Berlina Register Newsletter No. 57 (May 2026)
Notes
and Comment
Attenzione! Berlina Register defies odds and takes on a GTA.
It s true, some of you already know this. To go back a ways,
I passed up a roller GTA in 1978 for $1200 and have regretted it ever since. After
decades of remorse, I got serious in summer 2025 and began looking at cars with
intent. Bid on a couple on BaT, looked at this one at Symbolic Motors in San
Diego after it failed to meet reserve on BaT in March 2025. Began the fun
process of negotiation; in Feb. 2026 it was mine at my price. Woohoo. French
race car from new, was first red, then two-tone blue, now galvanizing orange
with green flash. Has all its GTA parts, which many lost along the way, drives
on the button. I installed a stock 2000 from APE while
I take my time going through the GTA engine. Close ratio trans, magnesium
pieces, sliding block diff, all the stuff. I m so happy. Here s a pic from 1971
unearthed in France, what the car still looks like today.
Not a ton of content this time: an article on stuff to keep
watch on your car. And a long market report because it s been a year since the
last newsletter. Prices were done for a time, now I
sense a bit of recovery, but tariffs and wars cause market uncertainty.
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.
Common
Stuff That Needs Watching
Certain areas of our old cars need watching. These can come
under the heading of they all do that due to poor design from the beginning,
common wear or degradation patterns, wear points that are not readily seen
before failure, life outside, stuff like that.
Some are Super- and Berlina-specific, some are common to all 105/115
Alfas.
Jack points.
An Alfa needs four good jack points to be serviceable, whether you jack
it up at home or it goes on a lift. The points are at the four corners, near
the wheelwells. Especially in the front (and in the US, the right front), the
floor s low point is right there, and there s a factory assembly bung there, so
it s an inherent weak spot. Take a look from time to
time, lift up the carpets (are they wet?), see how the
steel looks. Also, if you use your jack, when you insert the jack s plate in
the body slot and start to lift, does the jack tip inward or outward? If so the floor is weak.
It s a job to fix, typically you have to
replace the floor panel and sometimes part of the rocker. But the car needs strength there. Below is my
1300 Super, rotted.
In the next pic, this is a Spider floor, but the same idea.
Driver s side front floor, rusted part cut out, resting on the new floor piece.
Cut n weld as needed.
Cams. Cam lobes and tappets on Alfas have a
tough life. The wiping motion of the lobe on the tappet makes for high wear.
Period oils had plenty of zinc to combat this but
modern oils do not because zinc harms catalytic converters. So
use a classic oil with zinc/ZDDP, or if using a modern oil, put in some ZDDP
additive. Take a look at your cams from time to time
or ask your mechanic to do so. Along with the wrong oil, a major cause of cam
wear is infrequent oil changes. The dirty oil contains physical and chemical
contaminants and just eats up the lobe and the associated tappet. There is no
more symbiotic relationship than a cam lobe and its tappet; what affects one
affects the other. If you see or feel roughness on the tappet, or the tip of
the cam lobe feels sharp or faceted, it s worn out. This lobe shows a typically
hammered facet just below the top of the lobe.
Driveshafts. The driveshaft, donut, and trans
mount are the most common things I fix on 105 Alfas. I don t know why Alfa have more problems than others but
they do. If you feel a flutter or wiggle
on takeoff, a vibration at a specific speed, or increasing vibration as speed increases, you
probably have issues in this area. If the driveshaft thumps on takeoff or the
shifter fouls the console or has trouble staying in gear, trans mount might be
perished. Trans mount and donut are bolt-in fixes. If you have driveshaft
rumbles, my method is to pull the whole thing out and treat it holistically.
Give it to a good driveshaft shop to check center bearing, sliding spline,
straightness, balance, and u-joints. In the Bay Area JRL in Petaluma is good.
Truck shops typically know what they re doing.
It can be expensive to sort it out but can transform the driving
experience. Below is a 4.55, identifiable by red paint dab.
Giulia Keiper door latches.
This applies to latches on Giulia sedans from about the beginning of 1966. The moving
latch is a half moon shape and the striker plate on the body has a toothed
rack that springs downward. The weak point is the stop for the rack. If it
breaks, the rack drops down, trapping the half moon, and no amount of pushing
or pulling will release the latch. You have to brutally
force open the door by some means, none pleasant. The original latches of this type had a cast
aluminum stop, which broke before the paint was even dry. The superseding part
had a steel stop, which is stronger but still, after 50 years, can bend and
break. Same result. Solution, look at
the striker plate on the body. Any visible damage to the stop area, replace it.
Classic Alfa and others have new ones.
Driver s door most commonly has this issue because it s used the most. Early cars with a hook latch do not suffer
from this. See below for a recent real-world example on which I had to pry both
driver s side doors with a crowbar, no joke. Below that
is broken rack on left, new NOS one on right.
Hood and trunk release cables. On Giulia
sedans and Berlinas, there is no trunk release cable
so you don t have to worry about it. Spiders and GTVs, you do. On Giulia sedans, if the hood cable breaks,
you can get in by removing the grille, reaching in from the driver s side and
pulling the remaining cable or using a pick or something similar to release the
latch. Once open, replace the cable. On a Berlina, it s a bigger deal. From the
factory there is an emergency hood release, two fishing lines that come into
the cockpit through one of the heater hose openings. On
the end of the fishing line is a plastic ring you pull to release the latches.
I have never had to do this but I wonder if
50-year-old fishing line is strong enough for this. And, having to go around a
couple corners and through the firewall, will it really release the latches or
just jam or break? Was it me, I d put in some kind of safety-wire emergency pull,
threaded into one of the wheelwells, or similar. I have done this on GTVs and
Spiders, never on a Berlina, but it shouldn t be that big a deal. It might take
two, one per side for each hood latch.
Giulia sedan reverse judder condition.
Early 105 cars with mechanical clutches can experience an axle-hop or
reverse-judder condition when backing up, especially uphill. It derives from a
feedback loop of the drivetrain moving on its mounts, coupled with the
rigid(ish) clutch actuation. Alfa identified it by 1965 but didn t solve it til hydraulic clutch actuation with the 1750 in late 1967.
There s no guaranteed remedy, but you can minimize it by making sure your trans
mount is in good condition. There s a service bulletin showing to install a
rubber bumper in the metal trans mount to stop the fore-aft bounce. A
discussion on the AlfaBB is here, https://www.alfabb.com/threads/super-clutch-judder-fix.35521/
including an illustration of the factory bulletin.
Market
Report
1971 US 1750 Berlina. Rosso Amaranto
car with tan interior, very common US specification. Lowered a bit with Konis,
powder-coated wheels. New exhaust and headliner, wooden steering wheel from
GTV. Aftermarket AC recently installed. Nice looking car,
been through many hands, formerly in California. Owner had it for a couple
months and put 300 miles on it. $21,000 BringaTrailer, Lincroft NJ. This was a nice looking, solid, stock car. The added AC ate up space in
the interior and engine compartment but would be much appreciated in parts of
the country. First Berlina on BaT in six
months. The car was bid to $10,000, then in the final moments someone upped it
to $21,000 in the face of no competing bids. So, hard to say that s market
price. Might be double the market price. Berlinas are again a bargain? 5/25
1963 Giulietta TI.
Light blue car with race car interior. A paper tiger rally car, good for
events but probably not serious enough for real rallies or track events. Roll
cage, sport seats, no real interior, Halda stopwatches. 1600 with single Weber,
five-speed trans. Basically stock suspension, brakes, wheels. Minor
strengthening to rear suspension. Stickers and stripes galore, no bumpers.
E13,000 BringaTrailer, Amsterdam. Probably fun and quicker than stock but a
poser that can t back up performance to match its looks. That said, cheap for a solid driver with a bigger engine and five-speed. If you wanted an event
car, in Europe, pretty fair deal. 6/25
1972 Giulia Super. Giallo Ocra with red interior. Stock
mechanical other than Panasport wheels, Fittipaldi steering wheel, electronic
ignition. Very yellow, closer to Fly
Yellow than Ocra. Decent car, would be considered
dingy compared to most Dutch cars. E28,250 BringaTrailer, Netherlands. Yellow and red not a
combo for wallflowers. Car looked solid if a little shop-worn. Engine
compartment and interior showing their age, was a cheap repaint without much
masking, undersides painted black. High
price for a non-hotrod Dutch car. Good result for the seller. 7/25
1966 Giulia Super. [Car sold on BaT in January and again
in July. First time $29,250, second time $35,777. Here is a paraphrased repeat]:
Metallic grey with grey cloth/vinyl seats. Originally white, repainted in the
1980s. One family for 45 years, 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. Little use recently. $29,250 BringaTrailer, Pasadena CA. A real-world
Super that was a car in normal use over the decades. One-family ownership is a
plus, though it hasn t been used much; sorted by second seller. Metallic grey not a period color. [On second sale, $35,000 seems more like
market value. Don t know why the difference, has new
tires and a few other changes. Maybe a better listing, or two bidders who had
to have it]. 7/25
1972 US 2000 Berlina. Green car, tan
interior. Stock mechanicals basically with Konis and
tube headers. New Ingram Spica pump, 123 distributor, rebuilt heater. Running
and driveable but not much used. Nice new seats, poor carpets, poor dash and
console. Clearcoat coming off in sheets. Straight,
only a few rust spots. Free private sale, Bainbridge Island WA. I built and painted this car in 2011-2013,
enjoyed it, sold it. Seller got back to me 12 years
later asking how to dispose of it and eventually I realized he wanted to give
it away. So I took it and drove it 800 miles home
after fixing fuel pump wiring. FI and other items not adjusted well; owner s
shop seemed at sea with a Spica car. I sorted timing, pump, cams, clutch,
driveline, exhaust. Now a solid driver. When finished I sold it in a friendly
deal for $7500. 7/25
1973 US 2000 Berlina. Silver car with
black interior. Stunningly restored to stock condition in early 2000s by a guy
with a warehouse full of Alfas, then sold and not used. Nothing to fault,
paint, interior, mechanicals all good. Stock condition including Turbina wheels
and 20-year-old tires. $28,500 Fantasy Junction, Emeryville CA. As nice a Berlina as you could ask for in a
good color, and refreshingly in stock condition. Offered by local classic
dealer and surprisingly bought back by the guy who built it. Good money these days for a Berlina but not
many are nicer and it needs nothing but new tires. 8/25
1974 Giulia 1300 Super Nuova.
White car with black interior. Upgraded in a sane way with Ward & Deane
springs, Bilstein shocks, Daytona mags, 2000 engine with Dell Ortos. Repainted
recently, interior redone. Trans recently rebuilt. Good solid car that had much
going for it other than Nuova styling. $24,000 BringaTrailer, Roslyn NY. The
only detractions here were dark photos in the listing and black undersides,
making condition hard to judge. Looked like a solid car, all the right
upgrades, good running condition and nice mechanicals. One change, if not made,
would be a longer axle than the 4.78 1300 Supers came with. Very fair price,
something of bargain, though many folks dislike Nuovas. 8/25
1964 Giulietta TI. [same writeup as last issue, sold
again for $243 more on BaT in Sept. 2025] 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. $16,000 BringaTrailer, Sacramento CA. Sold
for $21,000 in 2020, $15,757 in May 2025, now this three months later. Not sure what s up but this is the admission
price for a good Giulietta sedan. 9/25
1972 Euro 2000 Berlina. Hotrod metallic
grey/tan car with all mod cons from Alfaholics and others. Fully rebuilt car
bodily and mechanically with 176HP engine, Alfaholics suspension, brakes, the
works. Typical low Dutch stance with unusual Abarth-look 15 x 7 wheels. Tough,
mean-looking car which is likely very capable on the road. E46,000 BringaTrailer, Belgium. As about as capable as a Berlina can be
without being a race car, and as nice as can be without being factory-new. Everything done, on a
rolling dolly, each system gone through.
Ground-scraper, which BaT buyers love, and a great low-key color. Double what
most Berlinas trade for but probably less than it cost to build. 9/25
1974 Euro 2000 Berlina. White car with
black interior, again with all the Alfaholics mods and a stance like a vacuum
cleaner. Fully restored car, super-sanitary condition. Koni s, short springs,
15 GTA wheels, drilled suspension parts, the works. Interior as nice as the rest of the car. E18,750
BringaTrailer, France. The Trump Tariff Effect, this car was half price because
US buyers won t bid due to cost uncertainties.
A complete steal for whoever took the plunge. 10/25
1971 US 1750 Berlina. Bluette car with
red interior. Very nonstock, with a Motronic 2000 engine, AC, lowered, BWA
wheels, 4.10 differential, modern stereo and electronics, on and on. Built
mostly by a previous owner, and sold on BaT in 2014 for $8500, this Alfa shop
owner took it to another level in terms of condition. Everything polished,
shined, painted, new. $28,250 BringaTrailer, Kansas. In some ways a 90s Spider grafted onto a
Berlina shell. Very good work and presumably quite functional. Bluette color
not my taste on Berlinas, but that s me. Car seemed borderline gaudy. Not what
I d do but two bidders ran in up in the last minutes. I d say about equal to
the car s value in perfectly stock condition. 10/25
1965 Giulia TI. White car with red leather interior.
Red/green Italy stripes along sides. 2000 engine, GTA repro wheels, Nardi
wheel, the usual updates on a Giulia. Looked OK in auction listing but
cosmetics described as average. $30,800 Broad Arrow, Las Vegas. Originally celeste blue and my notes last
show it with original 1600, so it went through the hotrod mill like many do
now. Likely not a better car than when stock. This price probably
achievable only at an auction, seems a few thousand high. 10/25
1972 Giulia Super. White car with red interior, very nice
and largely original French market car. Typical 15 GTA mags and lowered stance
with Alfaholics springs. Comprehensively
detailed and painted. Otherwise stock mechanicals. Solid undersides, nice
interior. 31,000 Euros, France. Looked like a nice, normal car other than the
hotrod wheel look, which was not backed up by the performance. Price fair, seems Americans are bidding only on American
offerings due to tariff and registration worry. 2/26
1964 Giulia TI Super. White with
grey/red interior. Fully restored car with some Alfaholics updates. Unknown if
original engine and trans. Reproduction wheels. Looked on
the button, stunning presentation with right carbs, exhaust, etc. $92,400
Goodings Amelia Island. Like most
others, TI Super prices have come way down. This car had no stated history, so
a blank slate, and one knowledgeable party had doubts about full authenticity.
Still, it s the price of a hotrod GTV. Good deal for buyer if it s real. Was
also a GTA Jr at Amelia, went for $130,000 plus fees. Total deal. 2/26
1969 US 1750 Berlina. Beige cava car
with tan interior. Whole car, surprisingly not rusty, but been
sitting out in the sun for decades and everything needs doing. Body straight
but needs paint, upholstery, all rubber seals, full mechanical going through.
$4500 Facebook Marketplace, Ione CA. At first attractive because complete and
not crashed or rusty, but it needs absolutely everything and you d never be
done with it; you d run out of money first. Generous price given that it needs
tens of thousands spent. 3/26
1966 Giulia Super. Red/black Dutch market car, previously
restored in NL by a private party to an apparently good standard but let down
by failure to follow up and sort, due to his untimely death. Bought by a US enthusiast who got to finish
it for him. 1750 engine, stock suspension, basically a nice rotisserie car with
minor missteps. Sorted by this owner and enjoyed a few years. $29,000 private sale, Berkeley CA. My friend s car, which I helped sort. Dutch
restorer was capable of good work but didn t always know what he was doing,
like mixing 1600 and 1750 suspension pieces, resulting in spooky handling.
Owner and I put it right. Nice car, blinding red paint, everything worked as it
should. About right price, does not represent what owner had in it. 3/26
1967 Giulia Super. Stunning green/tan
car, pretty much fully sorted. Stock, recent paint, orange/tan
upholstery, slightly lowered but stock wheels and tires. Nothing really to do
except enjoy. $55,000 AlfaBB, Portland OR. As
nice/stock a Super as anyone could want. The best series, great color, stock
condition. Hit all the marks. Close to double the normal market price but cars
like this can achieve that. 3/26
1972 Giulia 1300 Super. Grigio Indaco car
with red seats, great combo not offered on US models. Nice solid car, typical
slammed appearance with big GTA wheels and tires, stainless headers with
Magnaflow exhaust, alum T bar on rear end. Very nice condition, great paint and
interior. Nothing really to fault. $49,000 BringaTrailer, North Salem NY. Big price, surprised a lot of people including me. Most of
these are in Europe, so maybe folks jumped on this domestic LA hotrod to
avoid tariffs. Folks love the slammed look with GTA wheels, even on a 1300. Very happy seller I m sure.
3/26
1967 Giulia Super. Blue car with grey interior,
originally white with black. One longtime owner, then changed hands a couple
times, very nice interior, average LeMans blue exterior. Missing a few things
including rocker spears. 1750 with Webers, TZ repro wheels, low springs, the
typical modern look. $31,750 BringaTrailer, Dixon NM. A car I knew a long time ago,
belonged to a family where each member had a Super. Deferred work over the
years, subsequent owner brought the interior up a lot and the exterior up a
little. Very little use last 20 years. Operable but will need sorting. Price
was very strong for condition; I saw it as $25,000 car. 5/26