Final test of lowered seat

[Scott Fisher <sefisher@domain.elided>]

Had a lovely evening last night.  My wife served as PTA president of our
daughters' elementary school last year, and when her term ended in June,
her friends presented us with a gift certificate at a local Italian
restaurant *plus* an evening's worth of babysitting, and last night we
redeemed both gifts.  We shared a bottle of Sangiovese; Kim had the
braciole, which this restaurant made with veal -- I've always made it
with beef, but it was quite good in the lighter meat, a central layer of
cheese making for a rich, creamy contrast to the tart marinara sauce in
which the veal had been simmered.  I ordered their Tuesday night
special, osso buco, a Milanese specialty of veal shanks braised in a
light brown sauce.  The sauce was a bit bland (I prefer our own recipe,
which starts with a sofrito of onion, carrots and celery sauteed in
half-butter, half-olive oil, and builds from there), but the meat was
very flavorful and simply fell off the bones with a touch of the fork. 
A double espresso for me with the hazelnut mousse, a slice of amaretto
cheesecake and an iced cappucino for Kim, and we ended the meal in
proper Italian style. 

Of course, we drove the Green Spider there, parking under a huge pine
tree that would have done justice to Ottorino Respighi's musical ode to
"The Pines of Rome."  

On the way home (all of half a mile, if that), the fuel tank light came
on, and having impressed upon my wife the importance of never running a
Spica-equipped car out of gas, I made a point of refueling this
morning.  The most convenient gas station on the way to work has a
drive-through car wash, free with fill-up, so after seeing how dusty the
Spider was, I flung the top into place, snapped it down, rolled up the
windows and got in line.

This was a test of two separate features -- first, of course, seeing
whether the seat-lowering made enough difference that I could
comfortably drive with the top up.  I can!  My hair still brushes the
top frame, but I no longer have to tilt my head over to one side to keep
from compressing my vertebrae when I go over bumps.  It's wonderful.  

The second feature I tested was the propensity of the top to leak.  I've
only had this car in the rain once since buying it, and that was barely
more than a light mist, on the way home from the June ARA meet in
Alameda.  In the first phase of the car wash (where soapy water is
sponged all over the car), a few drops trickled in from the rear corner
of the side windows.  I had the towel (well, actually it's a flannel
baby blanket) that I normally fold against the rear window, and dabbed
these up as I went through the wash.  The soapy water was then rinsed
away, producing a few more drops down the side windows, but it wasn't
till the un-wax portion of the wash that water really came in, and that
only because the un-wax was being sprayed at high pressure directly
against the sides of the car; if rain actually comes in at this angle, I
suspect I'd better be in the root cellar anyway.  (You know what I mean
by "un-wax:" there's always an extra-cost option to apply wax, allegedly
performed when a light is flashing; I've never noticed a difference in
the viscosity or shine of what comes out whether the light is flashing
or not, so I never buy the extra-cost option.  Therefore, whatever
sprays onto the car during this phase of the process and makes it look
so shiny must be un-wax...)  Again, a quick wipe with the blanket took
care of these, and I motored out of the car wash, confident that the
Spider will make a fine car for California winters.

I left the top up for the drive to work, not wanting to fold a wet top. 
I think this is the fourth time I've driven the car with the top in
place, and the first since removing the spacers under the seat.  That
being the case, I was largely unaware of what a comfortable, snug car
the Spider is with the top in place.  With my head no longer rattling on
the top frame with every jostle in the road surface, it's a fairly
quiet, very inviting place to command a lovely car.  I had the driver's
window down (I'd had to roll it down to adjust at least the
driver's-side door mirror), but the whoosh of air in the drying portion
of the car wash reminded me that there are excellent flow-through vents
in the Spider's dash, something I find particularly useful when it rains
in California (cool air on the face keeps body temperatures down, even
when the defrosters are on full blast, and keeps me from contributing to
the mist inside the car).

All in all, this car is shaping up as the best convertible I've ever
owned.  The feeling of solidity (at least on good roads, and when I fit
the chassis stiffener as I will eventually, that'll be taken care of),
the response to control inputs, the mix of driving comfort with athletic
feel make this a wonderful everyday car, as well as a wonderful car for
touring long distances.  The farthest I've taken it yet has been the
trip home from Alameda, about fifty miles, but I think a "quest" of some
kind, a longer journey with at least the illusion of a goal apart from
the simple act of covering ground, is in order sometime soon.  

The Historics will serve admirably for that, I suspect, but that's
another conversation...

- --Scott Fisher
  1974 Spider Veloce
  Sunnyvale, California

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End of alfa-digest V7 #937
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