Monday, March 1, 2010
1998 Alfa Romeo Spider on Craigslist in Oregon
This car was sent to me by reader Tamerlane (thanks for the assist, I need to get back to writing more).
These cars are very cool, but generally reserved for Europeans since Alfa pulled out of the US market the mid-90s. The seller of this one says it's one of about a dozen that was legally imported, so I'm hoping to hear back about exactly what was done.
The car is photographed outside Gran Prix Imports - Lamborghini Portland, but I have a hunch this is a potential trade-in since the seller is not directing buyers to their website (which actually seems to be down at the moment) and it's still wearing it's licence plates. Grey market cars are very difficult for dealers to sell - the Manheim Auto Auction, the country's most prominent dealer auction network, doesn't typically allow grey market cars. The advertising websites Cars.com, Autotrader.com, etc., typically don't either (though DuPont Registry is helpful). That's one important notion that buyers and sellers of imported cars have to keep in mind.
Sources: Craigslist ad, Photo Gallery
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This car has been posted and discussed elsewhere a few times in the past 2 years, apparently with no sale. Although it is titled, how it is in the country legally has never been answered. Autodelta brought a bunch of these over before the owner was shut down and imprisoned with a bunch of them confiscated. Beuatiful cat but caveat emptor.
ReplyDeleteI'm annoyed at myself for not posting any of the extensive digging I did on this car. I talked to the seller a few times and scoured the internet collecting bits and pieces of this car's story. It's come up a bunch of times on alfabb.com, and I've got scans of it's import documents. Basically there's a bunch of non-information provided by various sellers, stuff that doesn't make sense on it's papers, and too many questions with roundabout non-answers. It seems like another one of those "you're fine as long as nobody catches it" black-market cars. I agree with Mike, caveat emptor.
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