Last updated on January 10, 2022
Today’s car is a 1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Touring Spider. It is finished in Black with a black interior and convertible top & boot except for the dash board and carpeting they are done in Red. The owner of this car is Val Dietrich and has owned this car since 1981. In Val’s words “My goal was to take a great looking car and make it a great driving car”. With previous cars Val felt constraints of maintaining originality and did not want to follow that path again. Mission accomplished!
The original engine was a 2.0 liter in line 4 cylinder, with a 8.5 :1 compression ratio, with two Solex sidedraft carburetors, producing 113 hp. Val contacted Al Cortes, who had written an article on how gutsy the 2000 engine. Under Al’s guidance Val went to work getting the engine modifications completed. The modified engine was now 2.2 liter, with a 9.3:1 compression ratio, with two 45mm Webber carburetors producing greater than 160 hp. The engine modifications were a maximum rebore, reworked crankshaft, that adding an additional 4 counterweights, the regrind of the cam to the equivalent of an Isky 3/4 race cam, the addition of an aluminum flywheel, water pump and crankshaft pulleys to lose some weight. Other modifications to modernize the engine were an upgraded electronic ignition, an electric cooling fan that is thermostatically controlled, dual stainless steel exhaust, and changing the oil filter to a modern screw type cartridge. As a part of a 2018 engine refresh a 4-port Conrero intake manifold was installed along with a fiberglass air plenum. To compensate for the powerful engine the original five-speed manual transmission was modified using a combination of gears from the original transmission and the addition of 4th and 5th gears from a 1962 2600 Touring Spider. Delivering that power to the rear wheels through 4.78 to 1 gear ratio. The front wheel suspension is independent with double wishbones the rear uses a solid axle. On all four wheels there are coil springs and dual action shock absorbers. The roof bows were cut to give the car a sleeker look.
The original MSRP was $4,998.00. The total number of 1958 to 1962 Alfa Romeo 2000 that were produced was 6,961 of which 3443 were Spiders.
I saw this car at the Marina del Rey Cars and Coffee that meets every Sunday from 7-9 AM located between Fiji Way and Mindanao Way on 4724 1/2 Admiralty Way at the Starbucks. What a great car that has a great look and can perform!!! Wow, I think that Van accomplished his mission. This is a great car to take to car shows, Cars and Coffee, and cruising with the top down. Thanks for riding along. Frank
