February 26, 2009

Dave -

Attached are a few photos of me and my Vermont Alfa Spider. I’m starting to write an article about my experiences and Alfa restorations over the years that I hope will be entertaining to AONErs. I’ve had this one (a ‘71) since 1988. It had been raced, crashed, bondo’d, etc. before I bought it. I argued with a telephone pole (and lost) back in ‘96, which I’ll detail in the article. The car, by all rights, was terminal.

Except for the foolishness of love and a sense of filial responsibility to make things right...

The car went away for a 2-1/2 year restoration and I got it back in May of last year. It will never be close to a concours car, but it is solid (about 1/3 is new metal) and just about everything that can be changed has been, including gas tank, all bushings and mounts, etc. and the engine rebuilt. My Spider is not entirely “stock” or original. A few touches are my own (wooden glove box door, custom steering wheel center inlay, Recaro seats that go back to ‘77 and have been in five cars and reupholstered three times. They’re now leather, and I did the installation of a new Stayfast top, new stereo, carpeting, etc. in the late Spring.

I drove it for the Summer...and then the head gasket blew, probably due to years of the engine laying fallow. The top end was rebuilt (with a “new” head), optical ignition, re-calibrated Spica, etc. by Craig Whede of Sports and Vintage Cars in Plainfield, NH. He is an Alfista and long-time Alfa owner.

It was finally ready at the end of December, and by Valentine’s Day of this year I was ready to ransom it back. We had some recent rain and then dry weather, and the roads weren’t too salty, so I drove it home (about 20 miles), in sunny 20-degree weather, sans top, of course!

So, that’s the story behind the photos — me picking up the car, and my younger daughter (Addie) following in the Hyundai and snapping pix of dear ol’ dad. My lady, Toby, came up for the weekend and we bundled her up Sunday morning and went touring for the day (topless again, of course). More on that later — hope you like the pix!

George Chris
VT Alfa guy

(Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view,
and then use the arrow buttons to navigate)