciale, Jeff Glenn

* BMW 1600, Aaron Curtiss

The group convened at
Fellini’s in Berkeley for coffee, then set out towards Marin at
9:00.  Heading out Lucas Valley Rd.,
the group left the clouds behind and it was beautiful and mild by the time we
stopped for a regroup in Nicasio.
Then up to Chileno Valley Rd., then Marshall Petaluma Rd., and south on
Highway 1 to Point Reyes Station, to the planned stop at the Bovine Bakery for
more coffee and pastries, plus Cowgirl Creamery cheese.  After hanging out for an hour, we got
back on our horses and returned to Berkeley via Lucas Valley Rd., having pizza,
salad, figs, and beer at my house, plus doing a starter swap on a Berlina,
which generated applause when the new one worked first try (after push-starting
the car through the tour).

Award for Nicest Car went to Peter
Gaudette’s Celeste Green Giulia TI 1300, a recent ebay acquisition.  A very subtle color on a flawless,
unmolested car.  Award for Greatest
Distance Traveled to Attend was unquestionably to Richard Gray and his wife,
from Bellingham, Wash., in his 1973 Berlina.  He also got the Required Repair Award,
swapping in a borrowed starter in my driveway after his died on Saturday.  The Most Eye-Popping Color Award clearly
went to Jack and Craig Morningstar’s 1969 Berlina, literally just out of
the paint shop in a blinding red.  Tour
was great, with no crashes, tickets, or breakdowns, and no apparent domestic
disputes.  A really fun, low-key day
all the way around.

Berlina/Giulia Market Report

1977 Nuova Super. Red with black interior. A decent
looking, running car, recently brought from Europe, that seemed complete and
functional, though the ebay listing mentioned a number of small faults (oil
leaks, low oil pressure, some switches broken).  From the pictures looked like a
reasonable car, though there were no close-ups of the structure or underside,
so it was hard to just the body condition or rust. $4,349 ebay, NC.  This seemed like a fairly low price if
the car’s structure was reasonable, which it appeared to be in the
pictures.  Many cars brought from
Europe are rustbuckets, though this one didn’t appear to be one. All in
all, a good price for the buyer.  6/07

1968 Giulia 1300 TI.  Light blue with black interior.  Recently imported from Italy, this car
appeared to be in immaculate original condition, as attested to in the
listing.  Nice color, virtually
perfect body, original documentation, low miles.  Only a few changes from new, including a
wood steering wheel and some extra dash switches.   $17,601 ebay, Calif.  The kind of car everyone wants to find;
an original, unmolested Giulia.  A
relatively low-performance model (common in Europe), but the condition makes
that pretty much irrelevant, and it’s easy enough to drop in a bigger
engine.  A high price, though not a
new record.  This is in line with
what I’d expect for such a nice car, in a pricey market (Northern
California). 6/07

1969 US 1750 Berlina.  Maroon with tan interior.  Mechanically solid car with some
cosmetic issue. Came to Calif from Colo several years ago, and shows moderate
rust on the lower body as a result. Decent looking, and good mechanicals with
rebuilt lower engine, full Euro Weber setup, and recent brake work. Interior
passable but wearing. Shod with Vredestein snow tires in coastal Calif.  $3,400 craigslist, Calif.  I think prices for high-end cars are
down, and prices for decent drivers are up.  In spite of looking pretty good overall,
this car has a big rust hole in the
left rear fender, which would have made it a $1,000 car a couple years ago,
regardless of the running condition.
The owner did lots of mechanical work on this car, which was reported to
drive quite well, and he must have had far more than the selling price in the
car.  This would be a great driver
to use as is, but the buyer, who already has more than 20 Alfas (including
buying a GTV from me the week before this), will probably do a full
restoration.  Overall, a slightly
high price for the condition, but probably where the market is headed.  7/07

1976 1300 Nuova Super.
Red with black interior.  Brought
into California from Switzerland in 2001 and apparently legal here.  Bottom edges of rear fenders appeared
very rusty, but otherwise car looked reasonable.  Car alleged to operate just fine as a
daily driver.  $3,200 ebay,
Calif.  In spite of the obvious rust
and worthless description by the seller, I think the buyer who clicked Buy It
Now got a good-to-great deal.
Unless you could stick your feet through its floors, a decent looking,
operable Giulia sedan for $3,200 in California is nowadays a steal.  Granted this is a Nuova, with the
dumbed-down character of that model compared to earlier Giulias, but this is no
longer a market in which you can be picky if you want to own one.  Buyer was smart; seller would probably
have gotten a much higher price. 7/07

1969 US 1750 Berlina.  Maroon car with tan interior.  A long-time resident of Central
California, this Berlina has led nine lives with different owners, engines,
fuel systems, etc.  In regular use
til recently, it burns oil and needs a rebuild.  It is cosmetically sad.  Complete and essentially straight, there
is some pretty good rust showing along the lower edges, and big paint issues
from age.  Tan interior looked
pretty good. $2,025 ebay, Calif.
This car, sold by a knowledgeable Alfa shop, attracted 16 bids, but all
were conservative.  This strikes me
as a pretty good price for the seller, considering it needs an engine, rust
repair, and paint, reinforcing my view that the bottom of the market has moved
up.  A few years ago this would have
been a giveaway or parts car, but times have changed.  1750s are sought after, but this one
does need work in several areas, always a challenge for the home Alfa nut, or
expensive if you’re writing checks. 8/07

1974 US 2000 Berlina.  “Volvo gold” car with tan
interior.  Operable car, with some
issues, that’s been in the Bay Area its whole life.  Originally beige cava, repainted a
startling 90s Volvo metallic copper.
Body complete, but some dings and rust.  Mechanically average; driveable, but
engine is getting tired and the steering is the hardest I’ve ever
felt.  $2,000 craigslist,
Calif.  This is one of those cars
that’s operable, but has stuff to be done all over; it’s been a
beater driver for years.  I
considered buying this car a couple years ago and felt then it was a $1,000
project car.  Times have changed
some, and while the car is basically unchanged, the bottom of the market has
elevated some, and the entry fee to any 105/115 sedan has risen.  The owner will be learning to do some
work himself, or writing some checks, to use as a regular car.  That said, if this was overpriced, it
wasn’t by much, so basically a fair deal for both parties.  The car does have a certain street
appeal in its garishness, and isn’t a hopelessly sad case. 8/07

1973 US 2000 Berlina.  Blue/tan car with Bosch Spider engine
and transmission.  A custom Berlina,
with the Bosch-injected engine, nonstandard look-at-me bright blue paint, and
big Panasport wheels.  All very
nicely done to a high standard.
Overall a very nice car, with a history of modification, formerly having
housed a different Bosch engine and automatic transmission.  $8,800 ebay, Calif.  This car is very nicely done, but may
not be to everyone’s taste; it’s on the outskirts of pimptown, if
you ask me.  And although a Bosch
engine might be easier to live with in the real world than a Spica engine, it
doesn’t perform as well or sound as good.  If this car had been stock in this same condition,
I think it would bring at least $2,000 more, so I think the seller took a hit because
of the mods, if the deal was consummated.
Ebay listing was devoid of useful information, which didn’t help
the selling price. This was at least its third round on ebay over several
years. 8/07

1972 US 2000 Berlina.  Maroon/tan
car. Very good overall condition with much recent work to elevate from beater
status to be a nice car.
Cosmetically quite nice, with a few small flaws including cracked
windshield.  Interior and
mechanicals all redone.  $8,950
ebay, Calif.  Produced by a guy who
has created several over-$12,000 Berlinas on ebay. This car showed a lot of
effort to get to a very nice condition (I considered buying it years ago as a
Bay Area beater, but passed).  Lots
of body, interior, and mechanical work done.  Maybe a tick below the condition of cars
produced by the seller in the past, but still very nice.  Bid to $8,200 on ebay but didn’t
meet reserve; negotiated $8,950 afterward with longtime Alfa buyer in Midwest.
Price seemed a bit low for condition, but I think the trend is off high-priced
Alfa sedans right now.  The cracked
windshield will be upwards of $1,000 to fix.  Ebay pictures were not quite up to
seller’s usual standard. 8/07

1970 Giulia Super.  Beige/tan car in apparently good
condition with a few questions marks. Looked straight and complete in ebay
listing, but pictures and description were not very helpful.  Said to function fine.  Had a later Nuova Super grille and
bumpers, and Berlina taillights, which caused wonder about poor body
repair.  Acknowledged issues with
paint, and mismatched interior pieces.
$7,400 ebay, Las Vegas.
Listed multiple times on ebay over a six-month period, finally sold when
noncommunicative seller removed unrealistic reserve.  With the wrong grille (it didn’t
fit very well), bumpers, and taillights, this was a “red flag” car
that warranted seeing in person before bidding any significant sum of
money.  If the car panned out in
person, I’d still call this price high for the condition by a fair
amount.  If it was as scary in
person as in the ebay listing, the price was probably double what it should
have been.  With a decent paint job,
this would quickly become an over-$10,000 Super, and it just wasn’t in
that condition, I don’t think. 8/07
Update: Sold again on ebay in 10/07 for $9,000 by a NY retailer who
bought the car to flip.  I
don’t believe this was a real sale and wouldn’t be surprised to see
the car listed again.  Better
pictures show the paint on the front is really poor, and the car sits very tail
high/nose low.

1974 2000 Berlina.   Le Mans blue with tan interior, automatic
transmission, tired body, much filler (and presumably rust), drivetrain
unknown. $1,200 Australian, Melbourne.
Reported as really a parts car, this equates to about $975 US.  Seems high for a parts car, but I got
this description secondhand, and with no pictures, so it’s very hard to
judge the car and the price.  Not
outrageous though. 8/07

1972 US 2000 Berlina.  Giallo
piper car with black interior.
Complete but moldering car that appears to have been sitting for some
time.  Said to run “just OK”
in the ebay listing, cosmetic condition mirrors that with lots of obvious paint
touch-ups that don’t match.
Interior worn but not bad as these kinds of sad Berlinas go. $1,375
ebay, Upstate NY.  First listed on
ebay at $4,999, then dropped to a more sensible $999.  Very little information in the ebay
listing, but I’d expect a Northeast car to be rusty underneath.  Interior surprisingly good with just a
tear in the driver’s seat.
Pretty much the right price for this kind of Berlina.  A good starting point for a patina’d
driver or restoration that with luck won’t get out of hand.  9/07

1974 US 2000 Berlina.  Grey.  Described by the seller as in fair
condition.  I don’t know more
than that. $2500 craigslist, Portland, OR. I didn’t see the car, so
it’s hard to comment.  A
pretty typical price for an average condition Berlina.  9/07

1967 Giulia Super.
Red/grey.  Extremely
original, unmolested Super in good mechanical condition.  Appeared to have largely original paint,
interior, and still had running-in stickers on windshield.  Somewhat of a time warp car, though the
paint was admittedly very poor.
Recent rocker repair and head gasket.  $12,600 ebay, Los Angeles.  For sale on the AlfaBB some months ago,
before the rocker repair and head gasket were done.  Snapped up by a dealer then, who cured
its ills and presumably made a tidy profit for his labors. Rocker repair looked
good, though car should probably be painted.  A really strong price for a cosmetically
average car, but the originality, completeness, mechanical condition, and
patina counted for a lot. 9/07

1967 Giulia 1300 TI. Pale blue/burgundy.  An incredible car, brought from Europe
recently to California.  Rebuilt
trans and other minor items attended to, otherwise apparently original and
unmolested.  Plain the way 1300s
are, but very charming throughout.
$20,995 ebay, San Diego.  A
beautiful, unmolested car, presented very well with studio pictures and great
documentation on ebay by a knowledgeable smaller retailer achieved this very
high price.  Probably as nice an
original Giulia sedan as is ever going to be found.  Good original Giulias continue to bring strong
prices. 10/07

1970 Euro 1750 Berlina. Dark blue with blue velour.  Good looking solid car with standard
European features: Weber carbs, velour low-back seats, 4.3 rear axle, nice
steering wheel, different lights from US style.  Dash looked perfect. 2000 engine
installed.  In good mechanical
condition and good cosmetic condition, other than a few rust spots and worn
front seats.  $6010 ebay, NC.  This was a relatively good price for the
buyer for a solid, desirable early Berlina.  1750s are generally more sought after
than 2000s, and with the Euro features should be a capable, high-speed road
car.  Some attention is needed to
the seats and eventually the paint, but I expected this car to go for at least
$500 more, so I think the buyer did relatively well here. 10/07

1972 US 2000 Berlina.
Silver/tan interior.  Complete but rusty car that’s been
sitting in the weeds in Oregon for years.
Complete, but not run or driven.
Rust in door bottoms, rockers, and rear wheelwell, but floors and basic
structure is better than expected.
With minimal work, was driveable with good engine, trans, and running
gear.  $550 private sale, OR.  This was a sight-unseen sale, always a
gamble.  Cosmetics were worse than
expected, but mechanicals better.
Complete with good bumpers, glass, trim, reasonable interior, and Spica
and engine are great.  Too nice to be
a parts car, though significant welding will be required to fix the rust and
put it in daily use.  About the
right price, though it was costly to fetch from Oregon to California. 10/07

1974 US 2000 Berlina.  Le Mans
blue/tan.  A very original,
75,000-mile car that appeared to have lived a pampered life in Colorado and New
Mexico.  Said to be all original in
paint and interior, other than modern driver’s seat and steering wheel.  No rust, one tiny dent.  Recently rebuilt engine and
transmission.  $9000 ebay, NM.  As together an original Berlina as
you’re likely to find.  Recent
engine and trans, coupled with no rust, makes this a Berlina that should need
no work and have another 20 good years left in it.  This color is not to overyone’s
taste, nor are the rubber bumpers or the aftermarket seat and steering wheel.
Nonetheless, while the price seems high, the car basically needs nothing, and
is as nice as you are likely to find without a restoration.  Cheap in the long run, and I think the
buyer did OK.  Restoring a lesser
Berlina to this condition will ultimately cost more. 11/07