Sport Sedan trim variants

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Craig Wilson, responding to Leonardo, writes "Yes fortunately, my Sport Sedan
has the metallic trim.  My 1978 brochure shows the wood trim and I'm glad mine
has the metallic.  Actually, I have never seen the wood trim yet, but I have
only seen 3 or 4 Sport Sedans in the past 10 years."

Fortunate indeed, but not quite correct that his "1978 brochure shows the wood
trim"; that is a 1979 brochure. For each of the details which changed in the
interior there are two part numbers in the Catalogo Rapido Ricambi, with
references to footnotes #1 and #2. Footnote #1 just says ->1979, meaning up to
1979, and footnote #2 just says 1979->, meaning 1979 onward. The part numbers
are the same except for the last two digits; for example, the dashboard itself
(which has three speedlines added on the wood-trim version, is 11655.63019.00
for the first, 11655.63019.79 for the second; for each part the final .00
turns into .79.

The other trim change between the 1978 and the 1979 is in the chrome window
surrounds, which are appreciably wider on the 79, and include a chrome overlay
on the "B" pillar. (I have seen one '78 with that '79 chrome overlay, added by
an owner whose wife's rings scratched the paint when she levered herself in
and out.) And, of course, the "wood" isn't wood.

The reason Craig has never seen the wood trim yet, apart from the overall
rarity of Sport Sedans, is that 1979 sales were abysmal compared to '78 sales,
for the same reason that there are so many more '91 164s in the USA than '92s;
everyone who wanted one already had one of the first batch. An appreciable
number of '79s were shipped back to Italy when they proved unsalable even with
end-of-run dumping discounts; some were sold for taxi service in Milan, and
others were snapped up, complete with Spica and heavy bumpers, as the slightly
exotic export model. One of those eventually wound up in New England when its
owner emigrated to this country.

Nice cars, unfortunately underrated here. Larry Ogle has one (ivory, like
mine) in which he installed a Bosch Spider engine, and also the European grill
with rectangular headlights, which I believe he said Gary Valant procured for
him. I mentioned the rectangular headlamps to Leonardo and he replied "here we
say 'the neighbour's garden is always better then ours': I like very much the
round headlamps and you like the square headlamps!" Leo's car, with the
lighter Eurobumpers, without the extra side trim of the Sport Sedan, and
resplendent in Bleu Olondese (our 'Navy Blue") would be a real head-turner
here. Red? Who needs red?

Cheers

John H.

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