Looking to buy excellent condition 105 .... Car purchased - see photos

[Silver105]

Hello all,

I'm looking to buy a 105 GTV, either 1750 series one or a 105 GTV 2000.

Willing to pay up to 30k but has to be excellent condition with lots of the usual issues resolved and or replaced. Willing to pay more if the preferred colour combo ( silver, Blue or red ) and in mint brand new condition

Genuine buyer, not in a rush and car will be the weekend toy so have no fear it will not be trashed or raced.


Cheers
JJ

[UNICO]

I met a guy at the Lygon Street display last week who was selling his silver 105 gtv 2000. His name was Sash and the car was completely restored. Dont have any more details I'm afraid, maybe someone on this forum knows who I'm talking about.

[pep105]

I know the one your talking about, got some photos of it Ill post them as soon as i find them, hopefully theres one with the phone number on it. Looked like a full restoration most likely in the price range your talking from what I heard stay tuned...........

[pep105]

Found the photos, its an absolute fluke but in the 3rd photo of the car next to the 2000 GTV theres the for sale sign, ph no. looks like 0419 334 383 or 0419 334 303 but not sure, can email the hi res photo if you like John

[dehne]

hi there i was talking about this to my mates the other day they do a lot of resto for 105's and they have on out the side which needs a resto and they said for 30grand you could pick any colour you like and they would custom build it to what you want. its something to think about anyway

[Silver105]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes Sascha, I have seen his gorgeous car, saw it at the Flemington Car show and then again at Lygon street. Have made an offer and he knows I'm keen but I get the impression he is not really keen to sell. Not sure what the delay is as I have made a very generous offer and the car will be treated like the other woman but I'm still waiting. Then again if I was in his shoes after a ten year restoration that I'd done mostly myself, I too would find it hard to part with the car.

30 grand for a full restoration in any colour ?? I'd been keen to talk to your mates if they are geniune. I've drooled over these cars for many years and finally have the storage facilities now to keep one so not in a rush, but it has to be a good car or a professional restoration.

What are other peoples views about the cost of a restoration to good standard for a 105, I've heard very wide numbers from 25K to 50k ? Thoughts

JJ

[SimonR]

Yes I agree with your pricing estimate but maybe closer to the upper end though. 105 coupes and 105 spiders are expensive to restore if done properly inside and out and probably end up coming out at about the same end cost for each.

I fully restored my 105 spider in 2002, it took 2 years at Rankins panel shop with most panels replaced via new ones from UK suppliers and Milano in Thomastown. Another place fully rebuilt engine, gearbox, brakes and diff with PACE upgrades etc and full leather interior and new Mohair softop and reskinned dash and I have receipts for about $45k on top of car purchase price, and thats with me doing much on the donkey work as well!! 

I hardly drive it anymore and it just sits in the garage but I would never sell it after all the pain and expense of doing it, but I do love driving it when I get the chance.

If you are going to buy a fully restored one you really need to be carefull of the quality of the restoration though amd make sure no corners were cut otherwise you are better off restoring your own one and then knowing exactly what was done.

Good luck in your search.

Simon

[lhodgo]

I think the guys that Dehne maybe talking about are the same guys I use and they have done bits and bobs for me over the past year including the work I just wrote about in the post before this one "badges". I would vouch for there work. I believe you need to way up your options carefully. On the one hand you may get the car your after in perfect nick for $30k but you also take a risk in doing so trusting the owners restoration. If I were you I would prefer to spend the $30K carefully and do it from ground up. The added benefit of that too is another sad little 105 will be brought back to life!!!! We all benefit from that. Lucas.

[Silver105]

Too be honest I'm leaning to doing the restoration myself as I have not seen many good restored 105's for sale that have been advertised. I have only seen 3 (really good cars) in the last 4 years, but none in my preferred colour choice ( silver of blue). Just a little worried I may take on more than I expect but I may have to start doing that research.

Outside of the guys that Denhe ( details Denhe ? ) is talking about can anyone recommend some professionals that I can talk to and do some research. Just need to understand if I'm setting myself up for a world of pain and expense or do I then just by a decent car and take to restoring it over a longer time frame.

Thanks for the advice

JJ

[blacklotus99]

30k for a good 105 thats been fully done would be an absolute bargain in my view.

You could buy a runner for 10k and then drop another 50k+ in it easily doing a bare metal rotisserie job.  Most of the restos Ive seen of 105s have had a lot of corners cut simply due to the cost.

Price is also dependent on what you are looking for in a 105.  If you want concours original thats one thing, if you want a performance type 105 that completely different.  I prefer the latter as the 105 was a car used heavily in competition in period.  An original spec 105 feels very sedate in todays terms.

Didnt benincas have a restored white car advertised over there?

In my view you would need to pay a lot more than 30k for a top shelf 105.  Certainly you would to buy my car.  Good luck with it.

[dehne]

there name is continental body retoration phone number is 0354478692. thay do heaps of 105 restos as well as a few gtv's and spiders

[Silver105]

Dehne,

thanks for the details, will give them a call.

Thanks for the comments blacklouts99. From the restored cars that I have seen on the market the most recent one on the market was that white, red interior 2ltr for 35k and was restored alledgedly to concours (not the colour I was looking for so didn't consider) but regardless the market at the moment will only really pay 30 - 35 maybe more for good to exceptional 105s that have had a fair bit of work done. Now the reality is if you look at it, fully resored 105's should be going for an average cost of restoration but I haven't seen any 105 break 40k let alone 50K. Hence they are a good long term investment, as eventually the market will move too reprice these classics but that may take many years.

In any case, the hunt goes on and I'll look to pay market for a good 105 and above market for an exceptional 105 ( silver or blue preferable).

cheers
JJ

[lhodgo]

We will all keep our ears to the ground for you JJ.

[blacklotus99]

Thanks for the comments blacklouts99. From the restored cars that I have seen on the market the most recent one on the market was that white, red interior 2ltr for 35k and was restored alledgedly to concours (not the colour I was looking for so didn't consider) but regardless the market at the moment will only really pay 30 - 35 maybe more for good to exceptional 105s that have had a fair bit of work done. Now the reality is if you look at it, fully resored 105's should be going for an average cost of restoration but I haven't seen any 105 break 40k let alone 50K. Hence they are a good long term investment, as eventually the market will move too reprice these classics but that may take many years.

In any case, the hunt goes on and I'll look to pay market for a good 105 and above market for an exceptional 105 ( silver or blue preferable).

cheers
JJ

Yeah its an interesting market this one for 105s here.  I personally think they are undervalued but its more a question of peoples propensity to pay.  The alfa community is different to say the porsche or ferrari communities.  There is a limit to prices certainly in the near term but I think as more collectors (rather than enthusiasts) get in to the marque then you will see prices for the best cars start to move up quickly.  You can see that if you look at the porsche carrera rs or ferrari daytona markets for example.

There have been a couple of concours cars change hands privately in the 50s I understand.  I think the trick with a 105 is to buy the best body/interior you can find and then do the mechanical stuff yourself in your own time.  The body is the expensive part.  The mechanicals are cheap to do in comparison.  When I was looking for a 105 I just bought it on the body as I had my own ideas of what I wanted to do mechanically and how I wanted it to drive.  Very much a personal preference thing.

105s with really good bodies are pretty rare but they do come up.  You just need to be fast with the cheque book when they do.  I bought mine within a couple of hours of it becoming available and there were 4 others queued up behind me including my next door neighbour!

You also may not want to limit yourself to certain colours.  Narrows the field in an already tiny market.

[Silver105]

totally agree with your comments and I'm moving to your way of thinking in looking for a straight good body and half decent mechanics and interior then build over time. The speed thing I recently noticed, I just missed out on a Silver 105 that was on the market for 9k that looked like a great car to build on, but when I called (first day listed) someone had already put a deposit on it ( the first caller). It was the colour I was looking for.

Actually I noticed today a new posting for a 105 asking $44500. So I stand corrected about not seeing any over 40K advertised. Given it is a series 2 1750 that has had a 2 ltr engine dropped in and some other interesting non standard bits, it will be interesting to see how that goes. Not the colour I'm looking for but it looks in mint condition. It would have to be an exceptional car to be 10K more than the fully restored white 2000Ltr cart that was on the market a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway thanks for the chat and I see that owning an Alfa can be all consuming.