Looking for a really nice 105 series 2000 GTV!

[acalex]

Anyone got or know of an early 70's 2000GTV that might be for sale? Ideally but not necessarily a lightly modded version, road only, eg with some Alfaholics kit, or a top standard car. Yes I know there are a few advertised here and there, like with B&W Garages. Must be a fully documented restored car, not a potential pile of rust please! Private enthusiast cash buyer, up to £20k for right car. Located South Devon, so within 150-200 miles of there is ok. Looking to buy in the next few weeks having just sold my TVR Griff, now the AC and Integrale feeling lonely, poor things!

[T313]

Have you thought about a project?
You could commission a very good restoration for that money, you could spec it exactly how you wanted it, plus you could be sure there was nothing nasty hidden away under filler.
Michael

[jamieandthemagic]

Happy hunting, took me 12 months to find mine. Saw a lot of crap.

Think you may be traveling in your search.

[jamieandthemagic]

Ps here's a few, maybe worth looking at;
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C461404

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C453393


http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C471083

The junior looks real nice, don't be just focused on a GTV, the 1300 is a sweet revver and a pleasure to drive and work hard. You may find you get a better car with the junior, than a GTV for the same price.

[errek72]

Some obvious ones.
http://www.classicalfa.com/categories/Cars-for-Sal...
http://www.alfaholics.com/cars-for-sale/

Mainland Europe looks like your best but if you don't mind LHD.
http://www.autoscout24.eu/

I gave up finding one that was nice enough and around 20k.

[acalex]

Thanks for all the thoughts, seen most of the ads, LHD not a problem, but not too keen trapsing around Europe! Project to do up, in my experience usually costs far more than buying a car properly done. Will perhaps keep an eye out for a lightly modded car, or just go a different route. Basically not desperate to buy a heap of trouble, strange that!

[arguti]

Save yourself a lot of time and money, speak to alfaholics, Ian Ellis and Classic Alfa as they will know where the decent possibly available cars are and more importantly who has restored them where relevant. Some of these cars will be not be advertised but may become available if they know you are serious.

This way you are far less likely to get a munter or spend a fortune travelling up and down looking at rubbish.

Edited by arguti on Sunday 23 February 08:26

[acalex]

Thanks Arguti, very logical really...I see Alfaholics have an open day or something like that early April, so might pop along. By the way, do you not have any other cars apart from Alfa's??!

[errek72]

I'm not saying it is a wiser choice but consider that 105's sell at a premium these days and 116's are undervalued. Worth a look from a bang-for-buck perspective. Very different car though. (I love them)

http://www.alexjupemotorsport.co.uk/post/2013/12/0...

[Mighty Flex]

acalex said:

Thanks Arguti, very logical really...I see Alfaholics have an open day or something like that early April, so might pop along. By the way, do you not have any other cars apart from Alfa's??!

The open day/Castle Combe track day is a great opportunity to see a huge selection of cars - anything from originals, modified/race to beautiful restorations. I can't speak personally on the usefulness from the point of view of potential owner, though I can't think of anywhere in the county you will find a larger concentration of 105s and their owners. For that reason, I think you could do a lot worse than visiting.

I am not in a position to buy one at the moment, though I wished I was after visiting last year, despite the rain!

[coetzeeh]

errek72 said:

I'm not saying it is a wiser choice but consider that 105's sell at a premium these days and 116's are undervalued. Worth a look from a bang-for-buck perspective. Very different car though. (I love them)

http://www.alexjupemotorsport.co.uk/post/2013/12/0...

+ 1 - such under rated cars.

[Elderly]

acalex said:

Project to do up, in my experience usually costs far more than buying a car properly done. !

Quite right.

This might not be to your taste but it failed to make its reserve at the weekend (which should not have been more than the £17K published lower estimate) and appears to have had a huge amount of money spent on it recently; still for sale here:
http://www.i-bidder.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/s...

[acalex]

Yep saw it their entry list, but more of a specialised track/event car. Whether it would be practical for road use, i've no idea, but full roll cage and all that stuff not really conducive to a 'shopping' car.....

[T313]

I owned a '72 2000GTV for 12 years - for at least half of that it was my only car. Started standard but then gained fast road engine rebuild, cage, racing seats and harnesses. The suspension and engine mods actually made it more enjoyable to drive daily. The cage was a bit of a pain to step over (and i didn't use the back seats), and it was tempting not to bother fastening the harnesses properly on short drives, but other than that it was definitely suitable for daily driving. My car retained the carpets, door cards and full dashboard - not sure about the one at auction

[Elderly]

acalex said:

Yep saw it their entry list, but more of a specialised track/event car. Whether it would be practical for road use, i've no idea, but full roll cage and all that stuff not really conducive to a 'shopping' car.....

yes - harnesses on a road car are a real pain, especially on something old that has a screen that mists up, and a cage could be quite dangerous without a helmet.
I was just reinforcing your point about how the spend on a 'project' can run away with your wallet.
Yes you would get exactly what you think you want at the time (but even that can change with experience)
but the chances are that you will get far better value by letting a previous owner spend their money, hopefully on your behalf.

[velocemitch]

T313 said:

I owned a '72 2000GTV for 12 years - for at least half of that it was my only car. Started standard but then gained fast road engine rebuild, cage, racing seats and harnesses. The suspension and engine mods actually made it more enjoyable to drive daily. The cage was a bit of a pain to step over (and i didn't use the back seats), and it was tempting not to bother fastening the harnesses properly on short drives, but other than that it was definitely suitable for daily driving. My car retained the carpets, door cards and full dashboard - not sure about the one at auction

Pretty much my experience this, a caged and Harnessed GTV is still a useable Car, though putting somebody in the back is not a good idea!.

Don't really agree that cages are dangerous without helmets, it's very normal for Road Rally Cars (Historics or moderns), I'd sooner have a cage around me in a crash than not.


That said for an everyday Car with no plans for competition use, it's probably better to leave the cage out and use a good set of inertia reels.

The Car linked in the Auction did seem good value, but competition Cars can frequently be knocked about a bit so maybe it was a bit scabby underneath.

[arguti]

acalex said:

Thanks Arguti, very logical really...I see Alfaholics have an open day or something like that early April, so might pop along. By the way, do you not have any other cars apart from Alfa's??!

Have a VW Touran Tdi - most unreliable and expensive car to run and wife drives Toyota Prius otherwise all Alfas!

errek72 said:

I'm not saying it is a wiser choice but consider that 105's sell at a premium these days and 116's are undervalued. Worth a look from a bang-for-buck perspective. Very different car though. (I love them)

http://www.alexjupemotorsport.co.uk/post/2013/12/0...

Alex has a few of my cars currently undergoing various bits of work - 116 Alfas are more laid back to drive and GTV6 prices are moving swiftly upwards at the moment as few good cars available:

The other point is terms of buying a 105 is that whilst these are great to drive etc etc with the values going up it it worth spending that extra time and effort to find one where the hard yards have already been done in terms of future proofing one's investment.

We have all bought pups but for the "investment" grade 116 cars I have bought I have always managed to persuade Alex Jupe to inspect them beforehand as he will look at the car objectively. Well worth the inspection fees, etc IMHO.

Hence my earlier advice to speak to the usual suspects first. It's not how much was spent on the car but who did the work, ask me how I know.

Edited by arguti on Wednesday 26th February 09:44

[corporalsparrow]

I have both track day and road 105's, and they're both perfectly useable in ordinary, everyday driving.

As regards the cage/harness thing; if you are thinking that you may at some point do track days in the future (and I urge you to do them) then a cage is something you should consider. A car rolled at the second Goodwood track day the year before last and if not for the cage it would have been flattened. Those A posts do not support the weight of the car.

As far as finding a good car is concerned, then the advice to talk to Richard Norris at Classic Alfa, Ian Ellis and Alfaholics is definitely the way to go. I might also include Simon Whiting on that list, he seems to know where a lot of nice cars are.