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Recognition

Lunch with the Chairman
The TI

The Giulietta TI

The Details

1963 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Ti

Serial Number: AR *233859*

Owner: Bill and Marian Gillham - Jefferson Oregon

Mileage: 145,734 Kilometers

Original Interior, Original Drivetrain, Original Chrome

One Exterior Re-Spray

 

Awards and Honors:

Recipient: Museo Storico Alfa Romeo, "Most Historically Relevant Alfa Romeo" Arnoldo Pomodoro Award. 

- Concorso Italiano 2010

 

Certificato D' Oro - 96.5 points in Concorso 

- Alfa California 2013

 

Publication:  Cover Car December 2010 Hemmings Sprorts and Exotic Car

  Alfa Romeo 100th Anniversary Issue "The Italian Girlfriend".

The Story

         The 1963 Alfa Romeo Giulietta TI Story: 

     This car is a survivor;  most Giulietta sedans were scrapped years ago after doing yeoman duty as everyday transportation for European families. This TI is different, it was equipped with plastic seat and door panel covers while still new and was lovingly maintained by one Italian family and one German collector until it was imported from Germany in 1998 by noted Giulietta expert Claus Menzel. Claus removed the plastic covers and Repainted the exterior before reselling it. The intact original upholstery was cleaned at this time, it was in remarkable condition.

     We bought the TI at auction in 2007. A careful cleaning and detailing yielded a very original car, with remarkable patina. Because of it's originality and fragile 54 year old upholstery, the car has been driven and shown sparingly. To date: the Ti has been awarded an Arnoldo Pomodoro Sculpture  by the Alfa Romeo History Museum as the most historically relevant Alfa Romeo at Concorso Italiano 2010, as a result of that award the car was featured in Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car Magazine in December of 2010, it was the cover car for the Alfa Romeo 100th anniversary Issue. It has also won its class and was awarded a Certificato d' Oro (95+ points) at AROC's Alfa California Concorso 2013.

     Giulietta Sedans are quite rare in North America, we believe there are less than 30 in the United States. They are also becoming difficult to source in Europe. While Alfa Romeo made it's reputation by building and racing beautiful Sports cars, it was building Giulietta family sedans that kept the factory doors open after the war. This was the justification that the director of the Alfa Romeo History Museum gave as he awarded our TI the Arnoldo Pomodoro Award at Concorso Italiano in 2010;  Alfa Romeo literaly owes It's continued survival to the lowly Giulietta Sedan. It is an honor to own one.

Harry's Sprint

Harry's Sprint Veloce

The Details

1961 Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce

Serial Number: AR *10106*E*158967*

Owner: Raffi Kuredjian - Novi, MI 

 

Restored in 2007 for Harry Borde - Placerville, CA

 

Awards and Honors:

Recipient: AROC Certificato D' Oro - 100 points in Concorso 

- Motor City Alfa Alfa - 2007

The Story

          The Story of AR *10106 E *158967*: 

     Harry Borde of Placerville California bought the SV from and artist in Sacramento in 1988, He bought it because he missed a Sprint Veloce that he had just sold to Kay Jones in Washington. The SV had had a hard life, it had had a serious shunt on the right front fender. the artist was a metal man who hand planished the original fender back into shape before painting the car red and putting it back on to the road.

     In 1987 I was restoring a Sprint Veloce for Keith Martin, while the car was at my favorite upholstery shop, (Larry's Upholstery in Albany Oregon), I was contacted by Harry, somehow word had gotten out that we were upholstering a Sprint Veloce, Harry talked Larry into making him an upholstery kit for his Veloce which Harry was going to restore at a later date. Larry stitched the interior and carefully packed it away in a nice wooden box. Harry stuck the Interior away and promptly sold the Sprint Veloce to Kay Jones with out any interior at all. 

     I met Harry for the first time while we were on the 2004 Giulietta 50th Anniversary tour in Northern California. He wanted me to Look his Sprint over to see if I might be interested in restoring it for him. We came to and arrangement and the car found it's way to my shop in late 2006. Stripped the body and Painted it a nice Graphite Gregio In the process we finished straightening out the inner fender to fix the last of the shunt damage.

          The ghost in the box: 

     When we finished assembling the car we took it to Andy Smith of Larry's Upholstery, Andy is Larry's son, Larry passed away in 2001. Harry delivered that boxed interior for installation in the SV. Andy said it was like his dad had been in the box. Amazingly the interior fit perfectly. Andy also made the Interior for Kay Jones' ex Harry Borde SV, it is a small world.

     The Sprint was finished after a long long day 2 days before I left with it for the 2007 AROC convention in Detroit MI. At the Convention Concorso the car was judged at 100 points and won it's class. Harry and his Wife Anne were in attendance. Harry was 85 at the time. He sold the car 2 years later. Harry died in November 2015. He was a real old school gentleman, I still miss him.

1961 SS

1961 SS

The Details

1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale

Serial Number: AR *10120* 00388*

Owner: Malamute Automobile Museum - Newbury Park/Calabasas, California. 

Restored: in 2003-2005 for James & Cindy Dyer of Houston TX

Awards and Honors:

Recipient: "Best of Marque" - Concorso Italiano - 2005

Recipient: "Best of Show" - Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car show in Saratoga Springs, New York - 2009 

Recipient: "Best Alfa Romeo" - Radner Hunt Concours d' Elegance in Pennsylvania - 2010  

The Story

          The story of AR 10120*00388*: 

     One of the original 100 SS’s produced especially for the American Market; #388 was first sold in Portland by Rambo Motors. Born in 501 Red the car had received 4 different color paint jobs by the time I purchased the car in 1982. Its history from 1962 through 1982 is mostly unknown. How I came to find and buy the car is an interesting side story. In late May of 1982 I had just come home from school when my phone rang. It was my friend Kevin Williams who was at a Repossession Yard in Salem looking at a pick-up. "There's a couple of Alfas on the lot here and one of them looks funny." After getting quick directions I blasted up to Salem just before the yard closed. Funny is right; it was an SS -- the second real one I had ever seen. It was missing some parts and had a 1600 normale motor under the hood but it was an honest to god SS. 

     After being rung in through an endless labyrinth of bulletproof doors, I got to talk to the office manager of the lot. "How do I do this?” I asked. "You have to make an offer that the bank will accept, then the owner has 14 days to match your offer. If they don't the car is yours." "Is there a current offer?" "$800, but the bank needs more." " I'll offer $1500." "I'll call the bank." A few minutes later she told me that the bank would accept $1500.  I only had to write a check and wait two weeks. There was a small problem with that plan: Marian and I were leaving for our first trip to Europe a week before the deal was final. 

     I arranged to have my friend Jay Conrad pick up the car and gave him the paperwork. If I actually got the SS he would pick it up and stash it in my shop until I returned home on July 4th. When I got home I almost didn't have guts enough to open the shop to see if it was there. It was. The SS was quite a present for me on my 35th birthday. Later, while searching through the car, I came across registration slips that led me to the owner who had let the car be repossessed. Using all the tact I could muster, I called him and inquired about the original engine and some of the other missing parts. He said he had most of them and yes he would sell them for $400. It turned out he and his wife had had a premature baby and medical bills were eating them alive.

     I owned #388 until 2003. The ensuing years after purchase had been spent gathering parts. I actually bought another SS in Idaho for the grille work and other bits of unobtanium.  The second SS was sold when I moved to Jefferson. I scored the last NOS SS nose in the world on a trip to Alfa Ricambi in 1988. In 2003 I sold the car to James and Cindy Dyer of Houston Texas. They commissioned me to restore the car to top Concours standard. They chose to change the color to Holland Blue and picked the contrasting red and grey leather for the interior. The SS was completed two days before delivery at Concorso Italiano in 2005. At the meet it received the award for best Alfa Romeo. The Dyers took the car home to Houston and mostly didn't drive it. They sold it to Don Schwarzkopf in August of 2008. The car moved to Don's home in New Jersey. After a good detailing and some fuel system fettling Don and the SS won the Alfa Romeo Class and Best of Show at the 2009 Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car show in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Best Alfa Romeo at the 2010 Radner Hunt Concours d' Elegance in Pennsylvania. 

 

A number of AROO members participated in the Restoration of #388: Marian and Don Gillham, Dan Sommers, Jim Trofitter, Al Rimer, John Veliotes, Dave Rugh, Les Hurlock and Jay Conrad are among them.

Off to a new home: Number 388 is now in the Malamute Automobile Museum located in Newbury Park/Calabasas, California. The old SS has made quite a journey from that Repo yard in Salem, Oregon.

Black Spider Veloce

Black Spider Veloce

The Details

1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce

Serial Number: AR 1315 F * 07600* 

Owner: Unknown at this time

Restored: for Neil Kelly

Awards and Honors:

Recipient: "Podium Appearance" - Concorso Italiano - 2009

 

Recipient: "First in Class" - New Hope Concours d' Elegance - August of 2010.

The Story

          The story of AR 1315 F * 07600* 

     Giulietta Spider Veloce was first purchased in 1960 by an airline pilot from Belmont, California. The Red Spider Veloce was his every day driver for many years. When the Spider finally gave up the ghost it was parked in his garage and preserved. The pilot 's next-door neighbor, Neil Kelly had asked about buying the car many times over the years, but the pilot wouldn't sell -- he said he planned to restore it. The restoration never happened. Neil Kelly purchased the car from the pilot’s widow for her asking price of $150.00. Neil moved the car to his garage and started plotting about undertaking his own restoration. This restoration didn't happen either. As part of his preparation, Neil had joined the Alfa Romeo 750-101 Yahoo discussion group on the Internet. He eventually contacted me about taking on the restoration of the car. In August of 2007 the car made its way to my shop.

     It was immediately obvious that under all the patina there lurked a perfect rust-free body. The car had not been wrecked, nor had it ever sat outside. Other than that it was completely used up. The restoration took a bit under two years. The car was delivered to Belmont a week before Concorso Italiano in August of 2009. The car was driven to Concorso on its maiden voyage. While there it was one of 10 Alfas invited to cross the podium.

     Neil and his wife Colleen continued to enjoy driving the car on weekends that fall by driving up into the Santa Cruz Mountains to a favorite spot for lunch. Neil Kelly was killed in an automobile accident on Highway 101 in October of 2009. His car was hit from behind by a drunk driver in a Suburban that was traveling at over 100 miles per hour.

     Colleen Kelly sold the Car to Donald Schwarzkopf in May of 2010. The Veloce won first in Class at the New Hope Concours d'Elegance in Pennsylvania in August of 2010.  The purchaser of the car at Amelia Island is not public knowledge at this time.

     A number of AROO members participated in the Restoration of #7600: Don Gillham, Dan Sommers, Al Rimer, John Veliotes, Dave Rugh, and Les Hurlock all had a hand in the restoration.

     Don Schwarzkopf says he already misses both The blue SS and the Black Spider Veloce  but especially the black Spider Veloce because it is so nice to drive.  - Bill Gillham

In the Press

In the Press

Hooligan Photo by Bill Gillham

In Your Garage article November, 2011 Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car

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