“We were lucky.”
That is how professional barn-finder Daniel Rapley sums up a nice stash of unusual cars he recently stumbled upon. Rapley hunts for cars for a living, so his ears are always tuned for leads. He readily admits that he may have the perfect career.
“I got a call from a friend who told me about a vintage Alfa Romeo Giulietta that was sitting in Salina, Kansas,” Rapley, a Brit who lives in Connecticut, says. “I kept calling the guy for a year.”
When Rapley finally connected with the car’s owner, the man revealed that, no, he didn’t have just one Alfa—he actually had seven Alfas and a small warehouse filled with Alfa parts. For an Alfista, that is also known as Heaven.
Seeing a scene like this is enough to make any sports car enthusiast’s heart beat faster. Daniel Rapley had a challenge figuring out which parts went to which cars! DANIEL RAPLEY
“The man had lost his lease on his warehouse, so he needed to sell all the cars and parts,” Rapley says. “I decided to make him an offer on the entire collection.”
The man accepted the offer. The hard work was about to begin. “His warehouse was so packed, we could hardly move,” Rapley says. “All seven cars were disassembled, and those parts were mixed up with all the other parts.”
“It was quite an event,” Rapley adds. “We rented an 18-wheeler, a fork lift, and a 26-foot box truck. On the way back to Connecticut, the truck broke down twice, and the truck driver was only arrested once.” (Unfortunately for readers, Rapley didn’t provide any details to the arrest.)
Despite those challenges, the load finally arrived at Rapley’s shop in Connecticut. It was then, during the unloading process, that he was finally able to inspect his new purchase. One car in particular intrigued Rapley: a matching-numbers 1956 Alfa 1900.
The rare Alfa Romeo 1900 sports sedan was designed by Orazio Satta for the Alfa Romeo company in 1950. It was Alfa’s first car built entirely on a production line. It was also Alfa’s first production car without a separate chassis. The model was introduced for the first time in 1950 at the Paris Motor Show.
“It had been sitting in the Arizona desert,” he says of the nearly six-decade-old, yet solid car. “It was only missing some glass and a seat.”
Buying these cars was one challenge; having them shipped from the Midwest to Connecticut—when some didn’t have suspensions—was another. DANIEL RAPLEY
Besides the 1900, the hoard included: a 1955 Giulietta Sprint (which Rapley said could be the oldest in the United States); a 1957 Sprint; two 1958 Spider Veloces; 1959 Spider Normale; and a 1967 Giulia Spider.
Rapley has spent the past few months picking through his piles of parts and slowly putting his cars back together. “I’ve sold a couple of the cars to people in the Northeast, where lots of folks are knowledgeable about Alfas,” he says. “Fortunately they were able to help me decide which parts were correct for each car.”
Surrounded by the constant flow of cool cars that come and go through his doors, what kind of car does professional barn-finder Rapley drive himself?
“Well, at home I drive a Toyota,” he says. “Or whatever car I rent at the airport when I’m looking for more cars.” Not a bad way to live.
