Driving cross country in an Alfa Romeo Spider bought sight unseen

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Story by Tim Suddard • Photos by Tim and Tom Suddard

Two Guys, a 45-Year-Old Sports Car and 3000 Miles to Home

“Absolutely crazy!” friends and family exclaimed. “Why would you do that? Isn’t that dangerous?” they …

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Nice trip report. When I was younger, I did two similar--albeit shorter--solo trips to retrieve sports cars I had purchased sight unseen. In the mid 1980s it was 450 miles to Omaha, NE for a 1970 Datsun 2000 roadster and in 1998 600 miles to Minneaplois, MN for a 1973.5 Porsche 911T Targa. Both trips were fun and adventurous, but not nearly as exciting or unpredictable. I still have and drive both cars. Thanks for sharing!!

Fantastic story!  Glad both of you made it back to Florida safe.

noddaz

Glad you guys liked the story. Flyman615: weather makes a big difference when heading north, like you did.

What a great article. I read it in the magazine and loved reading it again

I just got a 73 Alfa Spider as a project

Tim, do you still have the car?

Any tips on doing the restore, ie what parts needed special attention?

Thanks

Glenn

Washout the tranny with min.spirits, drain repete, you can fill the tranny thru the shift lever use she'll spruce tranny oil

 Some folks use red line

 Take seats out of car,replace Phillips screws with buttontop Allen bolts, take outrug, padding , look for any rust, clean, clean rugs let dry 

Take everything out of the trunk, clean spare tire well

 Clean out the rust. It well be there,sand treat with vinger to clean rust. Paint with por15

 After dry get 4 rubber blocks 13 mm tall 70 mm long c 25 mm wide. At 90 degrees  from each other , glue,silicon  these to the floor of the trunk

 Let dry

 This will have your spare tire off the floor of the trunk,and allow air to flow, so it will not rust again.

Three of us in a SunbeamTiger going to Savannah from central NY to pick up a drivable Elan..site unseen. (1979). My buddy still laughs and talks about it.

Just picked up a 1988 Graduate. Getting to old to be driving this from Orlando to Central NY but should be a fun summer with it.

Article was a fun read.

Thanks.

abba511

Ten years ago, almost to the day, I sold a 1989 Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio to a TN gentleman who made a similar road trip with his son! Flying into Fargo, ND they picked up the Alfa and headed south in typical winter weather & road conditions. Getting into mid SD, they hit one of the worst snow/ice storms they'd ever witnessed/participated.  Waiting the storm out, & then proceeeding unscathed, they reached  home in an uneventful manner.  Alfas can rule - even in the worst of weather.

Great story, Tim! You and Tommy will remember that one forever.

When I was attending school in St Louis, I drove my 1970 Fiat Spider from home in DC to St Louis multiple times solo. I always made the 850-mile trip in one 15-hour hop, and, weather permitting, with the top down. Discovered that a sweet spot behind a semi where the draft would allow me to take my foot off the accelerator and get 40 mpg out of that little 1438-cc gem of an engine. I built that engine myself, and I'm proud to say it never failed me.

Aha! So there IS a "Tim" and a "Tom". For months I thought my mind was leaving me everytime I read an article and took note of the author.

In reply to JustinSchroder :

We have heard that a lot. I guess when we named our son, we didn't realize we would be working together every day. He was originally Tommy, which made things easier, but when he entered his teens he asked to be called Tom and not Tommy anymore.