Posted By Evan on Mar 4, 2014 | 1 comment

Fi and I have talked for ages about having a tidy early Sud Ti on the road.  We used to love getting around in the Madame back in the 90s before the mods for the track became so extreme, and a Sud would be perfect for our growing family of three to go on club runs etc.  Obviously the solution is to find a nice rust-free example somewhere and do it up.  Okay wake up – you’ll never find a rust-free Sud, they’re all rotten and it’ll be lots of work.

Then on eBay I saw the ad and some dusty photos:

“This classic has been in the shed for the past 20 years and could use a restoration… Pick up from Parkes NSW…”

So after a small bit of consideration, we decided to buy the thing sight-unseen.  I set off for Parkes in the 159 and a borrowed trailer.  The trip up the Newell Highway is superb – light on traffic on a Sunday and the scenery changes every 100km or so, just magic.

Turns out we picked a winner – an incredibly rust-free little 1975 Sud Ti.  Last registered in 1989, and sporting an average respray in dark grey/silver from that time, the restoration was never finished.  The car spent it’s whole life in the Forbes/Parkes region and the dry inland weather has saved it. There’s a little rust on the edges of the rear valance panel, and a couple of scabs around the front windscreen.  All the usual Sud rust traps – front pillars, battery tub, sills, rear screen – they all seem to have survived.  The interior is all stuffed – a rough home-trimming job over most of it.  At this stage we think we’ll strip the car and have it painted back to it’s original 70s light blue.

Dear Mister Bottcher,

with reference to your request we are informing you as follows.

According to our documentation files, the chassis number AR 5424425 originally corresponds to an Alfa Romeo Alfasud t.i. (901C), manufactured on the 1st December 1975.
The body colour is Procida blue, with grey cloth interiors.

Yours, Sincerely,
Marco Fazio

What a fantastic thing!  Now to finish a project to make space for this one…