AC in Spica spiders;Formula One

["James Tyson" <jftyson@domain.elided>]

It appears from JHertzman's comments that he thinks AC was never installed 
in any Spica equipped Spiders.If that's what you're claiming John, oh boy 
are you wrong.Sometimes you can't rely on the catalogs-you have to look at 
the cars.I own a 74 Spider that I purchased from the original(Houston) owner 
5 years ago-it came with AC.I know of another 74 Spider here in Houston 
(original owner-17,000 miles and no, it's not for sale)that also has AC.Both 
of these cars had the "wraparound"style bracket for the compressor that was 
secured by the upper exhaust stud on the #1 cylinder.Both installations used 
the York compressor.I threw my AC system away as fast as possible.The other 
74 still has its AC system in place and ,AFAIK,it still works,sorta.The AC 
systems in both cars were installed by Houston Alfa dealerships.They used 
the same compressor and same bracket that I have seen  on GTVs from the same 
era.
       As for Mr. Smith,in addition to being unctuous you are also 
uninformed-"whetting the American consumer's taste for a real technology 
sport"-"the U.S. sports consumer is not noted for sophisticated taste in 
sporting events..yet"-what a load of crap.First, you apparently are unaware 
of the crowds that attended the USGP when it was held at Watkins Glen.I went 
to the GP in 73,74 and 76-each year the attendance was over 75,000.The only 
reason F1 left the Glen was pure greed.The GP races that were held in Dallas 
and Las Vegas(on a parking lot!) were further examples of greed overwhelming 
sport.The US has at least three tracks that would be a proper venue for a 
GP-Watkins Glen,Elkhart Lake and Laguna Seca.The only reason why the GP is 
held at Indy rather than at a proper road course is money.The fees charged 
by Ecclestone are obscene.American racing fans aren't unsophisticated, they 
just like to root for American drivers.That's why CART is having trouble 
attracting crowds-very few American drivers.No American has done well in F1 
since Mario's success in the late 70's.One other thing,Michael,if I wanted 
to experience real technology I'd watch space shuttle launches.F1 isn't 
racing-there are more lead changes on the track in the average NASCAR race 
than have occurred in ALL of the F1 races held in the last ten years.Going 
back to the 60's,any knowledgeable F1 fan could tell you before the start of 
the season which drivers had any chance of winning a race that season.With 
the notable exception of the 77 season,no more than 3 teams per year ever 
win an F1 race.No passing and no competition-you can have your technology- 
the latest carbon fiber,double secret trick F1 gizmo is no substitute for 
RACING,you know, where cars pass each other on the track.In F1 every pass is 
subject to review by the FIA,unless your name is Michael Schumacher,who is 
permitted to run over other cars as often as he likes.American race fans 
like speed and horsepower-that's why drag racing is  so popular  in the 
US.Hey Michael, have you ever experienced two top fuel dragsters leave the 
starting line-that's 12,000 horsepower-the ground shakes-that's 0 to 60 in 
less than one second.That's real technology,done on a budget.Oh yeah,I guess 
that makes me another one of those unsophisticated US sports consumers.


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