Bo offered to sell me the car. I was tempted, but there were a few other things on my mind at the same time, like getting drafted! This was 1969, the war in Viet Nam was in full swing and Uncle Sam needed more cannon fodder. All males born between 1944 and 1950 were given a lottery number, and when your number was drawn, you were drafted--unless you had some kind of deferment. Being enrolled in an institution of higher learning could keep you out of the draft, but only if you completed a certain number of credit hours per semester. And I was a little behind . . . .
Then there was the money. I didn't have any. For some reason it didn't occur to me that a penniless university student who is about to be drafted needs a 14 year-old clapped out exotic Italian sports car like he needs an all expense paid trip to Southeast Asia.
So I bought it.
Numbers are important for cars, too. Every car has a lot of them: part numbers, registration numbers, license numbers, body numbers, chassis numbers, engine numbers, etc. To register a car you have to know the chassis number and it's good to know the engine number, too. At the time it was a nuisance looking for them but eventually I realized they are of critical importance.
Being in law school, Bo drew up a contract enabling me to pay in installments. The first installment in October, 1969, was my old Honda 305 Scrambler, already an antique itself, but freshly painted with a rebuilt transmission . . . and even more freshly wrecked! Days before consummating the deal on the Alfatross I flew over the handlebars at about 40 mph on a bridge right in front of a Greyhound bus. I came out of it largely intact, but the bike was a mess. Later I determined that the odometer cable had wrapped itself around the front drum brake after a strut worked loose, instantly locking up the front wheel.
Unfazed, Bo delivered the bike anyway to a customer he had already lined up. In order to save the deal I had to throw in what passed for a stereo set in those days: a record player with two speakers. The other payments were in cash totalling $770.
A year later, for better or for worse, the Alfatross was mine!
Then there was the money. I didn't have any. For some reason it didn't occur to me that a penniless university student who is about to be drafted needs a 14 year-old clapped out exotic Italian sports car like he needs an all expense paid trip to Southeast Asia.
So I bought it.
Numbers are important for cars, too. Every car has a lot of them: part numbers, registration numbers, license numbers, body numbers, chassis numbers, engine numbers, etc. To register a car you have to know the chassis number and it's good to know the engine number, too. At the time it was a nuisance looking for them but eventually I realized they are of critical importance.
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| Chassis number AR 1900C *02016* |
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| Engine number 1308*01541* |
Being in law school, Bo drew up a contract enabling me to pay in installments. The first installment in October, 1969, was my old Honda 305 Scrambler, already an antique itself, but freshly painted with a rebuilt transmission . . . and even more freshly wrecked! Days before consummating the deal on the Alfatross I flew over the handlebars at about 40 mph on a bridge right in front of a Greyhound bus. I came out of it largely intact, but the bike was a mess. Later I determined that the odometer cable had wrapped itself around the front drum brake after a strut worked loose, instantly locking up the front wheel.
Unfazed, Bo delivered the bike anyway to a customer he had already lined up. In order to save the deal I had to throw in what passed for a stereo set in those days: a record player with two speakers. The other payments were in cash totalling $770.
A year later, for better or for worse, the Alfatross was mine!
