As with all newly acquired vintage machines, she looked rougher in my garage than she did in the previous owner's garage. Despite her rather shabby state of repair, I was smitten. She had new shocks, uprated coilsprings, and bushings, but there were a number of problems with the rest of the suspension and driveline. Tie-rod ends were shot, steering column bushings were loose, brakes were unacceptable. At least she didn't need to be smogged because her engine was tired and the original Zenith carbs were not in very good shape. Still, underneath this patina of wear I could feel the undeniable DNA of a great handling car. It was not long before I set about to fix some of the mechanical ills that 30 years of use had given her. Shortly after the Coupe acquisition, my then fiancee and I became first time homeowners. The summer of 1999 was filled with lots of new exciting experiences. In August of 1999 Chela and I went to the Concorso Italiano at the Monterrey Historic Automobile races and the cars I saw in the "coupe corral" there had a profound effect on me. It was the beginning of a very long obsession, which has not subsided to this very day. What I saw were several nicely restored coupes, resplendent in shiny new paint, with lovely supple leather interiors, and hosts of modern performance upgrades. The wheels in my head started spinning. Within two months my car would be taken off the road and she would not return for over two years!
11/99-Here is the worn out and cosmetically challenge engine that was in her when I became the owner. A quick check revealed that it was not the original mill, rather a later 3 liter engine. Not a pretty sight. We'll have to do something about that.
11/99-Here you can see the faded and worn original Malaga paint (a very deep burgundy
color) along with the saddle colored leather interior. While I admit that the lines
of these
Bertone-derived coupes look great in dark colors, I had an image in my head of a rather
different paint and interior scheme.
You can
see the telltale signs of rust bubbling in the fender sill just above the shock
tower. Sharp eyes will also detect the unmistakable tailsection of my 1970 Norton
Commando
Fastback.
A nice
view of that shapely rear end.
Closer up, you can really see how the years have taken their toll.