The Alfatross Has an Excellent Adventure (Post # 117)

There I was . . . alone and abandoned on a windswept hillside with night coming on fast.  Where did my staff go? They drove me here and then walked off without a word of explanation or any indication of when (or if!) they were coming back. It was getting cold and the wind was picking up. Would it rain? What will become of me if there is a hail storm tonight? Something was dreadfully wrong. I could sense it in the anxiety and excitement in all the strange cars around me. Before darkness fell I counted at least 50 them, also abandoned, but some at least had been bedded down with soft fleecy blankets and even rain protection. 

But there I was--with nothing! Forlorn and longing for my nice, warm, dry Shed I slept fitfully.

That clear sky means it's going to be close to freezing tonight!  Richard Coberly.

Not long after dawn people started coming back in ones and twos, along with more cars. Eventually even my staff arrived (the lazy bums) and started wiping off the morning dew still glistening on my skin.

From their conversations I gathered that the cars around me were all members of my family, and that we were assembled here to somehow be compared to each other.  What a ridiculous idea! 

An elderly but aristocratic long, swoopy open car pulled up in line on my left. I had difficulty believing he was a relative and could not help but notice that his steering wheel was on the wrong side. I wanted to let him know, but he did not speak English! He acted like he knew what was going to happen next, like he had been here before, and impatient to get on with it--or maybe he was just bored? 

The men in funny hats came and looked the Old Man over for a long time.  Richard Coberly.

Not long after, authoritative men in odd hats appeared and began to swarm all over him. He tried to ignore them, but I could tell he was indignant.  Then they descended on me. What did they want? What were they looking for? What was I supposed to do? Minutes later they were gone. As I watched they pounced on car after car up the line.

Then they came and poked and prodded me!  Richard Coberly.

Things were more relaxed after that. The sun came out and the day was beautiful. More people appeared, staring, pointing, pontificating, snapping pictures, and talking, talking, talking. I dozed off . . . .

What?  Me? on TV? When?  Richard Coberly.

When I woke up again there was a new drama. Suddenly I was being videoed. There was a man with a really strange mustache and another man with a really big camera interviewing one of my staff who was trying to explain what he knew about me. He did OK, I guess, but how do you crowd our nearly half a century together into 5 minutes?

What does white mean? Second Place was taken by the sexy little minx to my right. She may be more voluptuous--but I have more insurance! Richard Coberly 

Then I noticed that someone had come up and put a white ribbon on my wiper while I was sleeping. People said it meant something, that the Old Man on my left was the best among all the cars in the line, that the little minx on my right was the second best, and that I was the third best. 

But they failed to mention why.

After we got home, my staff said I "did well".  That the Old Man was Alfa nobility and the little red minx was a "one-of-one" prototype, a progenitor of a successful branch of the family. So that isn't the kind of competition you can beat if all you have is a pretty face.  

I don't care.  I'm just glad to be back home safe and sound. Adventure is not all it's cranked up to be.










   

Santa Fe Concorso Friday Night Gathering (Post # 116)

The Alfatross made it to the Santa Fe Concorso's Friday Night Gathering without incident after all. Once again, just as at the Arizona Concours d'Elegance, she effortlessly did everything we asked of her. None of the  fears voiced in the previous post materialized.

The Alfatross was placed inside the hanger under the wings of a 1950s classic Cessna 180.  They quickly became good friends basking in all the attention.  Richard Coberly.

The Alfatross looks out upon her enthusiastic public reception. Richard Coberly.

Opening the hood to reveal the engine really drew in the crowd. Richard Coberly.

Proud parents.  Richard Coberly.

As I write this she is on the Concorso show field, waiting for the morrow when we return to prepare her for viewing and judging. It's going to be cold and possibly wet tonight. If cars have feelings she's probably miserable and lonely, even with all those unfamiliar cars around her. I offered to sit up with her all night.

But they wouldn't let me.

What's it all about, Alfa? The Santa Fe Concorso (Post # 115)

As part of the lead-up to the Santa Fe Concorso, the Santa Fe New Mexican published this article by Anne Constable about the event including a brief reference to the Alfatross and its story. To view the entire article click on the link below. 

What's it all about, Alfa? The Santa Fe Concorso: Don Keith calls his blog about restoring his 1955 Alfa Romeo “The Alfatross” for many reasons. When he bought the “used-up old sports car” from his cousin in 1969, it was “virtually worthless.” For 47 years he dragged it around the country with him, mostly lacking the money, time, and place to restore it to its original condition. After moving to Santa Fe in 2010, Keith, an archaeologist, built a 1,700-square-foot garage and, in 2013, he began working in earnest on the restoration.

The Sum (mer) of All Fears (Post # 114)

Yes, I know I haven't been keeping up with the  posts for the last few months. But let me tell you, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy! The list of things I declined, dodged, deleted, delegated, and ignored is far longer than the one thing that dominated the top of my "To Do" list. 

But I have a valid excuse: it has been the Summer of All Fears. Fears? What fears? Well, let's back up a few months to just after the 2016 Arizona Concours d'Elegance in February when The Alfatross placed Third in the "Coachwork by Zagato" class. That was better than we expected because we knew it wasn't finished. We knew we could do better.  

Dan Allen, the author and The Alfatross at the Arizona Concours d'Elegance, 2016.  Dan is The Alfatross' Godfather. Randy Davis photo.

The opportunity to do so was provided when The Alfatross was  invited to the 2016 Santa Fe Consorso on September 25th, to be held on the grounds of The Club at Las Campanas (http://santafeconcorso.com/about.html). The Alfatross accepted immediately because the "featured marque" is to be Alfa Romeo! More recently The Alfatross received another invitation to be presented at the prestigious "Friday Night Gathering" leading up to the Concorso.  Quite an honor (http://santafeconcorso.com/2016_Concorso_Program.html#p=31). 

So, again, what fears?  Well, first there are the "Known Unknowns", the kinds of things that plague every restoration of a car now more than 60 years old:  Fear that the persistent problem with the brakes cannot be fixed in time. Fear that the glitches in the paint can't be repaired to invisibility. Fear that the engine won't start.  Fear that the starter will continue to run on after it has been turned off. Fear that the "trafficator" box will refuse to activate the turn signals (as it did in Arizona). 

Then there are the "Unknown Unknowns", the kinds of things that are totally unpredictable, but can be devastating: Fear that something bad will happen during the transport, loading and unloading procedures. Fear that the distinguished panel of judges will not care for the restoration path we have chosen to pursue. Fear that the weather prediction for potential thunderstorms (with one of northern New Mexico's famous hailstorms?) might come true and The Alfatross, along with the rest of the field, will be pummeled into scrap metal.

But the time is nigh. Forty-three hours from now, as I write this, The Alfatross will be presented at the Friday Night Gathering, and two days later at the Concorso.  She is ready. . . not sure I am . .  but the die is cast!

Alfa Zagatomeo (Post # 113)

The Alfatross has a split personality. On the outside, the side that everyone can see, it's a Zagato. But on the inside it's all Alfa Romeo. You have to look closely to see either branding. Two tiny Zs, one on either side of the body just above the break line and just in front of the doors, are all that identifies The Alfatross as a Zagato. The Alfa Romeo name is also seen in two places: the 55 mm diameter circular cloisonne badge at the top of the central grille, and on the license plate light housing mounted on the trunk lid.

The Alfa Romeo badge, 55 mm in diameter,
 sits atop the distinctive tall, vertical grille.   

The Alfatross' Zagato emblem, a little over
50  x 50 mm: very under-stated.

The place where you see the Alfa Romeo name displayed
most prominently on the Alfatross' exterior.

With several rubber seals, a clear Plexiglas window, two light bulbs, brass connectors for the bulbs, another clear Plexiglas "lens" bearing in negative relief the Alfa Romeo name in script, electrical connections, and a lot of fasteners to hold it all together, the trunk lid housing was a surprisingly time-consuming restoration. Like a lot of other sub-assemblies, I took it all apart years ago, cleaned all the parts and bagged them up according to their function. 

The housing has 35 parts, more or less (actually, I stopped counting).

I reproduced the rubber seal for the Plexiglas window by
first making a rubbing of the recess it covers on tracing
paper, transferring that to stiff cardboard, pinning that to
a sheet of rubber, spraying over it with yellow paint, and
carefully cutting out the shape shielded by the pattern:
perfect fit!

By the time I got around to putting it back together the rubber seal had gone as hard and withered as a shrunken head and the plastic lens covering the lights was cracked and cloudy. The lens was relatively easy to reproduce from Plexiglas but the rubber seal was tricky with its curved shape, three holes and two windows. 

The debossed letters had to be filled with gold paint
applied with a small syringe. Then I painted  the entire
 back side of the placard red. This must have been done all
by hand at the factory.

Luckily, the original clear plastic placard with the Alfa Romeo name debossed in reverse on the back side was in excellent condition, but the gold paint used to highlight the Alfa Romeo name had tarnished. It was easy to remove the red paint off the back and gold paint out of the debossed letters with a mild paint solvent, but cleaning the placard, polishing out all the fine scratches, refilling the letters with the right shade of gold and repainting the back side red took longer than all the preceding work combined.

 The final product turned out well.  The registration plate was assigned to the car when it was acquired by its second owner in 1957. 

You could say The Alfatross' split personality is represented in miniature by the branding icons used by Zagato and Alfa Romeo. The simple, unified, elegant Zagato "Z" perfectly symbolizes the car's design objective while the mechanically complex, multi-purpose, outwardly simple-looking rear license plate housing with its multiplicity of hidden parts inside represents in miniature all that lies beneath the skin.  

Unrestored, Restored, and Re-restored--Part 1 (Post # 112)

Since I got serious about restoring The Alfatross on January 1st 2013 I've also been paying attention to what its siblings have been up to. Disappointingly, as far as I am aware none of the 12 cars I listed as "existence uncertain" or "destroyed" have turned up. But several of the Alfatross' known siblings have attracted considerable attention in one way or another. They seem to fall naturally into three distinct categories: cars recently "discovered" and left unrestored, cars that changed hands and were--or are in the process of being--restored, and cars that are undergoing re-restoration.

Unrestored

The car that produced the most publicity, chassis *01845*, was dragged out into the light of day in 2012 after 40 years of peaceful slumber in its modern-day Roman car catacomb. The notoriety it received subsequently resulted from the new owner's claim that it was "the most original 1900 Super Sprint Zagato in the world" and his vow that it would not be restored.

*01845* makes its debut in 2013 with much fanfare and hyperbole. 

But the necessity to change original things to make a car roadworthy and the urge to "fix things up a bit" are hard to resist. When *01845* won the Best in Post-War Preservation Class at Pebble Beach in 2014 we could not help but notice some new paint in the engine room, repairs to the driving lights, and that its (non-original) pipe bumpers had been removed. 

As to the the "most original" claim, that is difficult to substantiate due to the facts that (1) all of The Alfatross' siblings are different, and (2) after 61 years, special preparations for racing, damage repairs, and multiple ownership, all of them have been modified to one extent or another. So what do you compare it to?  Who's to say what is "original" and what isn't? In the words of Carl Sagan, "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".  In this case I don't see it.

*01845*'s most recent publicity splash is that it is up for sale again!  The price is not advertised on the Kidston SA Web site, but rumors put it at well north of $2 M! If it sells for that, it will establish that the highest price paid for an Alfa 1900 SSZ is for an unrestored, tattered example with few desirable features and little race history.  Go figure. 

*01845* as seen at Pebble Beach in 2014. Kidston .com

Restored

We are most familiar with cars in the "restored or undergoing restoration" category because we have been able to exchange information with their owners about details of originality.  In fact, through extensive communication and collaboration, I think we might be establishing the "baseline" for originality questions when it comes to Alfa 1900 SSZs.

One of the most interesting restoration stories in recent years surrounds chassis *01947* which went on auction at the 2014 Gooding and Co. Pebble Beach sale. The car was in very rough shape but the aluminum body was intact. The auction turned out to be pretty exciting as the bidding sailed past the upper estimate, coming down to two bidders who were determined to own it. In the end, Mr. David Smith won with a bid of $1,012,000. Many observers opined that he paid too much for the car, given that its condition mandated an extensive and expensive nuts and bolts restoration, but the car came with a lot of spare parts, including three engines.  Recent historical research has filled out the car's unique history complete with interviews with the car's original Italian owner and early photographs!  

Given Mr. Smith's exhaustive knowledge of Italian sports cars, and that this is his 18th restoration project, it looks like this car is in the right hands.  It has been The Alfatross' pleasure to supply sibling *01947* with photos, measurements, and other information to assist with its restoration. In exchange *01947*'s owner has generously reciprocated by providing us with a wealth of historical and technical knowledge and hard-to-find parts for which The Alfatross will always be grateful. 

*01947* at the Gooding and Co. auction in 2014.  

Like unrestored car *01845*, *01931* came out of retirement in 2012 after decades of inactivity and neglect. Despite its condition it was desirable due to its participation in the 1955 Mille Miglia where it placed 19th overall. It was brought back to the US that same year and ended up in deep storage until 2012 when it was sold through Kidston SA to a Swiss collector and given a three-year restoration including a return to its original eye-catching two tone paint scheme. Photos of the restored car show that the red-and-white paint scheme is carried through to the interior and that the restoration was completed to a high standard.

Also like car *01845*, *01931* is once again up for sale with Kidston SA--for the second time in 4 years!  As all the restoration work was done in Europe the only thing we know about the car is the sales pitch and photos that appeared on the Kidston.com site.

*01931* as found in 2012. Kidston.com.

*01931* in 2015 following restoration . Kidston.com.

Re-Restored

Late last year I contacted Dustin Wetmore at Motion Products Inc., in Wisconsin to inquire if he could identify the mysterious brake reservoir on The Alfatross. This led to conversations not only about the reservoir but also to questions MPI had about one of The Alfatross' siblings, *01844*, presently undergoing re-restoration at their shop. Having been entered in three successive Mille Miglias back in the 1950s and used a lot since then, *01844* still looked great, but had been modified and was in rough shape following an earlier restoration. We were able to help Dustin with a number of questions about the driving lights, seats, trunk area and the insulating bellypan between the exhaust system and the floor under the driver's seat. 

*01844* under restoration at Motion Products. This  is the 
only sibling known to have entered the 1955, 56, and 57
Mille Miglias.  MPI.

The good news about a documented racing history is that it enriches the car's story and lends it more respect.  The bad news is that there is a likelihood of extensive damage and modifications to the car's fabric, thereby compromising both its originality and driveability.

My understanding is that *01844* is not going to be offered for sale like  of the cars above. Rather, its long-time owners decided it was time to give it the kind of attention it needed and deserved so that they could continue to use it.

Imponderables

One wonders what the future might hold for *01845* after it changes hands again. Who will be willing to pay $2 M for a not very attractive, unrestored car with no racing history? A sale at that price would affirm that originality (and great marketing) trumps both racing history and fine restoration. 

Will David Smith's restoration of *01947* not only prove that he saw a great restoration candidate where others saw only wrack and ruin, but also raise the bar for how a proper restoration of an Alfa 1900C SSZ should be done?  

Was the sale, restoration, and re-sale of *01931* in 4 years just an exercise in asset acquisition and liquidation? 

Does *01844* represent what lies ahead for The Alfatross and all it siblings: Long-term residence in a stable collection where they are cared for and used regularly . . . and eventually treated to re-restorations when appropriate?  Will that make them immortal?