Well, it's a done deal. After more searching I really narrowed it down to one car -- the 1965-1975 Alfa Romeo GT Junior/GTV. Second place was the Fiat Dino coupe, but a nice Alfa can be bought at half the cost of the Dino, parts are readily available, and there are 20 GT's for every Dino on the market.
I looked at several, but most were fluffed up turds with shoddy bodywork evident under shiny paint.
The car I ended up with is a 1972 GT Junior 1300. I picked it up for 12,000 euros, or about $13,500 U.S. It's quite original, and appears to have had only one repaint many years ago. The car will need a bit of metal work, but I don't think I will find too many surprises when I strip it down.
It runs and drives now, but as soon as my tools arrive (they're on their way over from the U.S. now) and I get the garage set up, it will be time to set all ratchets to counter-clockwise and tear it apart for a full resto.
Will be interesting working on a DOHC all aluminum engine -- looks like a toy compared to the big American V-8s that I'm used to messing with, but at 2,000 lbs, you don't need 500 hp to get it moving.
Plan is to maintain the stock-ish appearance, but with upgraded drivetrain (2 liter engine), upgraded suspension and brakes, and restored/upgraded interior. I'll bring it back to the states when I'm done.
Thanks for all the input!
Scott
