Rotisserie Brackets and Zagato's Zagato (Post # 17)

In the Shop

Dave and I had to get back to our "day jobs" for a while, but we're back at it again now and it looks like there will be a lot of time during the  next several weeks to get things done on the Alfa. Last night Dave tack welded the front and rear brackets for the rotisserie shaft after making sure the alignment was good.  Then we unbolted them and he took them to his shop for final gas welding of the heavy steel joints.



Tack welding the transverse beam for the rear bracket to the plates that
bolt to the tops of the rear shock towers.



Long stretch to tack weld the feet of the front bracket to the engine mounts. 
The PVC pipe is for alignment of the steel rotisserie shaft.

We hope to bolt in the finished brackets this weekend.  Then all we have to do is round up about 4 more strong backs to help us carefully thread the heavy rotisserie shaft through the grill opening, then through the front and rear brackets and out the trunk opening, level it so the ends can be mounted on the rotisserie frames, remove the trolley, insert the lower rotisserie horizontal member, align everything, and see if it works. 

What could possibly go wrong?

Networking

This blog isn't attracting much in the way of  public comments, but every now and then I get feedback through e-mail.  Sr. Matteo Bosisio of  Route Borrani sent me an e-mail last week about a very special 1900C SSZ he saw in a show in Milan recently: an "original and unrestored" car owned by the Zagato family and Sr. Rivolta, a brother-in-law.  Evidently, it is for sale, but Mr. Bosisio says it is going for "crazy money."  One of those "If you have to ask . . . ." items, I guess. 

Anyway, this is an important member of the Alfatross's small family.  I suspect that it is one of the last cars build because it has characteristics that I have never seen on other family members.  Many thanks to Sr. Bosisio for these photos!

I call this car "Zagato's Zagato" for obvious reasons.  Not the double bubble roof line and the sharp, forward-leaning nose.  Image by Matteo Bosisio.

Note the "A. Zagato" and "M. Rivolta" driver and co-driver names on the fender.  Also note the somewhat unusual single "Z" just below the names.  Zagato used a variety of logos over the years.  Sometimes it was just the Z and sometimes the whole name was spelled out.  Image by Matteo Bosisio

View from the rear quarter.  Note the rectangular taillights and bulge above the license plate light housing on the trunk.  I have never seen these on any other member of the family.  Image by Matteo Bosisio.

Research 

I have an old Auto Capital Italian car magazine from May/June 1981 that has an article about the history of the Zagato carrozzeria.  It features a couple of photos of a 1900C SSZ and a caption that says, "un'Alfa 1900 SS speciale costruita da Zagato in un solo esemplare, ora completamente restaurata dal carrozzeriere milanese: di tutta la sua produzione, la Zagato ha conservato questo modello e una Lancia Flaminia Sport."

I think it says that the featured car (a member of the 1900 Zagato family)--now completely restored--is one of only two cars produced by Zagato that the Zagato family retained.  But I can't tell from the photos if it is the same car as the one Matteo photographed.  Point is, even after about 90 years of producing some of the most beautiful cars ever made, the Zagatos are particularly fond of their Alfa 1900s.