Steve Butler from London owns the silver Alfasud 5m you can see on the photos. The car was built in 1977 and had only rolled 28.000 miles when Steve bought it in 2002. Till June 2005 Steve has added another 4.000
miles. There are only two previous owners (both of the same family).When the Alfasud first came out Steve was interested in it, but was not in the financial position to afford one new. Then the rust problems were coming to the surface (literally), so he decided against the Alfasud.
About three years ago he
was talking to the mechanic who services
his
modern Volvo. The mechanic
mentioned that he had an Alfasud for sale on his forecourt and that a chap from
Iceland, of all places, was coming over to view the car.
Suddenly
Steve was
re-awaked to the Alfasud.
The mechanic
had the car for sale at £699. Steve
offered £600 and
the mechanic
accepted.
"The
car was basically sound, but with rust in various places - not surprisingly for
a 1977 car - of any make!", Steve tells.
A full restoration was quickly planned and Steve
was referred to a Mike Spenceley of MGS Coachworks in Purley, Surrey. He gave a
run down on the places that he said will need attention.
Discussions
between Steve an Mr. Spenceley
led to doing the renovation in
various stages and leaving the car in primer at each stage. One of the things
Steve
decided was that
he
would replace any panels
that
were rusty, rather than repair them.
He managed to find all four
doors, a
boot lid, front wings, landing
rails and a series three bonnet as new
spare parts.
A good start for the restoration. So MGS Coachworks rebuilt the rear wheel
arches, the door sills, the
sections of the inner wings, the
front valance and fitted
the new front wings and
landing rails.
The boot /
hinge area
needed some repairs, too. Finally the new doors,
the new boot lid, and
the new bonnet
were fitted to the body and the car went to the
paintshop.
In order to avoid new rust, Steve glued the stainless steel trim back onto the door sills and the boot lid.
In 2004 Steve found
another Alfasud whose interior was in a much better condition than the one of
his silver 5m. So he
swapped the door trims and carpets over
to his 5m. Steve has also found
a full set of steel wheels that have never been used.
He plans to fit them soon.
There are already plans for 2006: Steve wants to paint
the inner wings in
silver and
plans to underseal
the floor plan.
Then, the service compartment under the bonnet shall be repainted and the seats
will be reupholstered.
Steve has kept the car as original as possible. In the Uk there are many series II and series III (mostly two-door variants). Series I Alfasuds with four doors have become very rare. In December 2004 Steve's work was rewarded with an article about his car in the British Classic and Sports Car magazine.
Last Update: September, 21st 2005 Created: September, 21st 2005
© Layout and text by Tim Rauen. Photos by Steve Butler.