Event Report

"One thing becomes obvious about this shop:
no shortcuts are ever taken."

Report (including title ;) by Jim Miga
Photos by Jim, with outside shots by Gene Durso

Saturday morning, October the 30th.  It was a picture-perfect fall day. A perfect day to drive up to Essex on the North Shore and visit Paul Russell and Company for one of their famous tours.

Our tour was hosted by Alex Finigan, who is the sales manager as well as a very knowledgeable automobile enthusiast. In fact, Alex arrived driving his newly-purchased white Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint! And, of course, he has recently joined AONE.

The tour began at around 10am and it looked like we had all of the 70 people who signed up on board! The morning started off casually with coffee and donuts in the main shop area. From there, we meandered into the metal fabrication shop, where a 1950s Cunningham coupe was down to the bare metal. Here, Alex gave us an overview of the restoration process and answered many questions.

Then we moved into the next room, the body and paint area, where we saw a Jaguar D-Type tail section undergoing some structural work and touch-up. Several 300SLs were there in various stages of restoration. As we moved through the shop, Alex paused at many of the projects to explain details of the process and to answer questions.

Next, we moved back through the main shop and into the upholstery shop, where we saw a freshly-painted black 300SL being reupholstered. One thing becomes obvious about this shop: no shortcuts are ever taken. Alex said that many customers are reluctant to drive their cars following a restoration. He essentially tells them, "For the first year, exhibit it in shows and win some trophies. After that, drive it often and enjoy it!"

From there, we went into the exhibit/showroom area, where we were able to get a close-up look at some of the world's greatest automobiles, such as Bugatti, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce and many more marques that were on display. Many were customers’ cars and some were even for sale (viewable at www.paulrussell.com). Alex explained the history of several of these cars and answered a variety of questions.

Then we walked back into the main shop, of course stopping along the way to look at some works in progress. After completing the tour, Tom Lesko presented Alex with a special gift from our club — a camp shirt by Fashion House of Ferugini featuring artwork of a 6C 1750 Gran Sport Zagato, which was generously donated by Tom Letourneau. Finally, Rick Lesniewicz spoke to us about Tony Ranson, a longtime Alfista and close personal friend of his. Tony recently died of pancreatic cancer and Rick is working with the family to raise money for this underfunded cause. He raised $200 at this event from our members. Read more about Tony below.

Even if you attended this event, check out the Paul Russell & Company website — I highly recommend it. There are many photos and great articles about Paul Russell, the cars, and restoration information/philosophy. Important things for us to think about as our vehicles (most of which are antiques now) age.

Special thanks to Alex Finigan, Paul Russell and his staff, Brain Shorey, and Len Cannizzaro for making this event a huge success!Tiny Quadrifoglio

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


 

Tony Ranson Remembered

By Rich Lesniewicz

Tony Ranson was a great friend. If there is a lesson to be learned from early encounters of opposites in a relationship, it is how we came to be such close friends. It didn't start that way. We were darned near mortal enemies. It started on the Giulietta Yahoo 750-101 group quite a few years ago. Both he and I were instigators or "pot stirrers" who loved to play off each other’s acidic jabs at repetitive queries on the site like "What color are the wheels on a Giulietta Spider?", which seemed to be a weekly post for a while and continues on.

He then posted a listing of his award-winning Giulietta Spider for sale. I verbally and figuratively laid into the listing, calling the car a totally overpriced garage queen of sorts with, of all things, "wire Borrani wheels" which he had a preference for. This disgustingly pretentious display of chrome was more than I could take, and naturally I trashed it quite thoroughly and unabashedly on the 750-101 Group. This started a verbal brawl on the website with everything but four-letter-word name-calling. He was fit to be tied and privately called me every name in the book.

There was a common thread between us, though. It was a certain orneriness that brought us together, as we did enjoy the dry sarcasm we dished out at every opportunity on each other and the web blogs. After some offers of olive branches between us, we agreed to get together and actually share the same space in his delightful 1956 Sprint and drive in the London Brighton Tour of 2006 as spectators. We learned that, in spite of our salty dispositions, we had a lot more in common than our tastes in wheels. Our friendship grew to almost daily calls and we were toying with the idea of a shared drive to the Alfa Centennial celebration from England to Milan … when he was stricken with pancreatic cancer.

The rest is in the wind. What I learned from our relationship I share with everyone interested enough to read this far. First, it takes an effort to build friendships. Second, anyone who cannot laugh at himself takes life way too seriously. Third, sarcasm is only a form of usage of the language. And finally, those who don't recognize the first three regretfully miss some of the essence of life. I'll always feel that Tony and I had that essence.

 

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