All It Takes Is Time and Money (Post # 46)

More than 11 months ago I wrote in the second post to this blog: 

In December 2012, I was contacted by two different parties within days of each other who wanted to buy my car.  Both  needed a Zagato-bodied Alfa Romeo 1900 to add to their collections and both had been looking for such a car for more than a year.  It slowly dawned on me that I had the car, the workshop, the time, and now buyers.  Could 2013 be the year I free myself at last of the Alfatross?  That revelation was the genesis of this blog.  Starting January 1, 2013,  I am going to do my best to finish the restoration this year and document my 44 years of its ownership over the next 52 weeks.

People with experience in automotive restoration told me that the goal of restoring a car as old and rare as The Alfatross in one year was wildly optimistic--and they were right!

And this wasn't even the Alfatross' first rodeo . . . .

The Alfatross some time in the early 60s when it belonged to its fifth owner, Pat Braden.  Alfa Romeo All-alloy Twin Cam Companion 1954-1994.

There are many potential pitfalls in any restoration project, most of them triggered by the lack of time or money or both.  Pat Braden, Alfa enthusiast and author of seven books on Alfas, Ferraris, and Weber carburetors, put it this way in Alfa Romeo All-alloy Twin Cam Companion 1954-1994:

An overestimation of one's skills has ruined more cars--very valuable cars--than any other single cause.  The surest way to destroy a car is to present it to a starry-eyed new owner who sees himself, only several weeks hence, standing with a 100-point car while all sorts of nubile females throw themselves on him and/or his car.  It happened to my 1900 Zagato.

He goes on to recount how he sold his 1900C SS Zagato to a law student and enthusiast who decided on a "total" restoration, and laments that "like so many candidates for restoration, it remained apart for many years and changes hands several times."   The picture he paints is undoubtedly intended as a cautionary tale rather than a carefully-researched account, and as such his advice is well-grounded in experience.  But the subject car is none other than The Alfatross!  I am its only "subsequent owner," and it was never apart for many years.  The law student was my cousin, Bo Bricklemyer, and if you are so inclined you can read more about it in the January 19th, 2013 post.     

The Braden 1900 Zagato some time in the early '60s (seen with a BMW 328, 6C Alfa Romeo and a Frazer-Nash).   Alfa Romeo All-alloy Twin Cam Companion 1954-1994.

I corresponded with Braden as early as 1973.  He was extremely helpful and wrote down everything he could remember about the car, including the names of the two previous owners, Will Henderson and Paul Turner.  In his last e-mail message to me days before he died in 2002 (the same year the book these quotes were taken from was published) he wrote:

It's nice to know where my old Zagato went.  It was my absolute all-time favorite Alfa, and I've owned 6C and 8C pre-war Alfas.

Maybe he was thinking of The Alfatross and I when he wrote the concluding paragraph in his chapter on automotive restoration: 

Very few people are capable of "total" restorations, emotionally, physically, or financially.  The tragedy--for many valuable Alfa Romeos--is that many people image that they are capable of completing such a project themselves. 

Having fallen into every pit imaginable and still managing to extricate The Alfatross, I consider myself amply qualified to elaborate on this theme.  I may not always have done right by my car, but I got the most important part right: I kept it.  The Alfatross had 6 owners during its first 14 years, but only one for the last 44.  If would-be restorers were to ask my advice I would admonish them to:   

1. Keep It.  However you managed to acquire your car, hold on to it!  Store it properly until you are well and truly prepared to take it to the next level.  This will likely require some sacrifice.  There were many occasions when The Alfatross and I came close to being separated. A worthless car that didn't run and placed a burden on my meager finances, it was during this time that it became known as The Alfatross.  Between 1969 and 1993 I moved and relocated it at least 9 times.  In 1991 I began to notice that something had changed.  Now it was starting to appreciate in value. People began making offers to buy it.  I was tempted to sell to Martin Swig, a well-known collector and enthusiast who came to see the car and offered to buy it on the spot.  But somehow I couldn't quite part with it. Now, of course, I'm glad I kept it all those years, but a positive outcome was never certain.
2. Keep It Together.  It's easy to lose parts.  Casual disassembly over a long period is to be avoided. Keep it in one piece. Keep all documentation, related paperwork and photographs together.  Keep a log of everything you do and spend related to the car.  Don't trust your memory.  It is important to remember the archaeologist's mantra: If you didn't write it down, it didn't happen!
3. Research It.  Learn everything you can about the car's story, who the marque specialists are, what level of restoration is most appropriate, and what it is likely to cost.  Don't wait until you are finally ready to work on the car.  People die, records are lost or destroyed, part sources are depleted.  Don't wait 40 years like I did to try to get in touch with the original owner only to learn that he recently passed away.  This part of the restoration doesn't cost much or tie you up for weeks on end--and it's fun!

I intended to dive right into an end-of-the-year overall update on progress made restoring The Alfatross in 2013, but that will have to wait for the next post.  Obviously, the project will fail to meet the original goal of being substantially completed by December 31st, but I am satisfied--well, mostly satisfied--with the progress made so far.  All it takes is time and money!