Re: Montreals (cont.)

[Regan Dale Copple <copple@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Alfisti,
	An addendum to my earlier rhapsodic waxing about the joys of a
Montreal.
 
On Fri, 20 Nov 1998 Les Singh at <Les.Singh@domain.elided> wrote:
> Subject: Montreal

> My 2 cents worth:
>  I consider the Montreal one of the nicest cars I've ever diriven. I have
> had the pleasure of driving both the left hand drive and right hand drive
> versions. 

	While I have never had the oppurtunity to drive a RHD version, I'm
sure the experience is identical.
 
> We (Alfa club) exhibited the lhd at a car show and the owner lent it on
> condition I drive it to the venue about 30 miles away; the sacrifices I
> make! Just happened he wanted to trade it for my Green GTV and and Alfetta
> saloon I had at the time, and no, I wouldn't trade the GTV for anything.
> I'll never forget the glorious sound of the engine at high speed, around
> 130 mph, and also when accelerating through the gears. On the way back, I
> was being held up by 4 cars until we got to an open uphill curve and the
> road was clear. From about 50 mph flick it down a gear, hit the loud pedal
> and it was like afterburners cutting in all the way to 7000 rpm. It was all
> over in second and the 4 cars I passed in one hit were back there
> somewhere... what a car, and definitely more fun to drive than even the
> Ferrari 365 GTB. It is similar in one respect to the Ferrari - you need to
> pick up the revs quite a bit before dropping the clutch, like driving a
> race car with a lightweight flywheel/clutch, because of the VERY oversquare
> engine; in the case of the Ferrari its that light flywheel, almost a flex
> plate.

	Oh yes, did I happen to mention the SHEER MALICIOUS JOY that I
feel when I pull up next to one of the following types of cars at a red
light:
1) American muscle cars such as Camaro, Firebird, Chevelle, Malibu,
Impala, El Camino, Nova, SS versions of previously mentioned, Demon,
Duster, Mustang, Cobra Mustang, Barracuda, Grand National GNX, etc.
2) Souped-up rice rockets like Acura, Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Lexus, or
Nissan.
3) Foreign imports such as BMW's 318, 320, 323, 325, 328, Z3, 525, 633,
635, M6, 850, Saab 900, 9000, Ferrari, Maserati, Lotus, etc.
4) Other Alfas such as Spiders, GTVs, Milanos, 164s

	Which is only matched by the feeling when then I proceed to
blow their doors off!!!  Although I have not raced all cars in every
category, and even though certain cars in classes 1 and 3 give me pause,
as I know that they are certain to provide stiff competition, that does
not deter me from stomping on the pedal and shifting gears as fast as I
possibly can the NANOSECOND that the light turns green.
	I once pulled up beside a white BMW 325is (with a couple of
Persian kids in it) at the intersection of Overland and Olympic in West
Los Angeles, when the light turned green and I shifted into first, the
rear end broke traction and began bouncing up and down (commonly called
bumping) as the wheels resumed traction at which point the car took off
like its ass was on fire!  By the time I got down to the intersection of
Westwood and Olympic some 6-8 blocks down and at a dead stop, they were
already over a block and a half behind me.  I thought their jaws were
going to drop off they were so agape!  They flashed their lights as a
salute when I took off after the light turned green.
	And the feeling of passing some asshole who is trying to block you
is glorious when you blow by him with a minimum of pedal pressure.  I was
once stuck behind a large Mercedes-Benz 6 series car who was going slower
than I thought necessary, once the road widened I moved into the passing
lane to get in front of him, whereupon he decided to speed up, and I
proceeded to make him eat my dust anyway!!
	And the last episode where I was going west on Olympic in Beverly
Hills around Robertson.  I came up behind some woman in a green Spider
Veloce who was basically stuck in traffic with me, but whom I felt was
lagging too far back and leaving too much lane space un occupied.  So I
proceeded to ride her butt for about fifteen blocks and at that point she
decided she was going to blow me off by accelerating very quickly.  Well
as you can already guess I was easily able to keep up with her and
continued to ride her ass when she took off.  When a good sized space
opened up in the lane to my left I took that oppurtunity to further speed
up, pass her, zip back into her lane, and slow down, showing her my
ass-end with the big ALFA ROMEO in caps on the back below the license
plate.  It was then that she realized with whom she was messing.

> For me, the Montreal is one of the best modern classicAlfas ever made. I
> class it as modern to distinguish it from say the 1750 Gran Sport Zagato,
> which I haven't driven but have had a ride in.  I know that its a "bitsa"
> using many 2000 GTV bits but that short stroke V8, which can be thought of
> as two 1300 GTA engines in V-formation, is pure magic, and many features eg
> ventilated disks/rotors are specific to the model. Montreal owners are very
> fortunate in owning something that is pure Alfa through and through.

	The last bit of joy I get is when I get to blow the gloriously
Stentorian (Greek Oracle with an unusually loud voice) Fiamm
Series 2000 electro-pneumatic trumpet horns.  I think that I have
managed to scare people out of years of their lives, years of growth out
of children, and made both children and adults lose control of their
bodily functions upon hearing the horns at close range, whether they be
pedestrians or drivers.
	My girlfriend has two sayings for the Montreal, one is "Pick a
Lane" and "The Boss is Back" both of which I still laugh at when I hear
her say when we're out together.  She has no idea about the second
Montreal yet, that's going to be a surprise in May when i graduate from
Berkeley.  I plan to have her drive the 73 up to Berkeley for my
commencement, park the 72 next to the 73 after she's gone, and
nonchalantly walk up to the 72 and unlock it after she makes some remark
about someone else also having a Montreal, at which point I'll reply "He
certainly does."
	So now you all know why I love the Montreal and why I have such a
passion for driving it, a passion that continues to grow each day every
time I drive it and emerge victorious from one more drag-race on the
streets of LA.  So who else wants to go for a ride?

						Typing with five fingers,
						Regan Copple
						79 Spider-black
				(coming soon)-->72 Montreal-silver
						73 Montreal-black

"It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness."
					-Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

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