Berlina Register Newsletter No. 56 (May 2025)

Notes and Comment

2025 is upon us and half gone; how do these things happen? My Super got its rear-end crunch fixed at Whitman in San Rafael, seemed good though a crack appeared in the new paint a couple months later and had to be slightly redone. The bumper took six months but I wasn t in a hurry and I worried I d never see it again. But all good.

Sold the 1969 Berlina to a guy in Reno who, like me, rode the train down and drove it home. He s very happy. And sold the LHD 1972 1300 Super to friend Liam, who works at Epifani Restoration, so a good home and still in the neighborhood. Sold the 1967 GTV to friend John, who keeps it with his Super and Berlina and MB 240D two blocks away. VW Bus has been gone since early last year. I m eyeing a 1971 Berlina but that hasn t worked out yet. So I have two Supers, three BMWs, a Porsche, and a Ford pickup.

The keeper of the Berlina Register, North American Giulia Sedan Register, and Giulietta Sedan Register is Andrew Watry, email watry@prodigy.net. Send corrections to your information or any other Giulia- and Berlina-related facts, rumors, tips, or needs. Always seeking articles for the newsletter.

Keeping Your Sedan on the Road

A few odds and sods here on owning, preserving, using your 50-year-old Italian sedan. I use mine every day and they mostly live outside, not everyone s experience or first choice, I realize. My feeling is if I m not driving them why do I have them? With my driveway and garage setup, to keep one in the garage means a lot of parking moves to get it out every day. So I just leave it out and live with the consequences.

Regular Care: Keep on top of normal maintenance, oil and filter changes on a regular schedule, brake fluid and antifreeze changes every two/three years, tuneups on some kind of schedule. Check the air in your tires every few weeks or month. Check your oil, especially if the car leaks or burns it. Check the antifreeze.

Keep the Weather Out: In normal use, and for sure if the car lives outside, keep on top of the door and trunk seals, plus the taillight gaskets and window rubbers. These keep the rain and weather out. It s amazing how small internal leaks, unnoticed, result in wetness in the low parts of the floor, trunk, radiator apron, and rust through in time. Wool carpets stay damp and promote rust. Stay on top of all these weather barriers, and don t forget your fuzzy channels and wipers around the windows, and the moisture barriers under the door panels. Below is 10 years worth of rust and rot in my Super from poor door and window seals in coastal California. I cut all this out and replaced it, not a fun job.

Use Your Senses: Use your eyes, ears, nose to keep tabs on what s happening with the car. Look under the car regularly for leaks, listen for things that don t sound right, and keep your nostrils peeled for abnormal smells. Brake shoe smell? Sulfury gearbox or differential oil smell? Exhaust or fuel smell from the engine or hole in the tailpipe? Acrid burning electrical smell? Your senses are your friend here. Trust yourself to know your car; it if seems different it probably is.

Periodic Inspection: Do some kind of a regular annual inspection like with an airplane every year or so. Whether you or your mechanic does the work, it s amazing what you find by looking over the car carefully from time to time. Worn hoses, frayed belts, broken axle straps, rust spots in the floor, thin brake pads, uneven tire wear, all kinds of stuff. It helps to have someone else drive the car and give you feedback. You may be accustomed to its quirks and in daily use may not notice degradation like loose steering or worsening brakes. A fresh perspective from an Alfa-savvy friend can head off problems. If you suddenly notice your Berlina has issues like those below, maybe you haven t been paying enough attention.

Trips: I take my cars everywhere. I used to carry a toolbox in the trunk. Not so much now but on longer trips I ll pack tools and do-or-die items that will render the car undriveable if they break. This includes distributor parts, spark plugs, a fuel pump, Spica belts, a water pump for a long trip, fuses, extra wire and connectors, a few normal tools. You can t anticipate everything but think about what will put the car out of commission that you won t find in Winslow. Bring that. And your cell phone and a AAA card. Check for spare, lug wrench, working jack.

Will I Hurt It by Using It?: Some folks are timid about using a Super or Berlina in the real world. I see two parts to this. One is the driver, the other is the car. Whether you are comfortable using one of these gems in the rough and tumble world is your call and more a function of outlook and disposition. If I don t use my cars I don t know why I have them. But for someone with a perfect Giulia Super who is timid about dents, dings, dirt, cracked glass, you may not be cut out to put yourself and your car through that. For the car itself, once it s in good condition, a 105/115 car can withstand any reasonable use you can put it to. They are strong, well-built cars, with quality major components and accessories. I ve been using a Super or Berlina or both as a daily car since 1977. I ve broken down a couple times but so has my wife in a modern BMW. These things happen. But these cars are totally up for it if you stay on top of them and do some pre-trip checking and prepping before heading out on a trip.

Molto Prototipo

Here are some pics and info I ve gathered on prototype and disguised Giulias and Berlinas. No information guaranteed accurate. Some info off the internet, god help us, and some from reliable sources.

From Patrick Dasse s Giulia Sedan book of factory photos (which you should buy, along with his Arese book), these two may be the first Giulia. Front view to me is intentionally ugly enough to be a disguised prototype, a spy photo shot on the street by the paparazzi. Second photo is clearly posed, perhaps one styling possibility for the rear. Not dissimilar to the cast-iron 2000 or 2600 Berlina; kind of mid-Atlantic.

Above, final style other than lack of bumper overriders, badged as a Giulietta 1600. Also from Dasse book, I had never heard of this possibility. Shape of trunk looks hand-done rather than die-done.

Above left, perhaps 1750 Berlina number 1. Pretty much final shape other than RF fender dent. I would call this a disguised nose rather than a styling variant, and it is a spy photo, grabbed on the run. Above right, perhaps same car, nose might be a tad different, has ROVER badge but companies did that to put the media off the scent of something new.

Early Berlina prototype? Or a styling exercise later updated with an Alfetta Berlina scudetto? Dunno but looks to be a Giulia with an attempt at a front-hinge bonnet choice. Found long ago on the internet, couldn t dig up any info then or now.

Same car as above or different? Bonnet looks to open the other way, and what are those vertical thingies inside the headlights? Straps? Looks like a Fiat 124. Has a late Super/GTA scudetto but a very Berlina radiator opening.

Market Report

1966 Giulia Super. Acqua di fonte with blue cloth seats. Very nice Italian-market car, US didn t get the great pastels that Italy did. Blue cloth seats maybe original style for Europe. Paint and interior good, done recently in Italy. Replacement 1967 Super engine, stock mechanicals. New tires on stock wheels. Car presented a strong appearance. $40,000 BringaTrailer, Pompano Beach FL. As nice a first series 1600 Super as you could want in an unusual color. Only nit, maybe sat a bit high in back but that s an easy fix. Nice original car for what many, including me, thought was a bargain by $10,000. 11/24

1973 Giulia 1300 Super. Faggio car with cloth camel interior. Car emigrated from Holland to NC recently. Nice car, good paint, good interior, stock engine, Alfaholics suspension and exhaust, lowered but not a scraper. Appeared all in good order like most Dutch cars. Stock wheels and 1300, so not really a hotrod in spite of dropped stance. $25,750 BringaTrailer, Statesville NC. Looked as good as you could want for a 1300 Super. Faggio is not everyone s fave color, and the 1300 engine isn t going to win races. But a solid and dialed-in car from a driving perspective. I say buy the best condition, and this seemed to be it. Something of a bargain but many folks were nonplussed, and market is not strong right before holidays. 11/24.

1972 Giulia 1300 Super. Grigio Indaco with dark red interior. Italian market car, from Italy to US in 2017, kicked around, sold on BaT in 2019, didn t get used much. 2000 Euro engine, Panasports, big tires, low springs. Complete Nuova Super interior including dash and door panels. Minor body rust, a few odd dents, some poor paint areas. Poor sporty exhaust. Barely ran. $7500 private sale, Portland OR. A car I d looked at some years before for a friend, no deal was reached. Seller had given to a shop to prep for BaT, they were charging him money and not making progress. He contacted me, I bought. Needed a fuel pump and condenser to get running. Engine is very strong. Driveshaft vibration knocked your teeth out, now fixed. Body is better than I remembered. Nuova interior is OK; console fit is poor. A stunning deal, half price. Seller suggested price, not me. I fixed everything, sold to a friend for what was still a bargain for $13,500. 11/24

1972 Giulia 1300 Super. Fully gone-through green car with tan interior. Stock, 14 steel wheels, 1300 engine, Webers replaced Solexes. Much body and interior work, totally redone. Hard to fault other than green was not Alfa green, more of British forest green. $24,000 private sale, Nebraska. Car had been on BaT, generated interest and got bid to $22,000 but seller wanted more. Nonstandard green didn t appeal to everyone. Still, a deal was made and for a totally dialed-in unificata Super with four-headlight nose and good dash, pretty fair deal for the buyer. 12/24

1971 Giulia 1300 Super. Rosso amaranto car with pigskin seats. That rarity, a stock Giulia sedan. Repainted in 2017 before it left Greece for US. Stock body, suspension, driveline, wheels. Topsides looked nice enough in poor pics but undersides showed heavy flash rust everywhere, like it had sat in a wet field or damp storage a long time. Noted cracks and flaws in paint, so I imagine bodywork was coming undone. Dingy interior, minimal prep for sale, cheapest tires. $19,000 BringaTrailer, Coxsackie NY. Didn t meet reserve on BaT, a deal made afterward. I was surprised BaT accepted it with a reserve, undersides were nasty. Still, a driving 1300 Super for under $20,000, not awful. I d say overpriced by a couple thou, more if in a year s time you have to paint it. 12/24.

1967 Giulia 1300 TI. White car with black vinyl seats. Stock condition other than Alfaholics springs and usual TZ cast wheels and bigger tires. Comprehensively restored in Italy, above and beyond for a stock 1300 TI. Nothing to fault, looked stunning. Not a roadburner, engine will not deliver the promise that the low suspension makes but still, very nice car. $25,250 BringaTrailer, France. Who does a rotisserie restoration on a 1300 TI and leaves it in stock condition? These guys did. Car was stunning, especially undersides. After restoration usual sport springs and big tires added to give it the stance BaT bidders crave. Strong price for a 1300 TI but surely below cost to build. Fair, probably a bargain, for condition. 12/24

1966 Giulia Super. Metallic grey car with grey cloth/vinyl seats. Originally white, repainted in the 1980s. One family ownership 45 years, with alleged use as a demonstrator by Alfa when new. Good overall condition, stock other than color and interior change. 1600 engine, Euro cams, recent clutch, stock wheels and tires. Loved and cared for but not much used last 20 years. $29,250 BringaTrailer, Pasadena CA. A real-world Super that reflects the condition and specification of a car in normal use over the decades. One-family ownership is a plus, though it hasn t been used much and somethings might need sorting when it gets on the road again. Metallic grey not a period color. Nice to see a Super in stock condition. Peanut gallery on BaT loved it but did not translate into great money. Fair price, a bit of a bargain. 1/25

1966 Giulia Super. Red American-market car with black interior from a 1300 TI. Mostly stock, original 1600, steel wheels, new exhaust, windshield, headliner, gas tank. Out of use for some time, resurrected mechanically but only interiorally. Half-moon fender flares above rear body fluting. Car essentially solid but plenty of wear in the paint and elsewhere; a driver. $28,500 BringaTrailer, Northridge CA. Refreshingly stock and looking real-world as Supers used to before so many became hotrods. 1300 interior was expedient compared to trashed original tan seats but were wrong style. Fender flares would be no small matter to remove; live with or do whole car. I was a bit surprised at price, expected to see more like $25,000. 2/25

1967 Giulia 1300 TI. Acqua di fonte with burgundy seats. Dutch market car brought to the US in the early 2000s. Very solid and stock, looked and worked great. Much work done, rebuild trans, head and cams, redone seats, repaint, brake rebuild, you name it. Refreshingly stock and simple. $28,750 BringaTrailer, Elmhurst IL. I bought this car in 2009, drove it home from Boston to Berkeley. No problems. Still as nice as it was then. Totally stock spec other than minor porting and cam work to up the power a bit. Not a fast car but an extremely solid and charming one. I spent six days at the wheel by myself and enjoyed all of them. High for a 1300 TI, twice what I paid (and got) 15 years ago, but find a better one. 2/25

1964 Giulietta TI. Light blue with blue and white interior. Solid, stock condition late Giulietta sedan with 101 five-speed swapped in. Otherwise stock and in good shape. Steel wheels, new tires, new exhaust, very neat and tidy throughout. $15,757 BringaTrailer, Sonoma CA. Came from Italy to US in 2020, sold on BaT for $21,000 at the time. Had a knowledgeable Alfa owner but probably got little use. Super nice car, this shows where the market lies for a 101 sedan. Sigh unless you re a buyer. Seems like no one really wants these any longer. 5/25