Why Alfa and the "Always Looking For Another" bug begins to bite (long)

[TJCallahan@domain.elided]

Some fabulous stories and tales have passed the AD describing various 
introductions to, and seductions by, Alfa Romeos. Mine is an answer from the 
heart AND from the soul. I'll toss my (long) story into the mix, then ask for 
some guidance at the end ...

My introduction to Alfas came when I was 15 (1973) and in high school here in 
the Seattle area. My brother, five years my senior, one day brought home a 
beat up white convertible that was louder than the big jets departing the 
nearby airport. It was a ten-year-old 1963 Alfa Giulia Spider that had seen 
70k miles and many better days. It ran reasonably well, when it ran. The body 
was rough where it didn't have Bondo, and we marveled at the ventilation in 
the trunk (boot). But it was a major step toward independence for him.

He tinkered with it incessantly and drove 25+ miles (one way) to his job 
every day. Eventually, the maintenance requirements got to be too much, so he 
sold it to a buddy and bought a USA domestic small car (I won't say what, but 
he replaced the Firestone 500's quickly). The buddy turned out to be 
something less than reliable financially and the Alfa was soon back at home 
with no driver.

By this time, I had a "need" for personal transportation and since the car 
was just sitting there, I bought it from him for $400 USD. I suspect he made 
a profit on that amount. I drove the spider daily for almost 2 years. It 
seemed to run great, at least to my high school "no problem" mind. 
Maintenance? What's that?

As I remember it, the front suspension rebound cables were frayed and broken, 
the brakes were completely out of adjustment, there was no engine air filter 
equipment (nor air filter), the oil looked like mayonnaise occasionally, and 
the body was slowly turning to "primer" grey from the factory white (at the 
rate of about a spray can per month). But it was a blast to drive. It was 
quick, easy to steer, and had a sound like I didn't know what else.

Getting to the last day of high school turned out to be eventful for me. I 
had a girlfriend that lived 25+ miles away (far away talent is always 
preferable to nearby talent -- old business adage) and this fateful night 
before that last day (June '76) I was driving the Alfa home about 11:30PM 
down one of the USA's infamous straight and boring super highways. Tired as a 
dog. Having driven my father's '68 Mustang (with sloppy power steering) for a 
week before this day. Did I mention I was tired?

I drifted off to sleep at 60 mph and began a slow move to the left. The 
unfortunate part is that I was already in the left lane of the two 
lane-each-direction highway. I was, quite literally, heading for the ditch. 
The ditch that had big concrete posts sticking up at the bottom. The same 
ditch that had a huge metal cable strung between those big concrete posts.

Out here in the USA West, where it doesn't snow appreciably and the 
municipalities can't even spell "plow," there are "dots" on the edges of the 
road so one can "drive by Braille" (no offense to the visually impaired 
Digesters). In an amazing show of sacrifice and courage, these dots jumped 
under the Alfa's tires and the resulting noise woke me up. If I'd been awake, 
the Alfa's driver's seat upholstery would have been toast by then. Even in my 
semi-stuporous state, however, I was able to sum up the situation and take 
decisive action, quickly turning toward the right to bring the car back to 
the proper portion of the roadway.

Remember that point I made earlier about having been driving a Ford Mustang 
and the "no road feel" power steering it had? My quick corrective maneuver 
was perfect for the Mustang steering, but making the maneuver on the Alfa 
steering ended up pointing me off the right hand side of the road, which is 
where the Alfa happily went at 60mph. We, the Alfa and me, were fine, in a 
slight 4-wheel drift, but fine, until the LH side tires dug deeply into the 
earth and my little convertible rolled 1.5 times side-to-side.

I was the only one in the car and walked away without a (physical) scratch, 
thanks to the seat belts I had installed and divine intervention (no roll 
bar). The car was in fairly bad shape, however. I did eventually get it put 
back together and back on the road, but it was never completely finished. I 
was, by that time, in college and had little time or funds to invest in the 
Alfa. I parked it in a relative's garage and bought a small domestic car as a 
replacement. (I won't tell you what kind, but it had Firestone 500's, too. I 
think there's genetic factor at work here.)

Due to the Job-like patience (<-- Biblical reference) of my relative with the 
garage, the Alfa sat in fairly protected storage for 20+ years waiting 
patiently for me to come back. In late '97, I finally had a two car garage of 
my own and retrieved the Alfa to begin putting it right. Long time gone.

I owe this car my life (literally) and now labor (slowly) to restore it to 
its once and future glory. It is a labor of love as there's no way I'll ever 
recover the money I'm putting into the car. I think these vintage cars go for 
about $5-6k USD in good condition (if I could sell it) and I'll be putting 
more like $10-15k into it by the time I'm done. But, what's a life worth? Ask 
my two sons (4.5 & 11).

It has been 20+ years since the engine has run (it's back from Wes's, ready 
to go), I haven't heard its song for more than half my life now. But I still 
remember it clearly. I was reminded of it just this past Sunday. The B*W club 
was having a driving event at SIR and I went to hitch a ride with a good 
buddy (and former Alfa owner). At one point, he and I were standing and 
watching one of the other "groups" go by (all street licensed cars this day) 
and I heard a sound that definitely WASN'T Teutonic coming from the trees.

It was the sound of a REAL car in the crowd. I heard it and knew what it was 
before it came into sight. It was a '67, '68, '69, '70, '71, '72, '73, or '74 
GTV (OK, so I'm not so good at knowing 105 series cars) working its way 
through the sedate (and boring) pack. Nothing sounds like an Alfa. Got my 
heart pounding. I miss my Alfa.

Now, the guidance I need. I have to DRIVE an Alfa again sometime soon. This 
restoration project is going to take tooooo looong to satisfy that need in a 
timely fashion. I've been thinking about a '78 or '79 Sprint Veloce/GTV 
(another long story) and need to learn more about them. I've been thinking 
specifically about a red one w/ black interior ...

Any kind words to offer from the knowledgeable ones out there? Any red/black 
ones for sale? I'll take replies off digest, if you like.

Thanks for the time and any advice you have to offer. Sorry for the long post.

Tom
'63 Spider (still being restored)
'86 "Alfa" Jetta (just turned 250k miles)
Parking available for a late '70s "GTV" ...
Seattle

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