5 replies to this topic

[MSwiss]

I didn't have time to post this yesterday.

 

I'm sure Dave Crevie can tell me what it is other than an Alfa.

 

 

 

 

[old & gray]

Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1960s (one of the mechanics who worked on my cars raced one).

[Dave Crevie]

Yes, model 750. They also came as a coupe.

 

[Bill from NH]

An old slot racing friend, Chuck Ellis from Modelville, had some old Alfas during high school. After school, he worked for the Gaston Andre sports car dealership in Natick, MA for a few years. Today he has his own foreign car repair shop in Northborough, specializing in Alfa Romeos. A fellow co-worker here in NH was bragging about an Alfa repair shop he took his car to. I threw out Chuck's name & it happened to the shop he used.

[Bill Seitz]

Brings back memories from my days at Lime Rock Park.

[Dave Crevie]

I have known several Giuliettas over the years, both model 750s and model 101s. Two were vintage racers, and I had the chance to drive one with vigor around Blackhawk Farms. Having been set-up by Alfa maestro Mike Besic, it was a pleasure. I was a bit un-nerved by the body roll, but it was explained to me that if you stiffen up the front suspension, the rear gets "hoppy". 

 

One of my best friends had a Duetto, which led me to buy my own brand spanking new Spyder Veloce. In British racing green, of course. That relationship, (with the car), didn't pan out as lovely as I had hoped. I picked it up on a Saturday. The following Sunday was a bright, warm summer day, so I decided to take a drive with the top down. Two blocks from my house, the cigarette lighter decided to blaze up completely on it's own. It burned a big hole in the center consol. So Monday I brought it back to the dealer. Fully expecting that it would be months before a new consol in the right interior color could come from Italy, I was surprised that they had one in stock. In fact, they had replacements for every color interior Alfa made for both the Spyders and the 164 sedan. So obviously this was a problem with any car having that type of cigarette lighter. Two weeks after I bought it, it got rear-ended while I was stopped at a stop-and-go light. Albiet ugly, it was still driveable. The other driver had no insurance, so while I was fighting with my own insurance, (I had uninsured motorist coverage), the car was T-boned by a station wagon full of kids coming home from a Little League game. Now, with the drivers door punched in, it was no longer driveable. I had it towed to a body shop I trusted, where it sat for 9 months waiting for a door and quarter panel to come from Italy. Part of the problem was the Italians kept sending the wrong parts, even though the body shop was sending them pictures of the car.

 

After all that, there was a long chain of "nigglers", that kept it off the road more than it was on. Problems with the clutch, cylinder head leaking oil, the electrical system that would only charge the battery when it felt like it. Say what you want about British cars, but during this time my Jaguar E-type was the most reliable car I owned, and that included a new Toyota Corolla.