To my complete and total surprise my son recently saw an Alfa Romeo Spider and actually expressed interest in a car for the first time ever. He is only a few years away from driving so I really like the idea of us finding a project so I can teach him how to fix things and build his confidence in all things mechanical.

I’ve always been a fan of two seater convertibles and have fond memories of rebuilding a Triumph Spitfire with my father. Driving that thing around the neighborhood when we finally got it going was one of the best days of my life.

Out of curiosity I began to look for an MG, Triumph or Alfa Romeo to restore with my son. Just to see if there were any potential projects on the market and how much they are running right now.

I found an interesting project car not too far away. It’s a 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce. I’ve always liked the looks of this car but to be completely upfront I know very little about the mechanical design, reliability and whether it’s a car worth the effort to fix up.

The interior is not good but it runs.

What do you guys think? Is it a good potential project car or am I totally crazy to consider fixing one of these up with my son?

Pics of the project we’re considering.

Always liked the looks of the Spyder. Good luck with it!

Picked up a 1976 MGB years back as a project car for me and my son. Body was in great shape, interior was shot and it didn't run. Purchased the appropriate manuals and relied heavily on Moss Motors for parts and support. Rebuilt the engine (removed smog crap, new carb, header, exhaust, ignition, bearings....) and replaced the interior. You should have seen the smile on my sons face when we finally turned the key and it roared to life. Great father/son project. Daughter drove it the most though.

The real question is “do I want my son driving an ancient car with no safety?” A follow up question is “do I want my son to crash an irreplaceable project car as he learns to drive regularly with his young friends and experiences peer pressure?”

There is a reason that car is not running.

There are many other safer and reliable cars that could meet your goals of father son project to teach mechanical.

For my father and me it was a 1967 Mercury Cougar. It needed a lot of work and about half way through it we found so much unforeseen damage we decided to stop. Eventually we removed what was worth selling to other collectors and scraped the rest.

Our biggest father, son project was my first house. I bought a house in the town we grew up in. It needed a major overhaul and because my father knew how to do all the work needed off we went. Four months after we started my wife and I were able to move in even tho we were still working on it.
I have a lot of great memories with my dad but those were some of the best.

Is a father son car restoration idea a terrible idea, no. Any time a family can spend time together it is good.

I lost my father a few years ago. As I got older I wish I could have spent more time with him.
When people talk about their heroes they talk about people who are famous or people in sports, my heroes are my mom and dad.

My brother-in-law had one that he really loved driving around. The problem was he lacked the ability to do his own repairs and had to pay others to help keep it running.

Eventually, he gave up the car by donating it, because he simply couldn’t keep it going.

Top Gear always said, you can't be a true car gut until you've had an Alfa.
I picked up a MG Midget (thread on here) back in March. Have yet to take a successful trip in it, but nearly there.

Check around for parts availability before pulling the trigger. would suck to get it & not be able to source parts.
I know on the British side [MG, Triumph, Mini, etc], there's still a ton of availability via a few vendors.

Between buying the Midget, parts, tools, and building a cover for it, I'm barely over $5k into it.
Luckily MG parts are relatively cheap.
Be sure to check pricing as well. I imagine [unknowingly] that Alfa pricing would be a bit higher. Not sure if your local Alfa/Fiat dealer can source any historical parts for you.

It all depends on how much money you are willing to put into this, it’s not going to be cheap I’m sure.

When I was 15–16 years old, my dream car that I always really wanted was a Fiat X1/9


I still have this dream of someday buying one and fixing it up just for the fun of it.

Fix It Again Tony

I believe that was at the beginning of Fiat ownership

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
The real question is “do I want my son driving an ancient car with no safety?” A follow up question is “do I want my son to crash an irreplaceable project car as he learns to drive regularly with his young friends and experiences peer pressure?”

There is a reason that car is not running.

There are many other safer and reliable cars that could meet your goals of father son project to teach mechanical.

Uhhh, per the OP it's running...

I can’t speak to the particulars of the Alpha, but I totally support the goal of building something with your son. It seems to me that the the payoff in terms of memories would be well worth the price of the restoration.

Sounds like you’d be continuing a family tradition!

Silent

My first car was a 1976 Alfa Romeo Spyder that was eight years old when my dad passed it on to me. That thing was a piece of junk rust bucket. There was always something breaking on it. Usually, it was the accelerator cable or the rubber driveshaft buffer. It sounded cool, though. They have a very distinctive muffler note.

It's an old Alfa, thus it's a fantastic and stupid idea all rolled into one vehicle LOL

Those were always a favorite of mine, and as TG said, if you are a car guy you should own one, typically the biggest issue on an Alfa is rust, be sure to really check out the body for area where that model is known to have rust issues.

Working on mechanical things, not so bad, but doing rust repair and body work is another.

As to wrecking it, which I don't get why this topic has to come up in a "do you think it will be a fun father son project thread" if he spends a few years working to build it, and driving it with you, getting it working he's invested in it and less likely to do stupid stuff, it also only has one passenger seat which is a plus.

It's more likely he'll end up with a cute cheerleader or co-ed that wants to ride around in a convertible sports car, and you'll be more worried about him getting her pregnant since he'll be parking it more than driving it

So yeah, it could be fun, as long as it's a solid vehicle now, if he's into that particular car, and it's not you saying "man I wish I had this at 16" project, meaning if he's into Jeeps, find an old Jeep, whatever he's into and if he loses interest you could always flip it into something else.

Looks like the car you found is nice, at least the body. Interior looks like a grizzly slept in and had the munchies.

Think it would make a nice father/son project. However, it would NOT be his first car to keep/drive as a teenager. Chances are he will wreck it. I've got 3 kids, and the first two have wrecked three times before the age of 20, both girls. My son is next and we will find a safe beater car if not my wife's very old minivan for him to drive.

The white car next to the Alfa looks like a better bet.

quote:

Originally posted by Suppressed:
My first car was a 1976 Alfa Romeo Spyder that was eight years old when my dad passed it on to me. That thing was a piece of junk rust bucket. There was always something breaking on it. Usually, it was the accelerator cable or the rubber driveshaft buffer. It sounded cool, though. They have a very distinctive muffler note.

Didn’t most Italian cars rust really quickly because they were using Russian steel? I thought I read that somewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by jcsabolt2:

I've got 3 kids, and the first two have wrecked three times before the age of 20, both girls. My son is next and we will find a safe beater car if not my wife's very old minivan for him to drive.

I bought a 1967 Firebird with a 400 engine in it so basically almost 400 hp, when I was 15 years old and jumped in it and drove it the day I turned 16 and never had a single accident. Is it because kids are more distracted with phones and stuff these days? That was like 1989

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
The white car next to the Alfa looks like a better bet.

Looks like a 3000GT, don't see many of those running around anymore

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
The white car next to the Alfa looks like a better bet.

Looks like a 3000GT, don't see many of those running around anymore

I think it's a Lexus SC300 series coupe...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
The white car next to the Alfa looks like a better bet.

Looks like a 3000GT, don't see many of those running around anymore

I think it's a Lexus SC300 series coupe...

I think you're right. I missed the rear shot. Not 'hippy' enough to be a Mitsu.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
The real question is “do I want my son driving an ancient car with no safety?” A follow up question is “do I want my son to crash an irreplaceable project car as he learns to drive regularly with his young friends and experiences peer pressure?”

There is a reason that car is not running.

There are many other safer and reliable cars that could meet your goals of father son project to teach mechanical.

Uhhh, per the OP it's running...

I suspect the phrasing 4MUL8R meant to use was "There's a reason that car is not on the road."

From the pics, it looks like a decent restoration candidate, but:

• parts are going to be scarce
  
• Price out decent full interior leather before pulling the trigger (if you can even find pre-formed seat covers for this car, it is likely to be a full cu$tom job),
  
• take a good look underneath, I've never restored one but ISTR that older Alfa's had a reputation for being prone to frame rust and sloppy welds.
  
• same with the engine compartment, especially the motor mounts

This looks like a big job to me, and should be useful to teach your kid not to take too big a bite of a cake at one time.

If the restoration bug has got its fangs solidly into you and/or your kid, I'd be looking for something else, perhaps an American classic (like an old Mustang or early Vette), or even Japanse (like an older Miata), something that has parts availability, an active community, and enough steel to survive a going-too-fast-around the corner excursion into the ditch (which is how I wrecked my dad's/sister's Ghia when I was a young driver).