I recently found another Alfa 2600 Sprint that was converted to RHD by Ruddspeed in 1963, we reached out to Tom Bruynel who had posted photos of the car. He then kindly sent us the following letter on the history of the csar:

The ‘Other’ John Lennon’s Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint

By way of introduction, I’m a past president of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club of New Zealand, and the managing editor/lead writer for the book Half Century, Full Throttle published last year to mark our club’s 50th anniversary.

One of the chapters in the book sought to record details of all the twenty or so Alfa Romeo 106 and 102 series cars that made it to New Zealand. Just one of these was an official import, while the others were privately imported mainly in the 1980s and 1990s.  In the process of writing the article a great deal of interesting information was unearthed, along with many period photographs.

However, one car that had seemingly vanished was the 1963 2600 Sprint in Right Hand Drive, reputed to have been originally owned by John Lennon and imported into New Zealand from USA in 1994. It was painted black with a red leather interior, a very appealing combination. The car went to a buyer in the southern city of Dunedin, but it disappeared thereafter. I wrote in the book what a great barn find this could be for someone.

Just a few months ago on the popular NZ car sales website TradeMe I spotted  a reference to a 2600 Sprint project potentially for sale. The description didn’t fit with any of the other 106 series Sprints, so I contacted the owner who kindly provided a few details. Sure enough, it was the missing ‘Lennon’ coupe and was in the Central Otago region of the South Island.

I was due to be in the South Island shortly for the George Begg Festival of Speed held at Invercargill, so arranged to visit the owner on his extensive olive grove on the shores of Lake Dunstan, near Cromwell. Coincidentally I was making the trip with an old friend who used to own a 2600 Sprint and still owns a 2600 Berlina plus a 1962 Ruddspeed 2600 Spider.

Sure enough, the car was there in a barn, partly disassembled just as the owner had described. The owner recalled hearing that it was a Ruddspeed RHD conversion (although the Ruddspeed tag was missing) and that makes sense as Alfa only made RHD coupes in 1964. The car had been transported from Dunedin when the owner bought the Cromwell property but had not moved under its own power for many years, and all tyres were flat. The front and rear screens had been removed during extensive bodywork repairs, but had not been refitted, so the car was full of dust and leaves. The interior however appeared to be complete and in remarkably good condition. Thanks to the dry climate in this part of NZ the refurbished bodywork seemed to have developed little rust, except for the rear bumper. The engine had been fitted with new barrels and pistons but had not been fully reassembled. Camshafts and the inlet manifold for the Solex carbs were visible among the boxes of parts, and it was stated that ‘everything was there’.

Luckily much of the car’s documentation still existed and I found it very exciting to read these. The car’s original registration mark is recorded as 859 GXL. Indeed, the first UK owner was John Lennon, but it was John Dennis Lennon of London rather than John Winston Lennon of Beatles fame. Later that evening it was easy to do an online search and to identify the original owner as Dennis Lennon (as he preferred to be known) - a noted architect and interior designer. Lennon (CBE and M.C.) and partners had an office in London’s Manchester Square, tallying neatly with the Fitzhardinge Street address recorded on the registration certificate.

So, clearly the car didn’t belong to John Lennon of Beatles fame, but it’s nice to see that the original owner was still someone of note, and undoubtedly one who appreciated the car’s fine lines and colour combination.

Subsequent UK owners were from Bradford and Doncaster. But how did the car get to the USA? It seems that the bogus Beatles connection may have been the reason. One of the documents is a signed letter from a UK lawyer certifying that the car had been owned by the music star! Completely false of course – but maybe that was what sold it to a celebrity-hungry American who I imagine would have been very disappointed to learn the truth once the car and paperwork arrived stateside.

I didn’t have the opportunity to read much further but I understand that the car had been registered and used in the USA before finally being parked in a shed at an Oregon timber mill where it was found by a New Zealand classic car importer in 1994. One clue is what appears to be the ‘deer whistle’ mounted to a bar above the bumper – at speed the whistle emanates a whistle (inaudible to humans) that is said to scare off deer that might otherwise stray onto Oregon roads, presenting a serious road hazard.

This fascinating car is now for sale, and I am assisting the owner by making its provenance and availability known to suitable buyers.

Tom Bruynel
Raumati South, New Zealand

Ruddspeed Serial Number: N/A

We would love to hear from anyone has more information on the car or would like to add to the history please feel free to contact us here at Ruddspeed.
Click on the images below to view at a larger size.