Author Topic: Pics of my other cars (Read 26321 times)

thelews · « **Reply #25 on:** September 19, 2018, 11:40:26 »

cool car, that Alfa

Mike Hughes · « **Reply #26 on:** September 19, 2018, 14:41:03 »

Lovely beast, that! Who is the coachbuilder, Pininfarina? How many gears on the column shift?

Driving a right hand drive sports car on this side of the pond has its moments. I have owned a number of right hand drive M.G.s over the years, and still have two of them. The most fun I have ever had in one have involved a RHD MGB roadster I have owned for over 40 years, 1) a dog, and 2) a police officer.

1) Watching the double takes as I drove, slouched down as far as I could, top down on the GW Parkway with my sister's HUGE brindle Great Dane sitting up tall in the passenger seat.

2) While taking my wife to the Metro one winter morning, being pulled over for going 27MPH in a 25 MPH School Zone. The officer walks up to my wife's side of the car, asks her for her drivers license and registration and proceeds to begin issuing a summons. When I lean over and interrupt to point out that he should be talking to me I am curtly told to "Keep out of this, sir, I'm dealing with the lady!" So I do, and we both appear in court on the appointed day. After Lucy plead "Not Guilty" the judged asked her why. She said, "Because I wasn't driving the car, and the officer refused to issue the ticket to my husband, who was behind the wheel!" Then she handed the clerk two photos of the RHD M.G., one with the top up and one with the top down. After summoning the officer to the bench, the judge dismissed the case.

johnk · « **Reply #27 on:** September 19, 2018, 17:01:48 »

Thanks Mike,
Body is by Pinafarina. Its a 4 speed on the column which I quite like. Plenty of torque so no problems starting out in any gears. I have to get more comfortable that everything is working correctly before I drive it much. We had to put a Ferrari master cylinder on it but the brakes still aren't quite right. I have a friend who can figure out just about anything who got the triple carbs sincing correctly and it running correct. Had it at the only-alfa club recommended mechanic in ohio's hsop for four months and he couldn't do it.

I have a shop manual and all of the repair and restoration records, but they are in italian.

Its one of few convertibles I think that looks even better wiht the top up.

mclewis · « **Reply #28 on:** September 19, 2018, 18:44:49 »

That really is a handsome car. How many were made? I would imagine that parts may be hard to come by.

Mike Hughes · « **Reply #29 on:** September 19, 2018, 18:53:21 »

Hi John, you are quite right: Top up or down it has a lot of presence.

Pawel66 · « **Reply #30 on:** September 19, 2018, 19:34:04 »

Isn't it something similar to the one displayed in the glass garage next to the driveway to Villa d'Este?

I am not too good at Alfas....

Mike Hughes · « **Reply #31 on:** September 19, 2018, 21:53:45 »

Alfa Romeo was never a volume producer until they came out with their Giulia and Giulietta four cylinder cars in the early/mid 1950's. Rather, they were a producer of successful racing cars, and bespoke sporting conveyances based on some of those racers for wealthy motorists in the period between the two world wars, mostly bodied by Italian carrozzerias Touring and Pinin Farina. A young Enzo Ferrari drove for the ALFA racing team for a time before forming Scuderia Ferrari. Like Mercedes did for Germany, Alfa Romeo represented Italy on the Grand Prix circuits of Europe in the 30's, and in the immediate post-war period.

After WWII it was soon obvious that the market for bespoke conveyances for the wealthy was not what it used to be and ALFA was going to have to go down market to survive. 6C 2500s like John's represent the swan song of the bespoke Alfa Romeo.

"Godfather" movie fans may recall that Michael Corleone spent some time in Sicily, marrying a local girl and teaching her to drive a closed cousin of John's cabriolet in the courtyard of the walled compound in which they lived. Watching that sleek black Alfa Romeo coupe being blown up is still one of the hard bits for me to sit through (although I suspect and hope a mock-up was actually destroyed in that scene)!

neelyrc · « **Reply #32 on:** September 19, 2018, 23:36:55 »

Fantastic! An extremely rare and beautiful machine, John. It appears to be identical to the one offered by Gooding at Pebble beach last year.

johnk · « **Reply #33 on:** September 20, 2018, 03:23:22 »

I believe there were only 63 cabriolet super sports.

And yes parts are hard to get and can take a month to order if you can find them. Makes one appreciate the knowelege and parts that are available for our Pagoda's. I really appreciate the car as I learn more about it but you just can't drive it like you can our pagoda's.

I will have it for a year or two, but my Pagoda will hopefully stay in my faamily forever.

Thanks everyone.

neelyrc · « **Reply #34 on:** September 20, 2018, 07:13:04 »

Quote from: Pawel66 on September 19, 2018, 19:34:04

Isn't it something similar to the one displayed in the glass garage next to the driveway to Villa d'Este?

Possibly. There was actually a Villa d'Este 6C 2500 model produced in very limited numbers with coachwork by Touring.

See here:

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/ve15/auction/lots/r113-1949-alfa-romeo-6c-2500-ss-villa-d-este-coup%c3%a9-by-touring

dpreston Virginia · « **Reply #35 on:** September 20, 2018, 13:07:20 »

Quote from: thelews on September 12, 2018, 22:08:02

Added one yesterday. '66 Series 1 4.2

John,
Nice Jag. Will look great in your garage.
Need a video of you driving!

Pawel66 · « **Reply #36 on:** September 20, 2018, 13:25:30 »

Quote from: neelyrc on September 20, 2018, 07:13:04

Possibly. There was actually a Villa d'Este 6C 2500 model produced in very limited numbers with coachwork by Touring.

See here:

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/ve15/auction/lots/r113-1949-alfa-romeo-6c-2500-ss-villa-d-este-coup%c3%a9-by-touring

I took a picture of it, but I was drunk and I somehow lost it...

But it looked beautiful as yours.

Mike Hughes · « **Reply #37 on:** September 20, 2018, 20:30:35 »

Quote from: DPreston on September 20, 2018, 13:07:20

John,
Nice Jag. Will look great in your garage.
Need a video of you driving!

Ditto. Like the 230SL a couple of years later, the E-Type was unveiled to the public at the Geneva Auto show and was a sensation. My favourite E-Type is the '66 4.2 Coupe - It embodies all the purity of the Malcolm Sayer's original design, plus the upgraded gearbox and more reliable 4.2L engine, but still is early enough to have escaped all the emissions and safety stuff that was looming on the horizon. (Kind of the same reason I love my '66 230SL so much!)

I've been studying the photos: What green is that? It's too dark to be BRG. Is the interior green, too, or black?

Back in the day Henry Manney III wrote in Road & Track that it was "the best crumpet catcher known to man!"

thelews · « **Reply #38 on:** September 20, 2018, 21:53:58 »

Thanks, guys. It's Dark Green Opalescent. A dark green with a very fine metallic flake in it. Hard to get it right, but the guy who did it got it right. The interior is black and mostly original, headliner and center carpets replaced. Car has 60K miles on it. I agree with you about the desirability of the '66 coupe. Enzo Ferrari said in 1961 it was the most beautiful car he'd ever seen and all that was wrong with it is that it didn't have "Ferrrari" on it. In its day it was an "exotic" at a price point.

neelyrc · « **Reply #39 on:** September 20, 2018, 23:40:36 »

....... and, who would want to disagree with Enzo! A real beauty, and about as black as the 291H on my Pagoda. Love it! Congratulations on this addition.

BlackJack · « **Reply #40 on:** September 28, 2018, 20:14:36 »

The Old girl:

thelews · « **Reply #41 on:** September 28, 2018, 23:57:40 »

Another Series 1 coupe. Beautiful. Can't say I mind the building it's parked next to either.

johnk · « **Reply #42 on:** September 29, 2018, 02:36:47 »

I'm jealous. I love these E-types! Looks great in gray.

Mike Hughes · « **Reply #43 on:** September 29, 2018, 14:29:37 »

Lovely FHC, what year is it? I'm trying to figure out the color. At first it looks like silver and JohnK thinks it is gray. I'm wondering if it is sand. What color is the interior?

BlackJack · « **Reply #44 on:** September 29, 2018, 21:18:51 »

Thank you gents for the compliments. It is golden sand (a sort of champagne metallic colour). Interior is biscuit leather. 1966, 4.2.

Mike Hughes · « **Reply #45 on:** September 29, 2018, 23:20:51 »

I thought so! That golden sand color with the biscuit interior has been my very favorite combination on an E-Type FHC for a very long time. When my family lived on Taiwan in the 1960's there was an Air Force Colonel who lived just down the street. In the circular drive beside his house was the best pair of "his and hers" sports cars one could possibly imagine: a golden sand FHC with biscuit interior and a white 300SL with red leather interior and a black hardtop. I'd just stop and drink in their every curve and highlight each day on the way home from school.

BlackJack · « **Reply #46 on:** September 30, 2018, 08:11:25 »

What a great sight that must have been: the FHC and the 300 SL! Thanks for sharing that .

ejboyd5 · « **Reply #47 on:** May 06, 2019, 23:24:35 »

1956 New York International Automobile Show Standwagen

CraigD · « **Reply #48 on:** May 08, 2019, 16:57:51 »

A recent addition of the group of my Pagoda stablemates... '37 Cord S/C Cabriolet. My wife at the controls, supervised by our dog Cooper!

Mike Hughes · « **Reply #49 on:** May 08, 2019, 20:27:40 »

A right hand drive Cord 812? That's a rare bird! ;^)

News:

Author Topic: Pics of my other cars (Read 26321 times)

BlackJack

BlackJack

BlackJack