1977 Alfa Romeo Alfasud

This Alfasud started life in 1977 as a right-hand drive 1.2-litre model, finished in Blu Posillipo with a grey cloth interior. However, the current owner has had it fitted with a later 1700cc verion of Alfa’s sonorous flat four engine, making it a rather more exciting road car than it was back in the late Seventies.

Not only that, this is an Alfa that hasn’t been subjected to the ravages of terminal rust, as it lived a sheltered life near Melbourne in Australia until 2020, and was always garaged even there, so is in the kind of condition that Alfa enthusiasts can usually only dream about.

The owners says:

‘Having had three in the early 1980s and loved them, it was an opportunity to revisit those times and see if the car was still as special as I remembered – it is! Whilst it is possible to find the occasional Series 3 in the UK in decent condition, to find a Series 1 was an opportunity not to be missed as they drive and ride much more sweetly than the S3 with the lower profile tyres, and are now very rare indeed.

‘However, last November on The Market I saw and bought an Alfa 1600GT Zagato, which is just as rare and arguably even more special, and have decided I can't justify keeping both cars.’

The current owner put the Alfasud through a cosmetic restoration when he bought the car two years ago, so the paintwork is generally very good. There are some marks – a small stone chip on a front wheel arch and on the scuttle behind the rear edge of the bonnet for instance.

Some of these chips show a red colour underneath them, but the owner assures us, and the Alfa Historic certificate confirms, that the car was blue when it left the factory so has not had a colour change.

The Alfa’s brightwork is in good condition – although the door mirror glass is slightly degraded, but this would be easy to rectify.

Some of the satin black finish on one of the air vents behind the rear side windows is worn away, again not a difficult area to improve with a little effort.

The alloy wheels are all in good condition and all have good tyres too.

Inside the ’Sud, the cabin is in generally excellent order, the seats in particular being in very nice shape, although there is some slight soiling of the grey cloth on the driver’s side – we reckon a good valet might well get rid of this.

The Headlining is in excellent shape. There’s some slight wear on the offside and nearside arm rests, and the carpets have lost a little of their colour, but they’re still sound. In common with many cars that have lived in Australian heat, the dashtop is cracked in between the two air vents.

There’s a modern Sony stereo fitted, with Bluetooth connectivity. A button mounted on the steering column is marked ‘Horn’ and doesn’t look original. The owner explains that when it arrived in the country he took the car directly to the Alfa specialist who did the cosmetic repairs, and it was so long since the chap had seen an Alfasud that he had forgotten that the horn works by pulling the right hand stalk towards you, so he fitted a new switch! The horn still works from the stalk as well.

In the boot there’s a toolkit and jack, plus a spare wheel and tyre, and a set of four refurbished steel wheels comes with the car.

The 1.7-litre boxer engine’s alloy casings are a bit grubby but everything looks in order, with no oil leaks that we could spot. Underneath the car looks to be in very sound shape, with no corrosion that we could see, and no obvious signs that the car has been welded. We did spot polyurethane bushes fitted to the anti-roll bar.

The car comes with a genuine Alfa service book going back to the late Seventies, showing service history up to the late 1990s. Old MoT certificates and a book detailing the history of the model are also with the car.

The Alfa comes with a Certificate of Origin from Alfa Romeo Classiche that shows it to be a 1.2 RHD model, produced on 28 June 1977 and sold on 21 July 1977, in Blu Posillipo with grey cloth interior.

The owner says:

‘It was sold new in Australia to Miss Maria Paoletti of Doncaster, Victoria – a suburb of Melbourne. She kept it for many years, finally part exchanging it for a new Alfa 147 sold to her by the Melbourne Alfa Romeo specialist Hugh Harrison of Monza Motors, who had been servicing the car for her.'

‘The car had been garaged by Miss Paoletti at home and at work so avoided the fate of most ’Suds, terminal rust. In fact Hugh Harrison decided to keep the car in his private collection, where it stayed for the next 10 years or so, until his wife insisted that before he bought another car he had to let one go.'

‘I saw it advertised when browsing during lockdown in 2020. It was advertised as a 1.5 litre, which was incorrect, and I was informed that the 1.2 litre engine really needed a rebuild. However Hugh Harrison agreed to install a good 1.7 litre 8 valve twin carb engine from a 33, along with a 1.5 gearbox and new clutch, cam belts, water pump, handbrake cable. The result is a ’Sud with the performance it should always have had, and huge fun to drive whilst retaining its essential character.'

‘Once it arrived in the UK, I had the car cosmetically restored, repainted and comprehensively rustproofed (the specialist doing the bodywork commented that he had never seen a better ’Sud bodyshell). I replaced the front discs and pads, fitted a stainless steel bigger bore exhaust, and various other service items.'

‘The suspension bushes have all been replaced and new tyres fitted on Alfasud Sprint rims. The original steel wheels have been refurbished and come with the car.'

‘Having revisited my youth (I had 3 TIs in the early 1980s), I have now decided to concentrate on the Junior Zagato which I recently acquired, so regrettably the Sud has to go.'

‘I have a large collection of new and used spares for the car which can be made available to the buyer after the auction by separate agreement if required.’

If we were considering an Alfasud then one that spent almost all its life in a dry country like Australia would be top of our list. Rust kills ’Suds and this one looks very solid, as you’d expect, considering its history. Not only that, the Alfa 33 1.7-litre engine makes this a very sprightly Alfasud. One to be driven and enjoyed.

We estimate the value in auction to reach between £13,000 - £18,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.