01x05 - Alfasud: A Rare Revival

[bunniefuu]

I'm Ant Anstead.

I've been fixing cars
since I was a teenager.

And I've set myself the task of
restoring...

Ye-e-es! Come on!

...and selling eight crumbling
old cars for a profit.

It's the ultimate road-cruiser.

And the stakes are high,
because it's personal.

The cow room is now the bathroom.
Okay.

Everything I make is going towards
this 500-year-old farmhouse...

She goes today,
which means the big hammer.

...that I've bought for my mum and
dad to retire in...

So what's gone wrong there?
Bodged!

...but it's a total wreck.

How far away from collapse is this?

A really good storm could cause
a problem.

Let's do it.

With my family by my side...

Feels like a proper brake pedal now.

...and some help from
my engineer mate Darren...

Joining me for the ride?
Yeah. Why not?

...I've got the best team
around me...

Ant, watch out!

...as I take on eight wrecks on
wheels...

Perfect.

...and a house that's falling apart.

What, the whole thing is being kept
up by chicken wire?Pretty much.

It's a massive gamble.

Come on, breathe.

I am losing sleep over this.

I'll be honest, I have no idea
what's going on.

Work is underway
on the 500-year-old farmhouse,

which I'm renovating for
my mum and dad to retire in,

but, to my cost, I'm learning that
nothing is straightforward.

Whew-whew-whew.

Yeah, I finally have permission
from the council,

from the listed-building
individuals that I can take

this render
off the front of the house.

You walk through the village

and there's loads of homes
with exposed timbers.

This categorically proves
the house had exposed timbers.

I think, ultimately, this is gonna
need an oak-frame expert to come in.

And that will not be cheap.

I need a car to flip to help pay for
the removal of the render

and the inevitable oak-frame work.

Fortunately, I have a secret weapon.
My best pal, Darren.

Expert car restorer
and automotive sleuth.

He has a lead on a project
that could be just the ticket

to pay for the work
on the front of the house.

I saw this advert online.
An Alfasud.

They're not renowned for their
quality and rust-resistance.

They were put together near the Bay
of Naples in a salt-air environment

and they started rusting
the minute they were produced.

Ant's not happy,
because nobody believes that

an Alfasud is not gonna be rusty.

Don't get me wrong,
I'm a huge fan of Alfa Romeo.

The problem is though, he's not sent
me to see one of the beautiful ones.

He's sent me to see an Alfasud,

which is, I know, gonna turn out
to be a massive bag of rust.

From a design perspective, though,

it does come out of that era,
you know, the late '70s, early '80s,

when cars were just retro-cool
and, right now, retro-cool is back.

Gosh, I feel like
I've been ganged up on!

Sisters Helen and Janice inherited
the 1980 Berlina Alfasud

from their uncle and, along with
Janice's husband, Steve, are quite

the welcoming committee.

I'm a little bit taken aback.

I wasn't expecting
a g*ng of you guys!

Whose car is it?Well, our uncle
bought it from brand-new.

1980.He's the only owner?
That's right. Yes.

He used it for, I think, around
nine years and then parked it up.

We don't know why. He always planned
to get it back on the road again,
but he didn't.

So it's been sat there for 35 years.

And do you remember why it was
taken off the road after nine years?

Was it rust?I don't believe it was
rust. No.Not rust.It's not rusty.

Listen, I'm here to see an Alfasud.
We already know it's rusty!

You may be surprised with this one.

Really?
Yeah.Yeah.

It's in amazing condition
for a 44-year-old car.

Have you tried to start it?

We haven't started it.
We haven't cleaned it.

We decided that
we were gonna sell it as it is.

It is quite sad that it's been
in the garage for so long

and nobody has been able
to appreciate it.

Yeah, I'm really excited to see the,
see the Alfa now.

So this is it.

There we are. One Alfasud.

Can we put it out in the sunlight?
We can try. It's not been moved

in all that time, but we can
certainly try and get it out.

The car has not moved an inch
in over three decades,

so it's no surprise
the brakes have seized,

but there is a simple fix.

One of the things I can do is hit
the brakes, try and shock them free.

Yeah.

They have freed up already.
Have they?

A bit more movement.

Ah, okay.

Brilliant.

Keep going.

That's it. Straight on.
Yeah.

Wow!

That's the first time
it's moved in 35 years.It is.

Oh, man. So do you mind if I have
maybe 20, 30 minutes on my own?

Go ahead.Yeah.
Yeah, that's absolutely fine. Okay.

Wow. That is crazy.

The Alfasud, meaning "Alfa South"

after Alfa Romeo's southern Italian
factory in Pomigliano d'Arco,

was launched at the Turin Motor Show
in November 1971.

Boasting a water-cooled
boxer engine,

a front MacPherson strut suspension
and a low bonnet line,

the Alfasud is considered by many
to be the forebear of the hot hatch,

as it drove like a sports car and
predated the Golf GTI by four years.

Alfa Romeo manufactured
over a million Alfasuds,

but now there's just over 150
that are still road-legal

and driving on the UK streets today,
which tells you just how rare

a good-condition specimen is
to find.

I mean, very, very rarely
am I speechless.

I've been pulling project cars
out of barns, sheds and garages

all over the world for decades.

I mean, look at this
interior engine panel here.

The... The paint on it. The...
This is how it left the factory.

The chassis structure,
the bodywork, it's remarkable.

This is a real survivor.

There are a few blemishes.

Look at the underside of the bonnet.
It's still got the stickers on it.

I wonder what the mileage is.

31,000 miles.

And the headlining is brand-new.

These seats are awesome.

This is probably the best surviving
Alfasud on the planet.

This is the car finder's dream.

It's crazy.

Yeah, I don't need to see any more.

It's a miracle car.

In Alfasud terms,
this car is a unicorn.

It might be a unicorn,
but it's one with an engine

that hasn't turned over for 30 years
and I know exactly what

Darren will say if I buy another car
without checking if it runs first.

But it's the Holy Grail of Alfasuds.
Yeah, I've just got to have it.

Do you have any idea about
the Alfasud value?

We're thinking between
£3,000 and £5,000.

Yeah, you're bang in
the right window.Okay.

That is the going rate
for a project.

I'm willing to take
a huge amount of risk.

I'm just gonna offer you
bang in the middle, £4,000.

I'd really love to put this car back
on the road.What do you think?

Happy with four.Yeah?
If it's gonna go to a good home.

It would be nice to see it
back on the road.

Yeah, it would be nice.
Yeah, definitely.

Happy with that?
Yeah, happy with four.

Yes, we accept four.
£4,000.We have a deal at £4,000?

Yes.£4,000.I'm gonna shake
two hands at the same time.

Thank you very much.
That's amazing.

This is one of those cars whose
provenance is so unique and rare,

that, when you find it,
you have to buy it.

And it is wild to me, because,

35 years ago,
the car was put into a garage.

That garage has created
the perfect cocoon.

The perfect environment
to preserve the car.

It's like Tutankhamun.
It just survived.

I can't wait to get this back to
the barn to show Darren.

Check this out.

Ah!

Oh, this is crazy.

I think it's probably
the only rust-free Alfasud ever.

I am speechless.

Feast your eyes... on this.

Ah!
I know. Look at this panel.

That is insane.

And even... Look, it's got
the factory paint on the top of

the shock absorbers
and everything.I know!

Oh, this is crazy.
Right?

Do you know what I like, as well?

The radio blank.
It's never had a radio

and that is the original
Alfa radio blank.

It's original only once.

When a car is as rare as this Alfa,
I don't want to restore it.

I want to preserve it,
complete with blemishes and defects.

To get the most profit,
it needs to be treated like

an archaeological find.

We're not gonna paint this.
It's only original once.

I think we need to embrace
these tiny imperfections.

So I'm thinking we very slowly
and carefully analyse the engine.

There needs to be a bit of work done
on the underside.

The rear suspension.
Mmm-hmm.You see, I think,

if you're in the market for
a one-owner,

a totally original Alfasud,
I don't think there's another one.

No.

Right now, I couldn't even guess
the value of the car.

There is nothing on the market
to compare it to and that's why

my gut says we should sell the car
at auction.

We're either gonna make a tiny
profit or maybe even break even

or an auction gives the possibility
of something crazy happening.

Some crazy profit would be welcome,

because removing the concrete render

at the front of the house has
revealed some nasty secrets.

And there's a big hole.

The original wattle,
the wooden slats and daub,

a mix of mud, straw and twigs, has
developed some obvious weak spots.

The supporting oak beams aren't
looking too healthy, either.

The concrete render has made matters
way worse.

Just opening up that little bit of
render on the front wall

reveals how damaging
that concrete render has been.

It's suffocated the building.

It's caused damp
within the oak frame.

I'm just gonna have to remove it,
inch by inch,

and reveal the whole structure.

Then it's either gonna get
expensive or really expensive.

Wow.

It's not as easy or cheap as simply
replacing the rotten sections.

This is a Grade II listed building
and that means any renovations

need to be agreed with the local
council planning department.

This is a minefield of red tape.
I'm well out of my comfort zone,

so I've asked for some help.

Heritage consultant Donna Giles.

What are the challenges?
So, with the wattle and daub,

the purists would want you
to replace it exactly.

So take out the mud,
get rid of the damaged wood,

reuse the mud and mix it with new.

Probably a craftsman to do that.
That's crazy.

The issue is then
how do we then treat the timber

to make sure
that it becomes watertight?

Oh, man. An oak-beam expert next?
Yes, absolutely.All right.

For Donna to step in...

...I might actually have
a good night's sleep,

because I am losing sleep over this.

More than ever, I need my Alfasud
to make some money, which for a car

that hasn't turned over for 30 years
is a really big ask.

What the car needs is
a full diagnosis,

checking and stepping through

each of the elements of the engine
to find out why it isn't starting.

Rush it and it could cost me
thousands

in potential engine damage.

Right. Come on, baby.

Work with us today.

Checking the camshaft is
a good starting point.

Wow. Looks brand-new in there.

Oh, that's amazing. There's not even
any sludge or anything.

Those cam lobes are absolutely
perfect.

It's the best we could have
hoped for,

but we still need to be cautious.

You can tell it's not run
in years, though.

The oil sits at the bottom.

Yeah. I think what we need to do is
maybe coat it

with a bit of fresh engine oil,
before we attempt to turn

the engine over,
just to get a bit of lubrication.

Because the engine has lain dormant
for so long,

hand-turning the engine is
the gentlest option.

This is the moment of truth.

I just need to attach a wrench
to one end of the crankshaft

and give it a gentle clockwise turn.

Okay. I'm just gonna do it
really, really gently to start.

There's movement there.
That just moved.

Oh, that's just released. Look.

That has just fully loosened up.

Those valves are just moving
beautifully.

Yes! We should fire it up.

Whew.

We're attempting to awaken

the slumbering engine
of my 1980 Alfasud.

It turns by hand and that's all
the encouragement I need.

Let's crank it. Let's crank it.

The moment of truth.

All right.

All right, this is spark only?

Yeah.

No starter.
No starter motor.

Tap it?
Tap it.

The Alfa's starter motor has a
built-in solenoid, which can stick.

A firm tap often frees it up.

You ready, Ant?
Yeah.

No spark at all?
No spark.

The starter motor sounds fine,
so it must be the ignition system.

The coil has power.
Is it just as simple as the leads?

Well, hang on a second.

No. The coil has power.
Doesn't mean the coil is working.

Right, well, the lead is good.

No.

It's got to be the coil.

Finally, the issue is solved.

The ignition coil transforms
the 12-volt battery

into a much higher voltage
to fire the spark plugs.

A dead coil means no spark.

Sourcing a new one should be easy
enough, it's about 30 quid online,

but, until it arrives,
frustratingly,

the Alfasud has to stay sleeping
a little bit longer.

While I wait for
the ignition coil to arrive,

there are plenty of other jobs
that I need to address.

Next is the suspension, which means
stripping down the rear axle.

There's surface rust on these
trailing arms,

but look at the condition of
the rubber.

It's basically new. I guess I've
always been in the headspace

that, when you restore an old car,
you inherit old problems.

This, with a little bit of
a shot-blast

and a lick of black paint is
gonna look like a brand-new part.

So the cool thing about
restoring cars is, mostly,

they follow the same pattern.

So although I've never stripped down
an Alfasud axle before,

the engineering is, so far,
pretty basic.

There's so many similarities
to cars of the era

that I'm just going for it.

It's actually really clever.

This outer bracket here not only
holds the spline for the hub,

it has the two trailing arms,
one here and one here.

The calliper.

It's that aluminium bit in
the middle that gives it strength.

It's pretty cool.

Well, that is the rear axle
completely stripped.

Now for the front.

I don't want to do the kiss of
death, but, at the moment,

this is coming apart really nicely.

That is the front end stripped.

Looking at what I've got to tackle.
Basically, undo the red oxide

and, just like the rear end,
get these into satin-black.

I need to get the suspension
over to Darren

in the workshop
for it to be shot-blasted.

And while Darren is hard at work,

I've escaped for
the most British of breathers

and to check in with my dad.

Man, it's so awesome to be here.
This is basically where I spent

big chunks of my childhood.

Who is playing today?Eaton Bray are
playing St Margaretsbury.

Our team is St Margaretsbury
and we are vying for third place.

If we get third place,
we're promoted next season.

Cricket is a huge family game
for us.

I played from the age of 10
and my dad is now an umpire.

Right. Okay, gents, toss the coin.

I'll have heads, please.

The call is heads.

I was what they called
"a slogger" in the game.

Go out and try and hit the ball
out of the ground,

which, sometimes, worked
and, sometimes, sadly didn't.

So Eaton Bray win the toss and bat.
Have a good game, guys.

Here we go, guys.
Yeah, Dad loves to...

He loves to step away
and involve himself in cricket.

And the minute he stopped playing,
he started umpiring.

Yeah, he's out.
Oh, he's out!

The project has absolutely brought
everyone in the family together,

but it's cool to be here and both of
us to chill out for a minute.

Although I'm not going to chill out.

I need to go and speak to
the oak guy.

How to bowl a left-arm,
unorthodox spin

or the structure of a car
suspension, yeah, I understand that,

but the same can't be said for

the timber structure of
my Grade II listed farmhouse.

There's obviously issues.
If it was a car,

I'd feel within my comfort zone,
but the fact that it's a house,

I'll be honest, I have no idea
what's going on.

To give me an idea of how much
it's gonna cost

to salvage the damaged oak timbers,

I've got an appointment with Ben
Blackwell, my structural engineer.

Good to see you.Thanks for
coming out.Thank you, yeah.

Where the water has been
trapped behind the render,

we've got a bit of damage
to the timber.

The worst damage is here,
on these two particular timbers.

They've completely lost contact with
the sole plate, here.

So, essentially, these are hanging
from the structure around it,

rather than being propped
as robustly as we'd like.

I can tell you that that's bad.

Yes. Yes.
This bit I can do.

Good. But fixable.

What is the fix, though?Okay,
so the timber is gonna be rotten

up to a certain point,
we just need to test

the strength of the timber.

Above where it started to rot,
it's gonna be a lot stronger.

If we splice in new timbers,
joint them in,

take them down to the sole plate,
re-fix them properly,

we can re-establish
strength in the building.

Oak tends to go one of two ways,

as it ages,
it'll either turn crumbly

or it'll go like concrete
and, sometimes, you'll find

beams like this, the centre of it

will be rock hard,
really good timber.

That kind of sounds like good news.

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Yes! I'll take any win I can
right now.

Yeah. Good.

It is a win, but depending on what
Ben finds, the new timbers

could cost anything up to
five grand.

But returning them to their
former glory is gonna give

the house a whole new lease of life
and stop it from falling down.

Just like the Alfasud's suspension.

The Alfasud's dismantled suspension
parts have been shot-blasted

back to bare metal.

Now I want them returned to
their original colour.

Ant has just rushed
the Alfa parts over to me

and asked me to paint them
satin-black, get them sprayed.

The paintwork takes time.

You have to build it up,
a layer upon a layer.

And each time you add paint,

you have to make sure that it has
a flash-off time, which is letting

the solvents come out of the paint
before you put the next layer on.

Ant has picked an auction
and that can't change.

It's gonna mean a few late nights.

It's the only way that
we're gonna do it.

Thanks to Darren's late shift,

the Alfasud's dismantled suspension
system is now back to factory black.

Now it's a reassembly job,

starting with cleaning up
the original hardware.

Yeah, the devil is in the detail.

A lot of people would be tempted
to put, you know, nice, shiny,

new stainless or zinc hardware in,

but the key is that
they're the bolts

that left the factory
when the car was new.

And it just takes one potential
buyer, an Alfasud expert...

...to peek underneath
and see that extra level of detail

and be reassured that this is...

...a correctly preserved car.

And that means extra value.

Springs.

The reconditioned springs for my
struts will ensure the ride height

for my Alfa is returned back to
its former glory.

Compressing the suspension arm with
the jack helps position the spring,

so it's aligned and ready to bolt
back into place on the strut.

You know, the more I work on
this car, the more I like

and admire the engineering.

The front-end suspension.

That is the anti-roll bar done.

In fact, that's the whole
front end done.

This is gonna be a beautiful car
for somebody to drive.

Well, after I've driven it.

The undercarriage of the Alfa
might be sorted,

but there is still the issue of the
substantial crack in the windscreen.

If I want the top money,
it needs to be replaced.

Yeah, over to you, Darren.

I'm looking for a windscreen
for an Alfasud, 1980.

Yeah, that's what everybody is
saying. You've not got one?

Do you know anybody
that might have one?

Okay, I'll keep looking. Thanks,
anyway. Thanks. Cheers. Bye. Bye.

It's not just the windscreen
that's problematic.

Reviving the Alfasud's
sleepy engine is proving to be

a bit of a head-scratcher.

The new ignition coil arrived.
It was easy to install and then...

...well, nothing.

Well, she doesn't want to fire.

This carburettor has been sat
for decades

and, of course, all this is
all gummed up.

After years of being stood in
a garage, the petrol in the carb

will have evaporated
and turned into a sticky gunge.

If you press the accelerator pedal,
this is supposed to move freely

and return on that spring and
the spring is not strong enough.

It's all pretty dirty and grimy.

And I have the perfect idea

to get this all cleaned and see if
it will free up the carburettor.

Dry-ice blasting is a cleaning
method, which sounds intense,

but is non-abrasive,
so it might be just the key

to gently shifting
35 years of engine debris.

Dry-ice-cleaning specialists Imran
and Mike have agreed to take a look.

Now this is the glorious Alfasud.

So this car sat idle
for quite a few decades.

It hasn't run in years.
I've tried to get it running.

The carburettor is a little bit
jammed up.

So I think if you guys can get in
and around the carb,

it's actually gonna help free it up
a bit and, hypothetically,

I should be able to get
a nice return on the throttle,

once you get rid of all that gunk.

I'm very positive we'll get rid of
that gunk.Perfect.

So dry ice is a form of CO2,
which has been compressed

under high pressure to form a solid.

We take that solid and force it
through our machine

at high velocity to remove debris.

On impact, it will create
a mini expl*si*n,

where it expands to
500 times its size.

It's also at minus 80,
so that freezes,

to help us remove
the contaminants, as well.

It's a wide range that we do.

I can go anywhere from a house
to an oil refinery.

It can be used, sort of, all over.

If the couple of hundred quid
I spent on the dry-ice cleaning

can finally get the Alfa engine
running, by removing

30 years of muck,
it will be money well spent.

Nice work, lads.
Are you happy?

That looks great. That looks great.
Has it freed that carburettor up?

Completely free.Oh, yeah.
The whole thing moves now.

Oh, yeah. Actually, it returns on
the spring now, look.There you go.

Man, that's magical. Love it.
It looks like it left the factory.

While I've got you, though, do you
mind having a look at an oak beam?

Yeah, that's something we could do.
Maybe a bit of brick?Yeah.

Marvellous! Yeah, come on.
It's at the front of the house.

So now that we're exposing
the original oak frame,

you can see
it's, like, a honey brown.

Yeah.But, inside the porch,
they'd obviously stained it.

So it's a horrible dark brown.
So is there any way...

Do you think ice-blasting will
get rid of that stain?

I believe we can take that
back to that.

You reckon you can?
Yeah, I believe so.

Dude, if you could do
a little sample section...

While we're here today, yeah?
Yeah.

The council planners will need
to sign off this cleaning method,

so if I can prove it works,
with a small sample,

it could be the first step towards
beautifully restored beams.

And then, over here,

somebody, at some stage,
has added this brick course.

If you could get rid of
the bitumen...

Just do a section for now,
to see if it's do-able.

Okay. We'll give these both a go
for you now.Yeah?Yeah.

I've got two projects to do.
It's not just about the Alfasud.

It's also about the house.
And I've got people with the skills,

ability and equipment
to really help the house.

So I really relish these busy days.

In just 10 minutes, the sample
patches are ready for inspection.

That's amazing.
That is exactly the look I'm after.

Fingers crossed the planning
department agrees with me.

The bit I've been desperately
waiting for with the Alfasud.

I'm just gonna drop a little bit
of fuel into the ports.

Whoa, wait a minute!

The Alfasud lives!

Oh, my gosh, it sounds
absolutely beautiful.

Ha ha!

Oh, my God, it sounds like
a performance car.

That's it. That is it. I'm not
gonna touch it anymore.

I've got no one to high-five.

This is a huge weight off my mind,
because now we have a car that runs.

That's the first time that car has
made a noise for decades.

Like, that car has been asleep.
Now she's awake!

The restoration of my parents'
retirement farmhouse

has reached a crucial stage,

but, as I'm learning, everything to
do with re-modelling a heritage home

has a proper process
and a proper price tag.

So I'm pulling in a favour
from my mate, Duncan.

Now today is a really critical day
for the build.

This house is, obviously,
hundreds of years old.

Its construction is an oak-timber
frame, a skeleton.

Our job today is to come up with
a strategy

that we have to then propose
to Heritage,

how we do the fill-ins
between the timbers.

Morning, morning!
Morning, Ant.

Good to see you, man.
What do you think?Beautiful.

Yeah, it's gonna look stunning.

I would like to expose
the timber frame.

We need a solution to fill in
where the brick is

and then a solution
to fill in where the mud is.

Yeah. There's lime
and chalk plasters

that do actually go on this
very well.

They're all breathable

and they're very flexible,
which is the main thing.

Where it's loose... Like here,
it's obviously loose.Yeah. Yeah.

It's gonna hold that together?
It'll stitch all that back in.

Because the plaster is so fine,
it will squeeze into

all the little cracks and crevices
and then bond that.

So we're gonna be able to save
all of this original mud?Yeah.

The wattle and daub, yeah.

Anything that we can preserve
and keep, we'll keep.

So what do you need from me?

A cup of coffee, I think!

Coffee I can do.

It sounds like a promising solution,

but, for now, all Duncan can do is
create a sample panel

for the council to consider.

So this is the lime coat, which is
a chalk-and-lime-based plaster.

There's lots of fibres in this.
That helps it all bond together

and stops any shrinkage or cracking.

So we just get a bit of plaster
and we're squeezing that in

against the frame and the panel.

And that'll hold the panel
nice and secure then.

And then we've preserved the daub
and everything behind

and put a nice coat of...

...flexible lime-chalk plaster

over the top, which would have been
the finish on there, originally.

So this is just like a base coat.

We'll just put a little scratch.

Then we let that go off
and then the process again.

Duncan is working on mate's rates,
which is a cost I can afford,

but to do the rest of the front of
the house, I'm looking at thousands.

That means the gentle bringing
back to life

of my Alfasud needs to pay off.

So, rather than buying new wheels,
I've had the Alfasud's original

1980 wheels shot-blasted and
re-painted at a cost of 200 quid.

Look what I've got!

Oh, man.

Yeah, they look great.

They're so much better, aren't they?

Do you think it was
the right decision?

They did look scabby. The wheels
on a car really do make the car.

They are the finishing touch.

They're as good as new now.

The hub caps need a final polish,
but not too much.

The patina is part of
this car's story.

They do look great.

It's kind of refreshing to see a car
with very little bling.

We want that kind of survivor look.

Mmm-hmm. I agree with that,
as long as it's clean.

I think we should stop there.
All right, let's put the wheels on.

Working on the farmhouse has made me
realise how important heritage is.

I am uncovering what previous
owners did to that building.

Ultimately, in 100 years' time,
someone is gonna uncover

what we did on the Alfasud.

The romantic side of me thinks that
the Alfasud community, who are,

likely, the buyer for the car are
gonna recognise the challenges.

I guess we'll find out at auction.

Meanwhile, Duncan has cracked on
with the lime plaster.

Right, glasses on for this one.
Oh, right.

Is this the detail bit?
What we're gonna do is

gently pull these tapes out.

What? Man, the lime against the oak.

So you get a nice, sharp...

...line, there we go.

That'll dry. All them little specks
will dry away.

That's amazing. That is exactly
the look I'm after. That.

It's easy to get too excited
at this stage, because if the people

in charge of listed buildings
decline this,

then we won't be allowed to do it,
but what we are doing is

giving ourselves a fighting chance
of having this approved.

This isn't just about creating
a home for my parents.

It's about saving a bit of
British heritage.

What do you think?
That is just unbelievable.

It's fantastic, really, really good.

This could be how the house
should look. Got to approve that.

Surely? It's just, it's fantastic.

They have to.If it was down to you
and me, it'd be approved.

Yeah. Now.
He's a happy dad.

If the council agree to
the lime render,

it will be costly,
but it will be worth it.

Every bit of profit is gonna count.
So how much has the Alfasud's

reawakening cost us, all-in?

Right. Do you want to know
exactly how much we've spent

on this little Alfasud?

Mmm-hmm.
The purchase price was £4,000.

Mmm-hmm.And, actually, we've not
spent that much.

£880 and 60 pence.

Blimey.
So it owes us

£4,880 and 60 pence.

Basically, it owes us five grand.

I'm taking a gamble. I couldn't
track down a replacement windscreen,

so it will have to go to auction
as is.

I guess, in our favour, '80s cars
are kinda hot right now.

Yeah.
It has that hot-hatch vibe.

Mmm-hmm.
It's a niche car.

Plus, it's rare. There's not many of
these out on the road.Not at all.

Right. Before it goes under
the hammer...

I'd love to drive her.

Mmm-hmm.
I have to.

Ayrton Senna had one of these.
And that guy knows a bit about cars.

All right!

This is the first time
that this Alfasud

has turned a wheel in 35 years.

It always blows my mind.

I like it. I like it a lot!

Whoo-hoo-hoo! Beautiful!

I'm incredibly impressed.

The ergonomics of this car are
really lovely.

It reminds me a bit
of a Mark I Escort.

Like its simplicity.
Everything is in the right place.

The pedals, the gear lever,
the steering wheel.

The c*ck is really lovely.

It feels like an '80s hot hatch,
but without the "hot" bit.

I think it's fair to say that

a car that Ayrton Senna owned
must be pretty special.

I love the gear change.
I love the steering input.

It handles beautifully.

The weight distribution is
actually perfect.

I love the driving position.

Actually, truth be told,
I love an Alfasud.

Yeah, this is a cool car.

Wow.

That is really, really special.

This was the opposite of
a restoration.

This was merely a reawakening,
starting with

getting the engine running,
then, once the engine was done,

it was about reawakening
that suspension.

Ultimately, a car that's been silent
for 35 years is now ready

to go to a new owner.

And, for me, as a car guy,
the Alfasud box is ticked.

There's only one place for the car
to go now and that's to auction,

which is being held at the
Classic Car sale at NAEC Stoneleigh.

Welcome here to
the Classic Car Auctions sale.

More than 150 collectable classics
are going under the hammer today,

including our Alfasud,
as lot number 764.

And, hopefully in our favour
and unsurprisingly,

it's the only Alfasud here.

It's so strange to see the car
in the auction room.

It's actually the first time I've
seen it in a space under lights.

I'm so glad we didn't
over-restore this car.

I think she's gonna do
all right today.

Starting at £9,000.
£10,000. £11,000.

£11,000 here already.
£11,000. £11,000.

When was the last time

you went to an auction
and there was an Alfasud for sale?

I don't even recall ever seeing
an Alfasud for sale.

Well, if you're an Alfasud buyer
and you're in the market,

you will travel or...

bid online.
An online bid, yeah.

Lot number 764, then.

The 1980, it's the Alfa Romeo,
the Alfasud for you.

I don't know where to put this,

but it owes us 4.8, it's got to make
more than five grand.

So, straight in then,
with you online.

£5,000 is the opening bid.
Oh!

£5,000 is the opening bid.
Right, we're into profit.

Already.
£5,000.

A rare little car, this. £5,000.
We have to make more than 200 quid.

At £5,000.
We have to make more than 200 quid.

At £5,000.
I can't believe it. £5,000.

I'll take £200, if it helps.

At £5,000 only, then.

We'll sell the car at £5,000.
No, come on.

Absolutely sure? £5,000.
It's worth more than a £200 profit.

Any more bids now? At £5,000.

Going to you in Dewsbury, then.
£5,000. All done. All sure?

Fair warning, then. At £5,000.

Yours online. £5,000.

I think, truth be told, I can't help

but be really disappointed
with that.

As I stand here today, I think,

"Did the broken windscreen
affect the sale price?"

The truth is the Alfasud should have
done better.

To remain positive,
the Alfasud is on the road,

saved from a garage,
from 30 years of being silent.

And that gives me heart,
because, ultimately,

I've grown this really cool respect
for Alfasuds.

They're a cool car.

And we need more cool cars
on the road.

Doesn't help the farmhouse.