Mirror, mirror

[Scott Fisher <sefisher@domain.elided>]

Matt from ReOriginals writes:

> There is a really cool round mirror that did become an "official" 
> Alfa accessory but not until the 101 cars came out. It's the one 
> with the Alfa emblem on the peak of the round back and the 3" long
> teardrop base.

My Junior has one of these, or more likely it's a knock-off -- it's made
out of what appeared to be grey plastic, as though it had once been
chromed and the plating had worn or oxidized off.  Some time ago I took
it off the car, carefully masked the glass, and sprayed it matte black
(I think that story started out, "One day while I was looking for
something to do to the car that didn't involve spending any money..."). 
It's an improvement, but a '67 shouldn't have black mirrors.  Getting
"the right one" has been On The List for some time now.

The '67 had some other cool period mods when I bought it, most of which
I'm planning to continue restoring as I work on the car, but I'll ask
about some of them later.

> There is an "official" Pininfarina mirror used on any cars made
> by them, Fiat, Alfa etc. It's a trapezoid mirror, the arm attached
> slightly off center with a triangular base about 1 1/2" on each 
> side and a particular curve to the base to fit precisely where it
> mounts on the door;  near where a vent window would be. 

The previous owner of my '74 Spider put on matching black mirrors that
appear to be the Vitaloni "Baby Turbo" mirrors, on the doors about level
with the vent window.  I'm hoping the holes they used to mount them will
be covered by the base of a new mirror, because they really don't look
"right" on the '74 -- it's still from the Age of Brightwork Trim.  (And
while I'm not particularly concerned with making a concours car, I do at
least want to avoid anachronisms if at all possible.)  Perhaps because
it's got the cross and serpent cast into it, I'm partial to what you
describe as the "really cool round mirror" above, but I recently saw a
photograph of a car with the trapezoidal mirrors aligned "properly" and
I'm much more interested in them now, particularly if they're "official"
Pininfarina mirrors.

What I mean: Most of the time, when I've seen a car with these
trapezoidal mirrors, the skinny end of the trapezoid is outboard of the
fat end, because the ball joint at the end of the attachment arm is
nearer to the fat end of the trapezoid.  It somehow just doesn't look
right to my eye, with the mirror tapering as it gets farther from the
car.  But recently I saw a photo of a Spider with the trapezoids
oriented the other way.  That is, the mounting socket for the attachment
arm is *still* in the fat end of the trapezoid, but the owner had turned
the mirror around so that the skinny end of the trapezoid was nearest
the glass.  Looked *much* better.  Dunno how that affects blind-spot
coverage (and lord knows these cars need it with the tops up), but it's
certainly the way I'd want the mirror adjusted for gazing longingly at
the car while parked on a lawn somewhere...

- --Scott Fisher
  Sunnyvale, CA

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