Why'd I buy it

[mcosgrove@domain.elided]

I've always loved Italian cars.  In college I'd stand on the sidewalk and watch
while fellow Tulanian Harley Cluxton would drive by in the car his daddy gave
him...an NART Ferrari GTBC, fresh from Le Mans with numbers and sponsor decals
and 4 coffee can sized exhausts.  My first car, however,  was a Fiat 600.  It
served me well for 2 years until read ended by a big Buick at the MIT crosswalk
on Mass Ave in Cambridge, New Years morning 1969.  The Fiat lost.  Next car was
a 1961 Abarth 1000 Bialbero Record Monza (still have it).  Fun, but not very
practical.  Two years of that as a daily driver and I was ready for a change.
The local dealer in Newport, RI sold Fiat, B*W, and Alfa.  I compared the 124
Coupe, the 2002, and the 1750 Berlina.  The Fiat was nice, but the quality was
not really there.  The B*W needed the Tii option to bring it even close to the
spec of the Alfa.  Then you paid over $5000 but still didn't have the 5 speed or
4 wheel discs.  I paid a whopping $3750 for the Berlina (and got a rebate
shortly afterward) and have never regretted it.  The rest is history.

Mike

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