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Very original Alfa

pdplot

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Our car club had an outing and concours yesterday at a country inn in Hopewell Junction, NY. A one-hour drive from Stamford. Took the Alfa and entered in the concours. It ran fine to and from at speeds up to almost 80 mph. A member asked me what car I brought and I told him the Alfa Spider. He told me it was "very original", i.e. paint nicks and all. Most of the other 16 cars were pristine and immaculate including a 1955 Buick that had been in the family since new, a 1967 Corvair Corsa hardtop, 2 Rolls Convertibles (one of which I voted as best in show), two DB4 Aston Martins, two Ferraris, two Maseratis, a Jaguar F car, a Bentley sedan, Porsche Boxster, Porsche 911, a Mustang, an AMG Mercedes convertible and one or two more I can't recall. Also there was Chuck Schoendorf's Cunningham C3 coupe (not entered in the concours), a well-known car around these parts. No LBCs as we understand the term, unless you count the Astons, but one of them did win First Prize as best in show. The steak or salmon dinner was delicious. This inn had been taken over last year by 6 sisters, all of whom waited on us. We wished them the best of luck. Do you consider an Aston Martin - even a DB2, DB4 or DBS, an LBC? How about a McLaren?
 
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pdplot

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I'll try to upload a photo taken on my wife's cellphone. I forgot my camera. 20200725_132456.jpg
 
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pdplot

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Halleluya - it worked. Here's the Cunningham. It was inside the pavilion where we ate. I got a real thrill driving home. Coming down High Ridge Rd., what showed up behind me but the Cunningham! I managed to stay ahead of him until I turned off a side road to get to my house. I can truly say I beat a Cunningham C3. ??? (He didn't know he was racing).20200725_125554.jpg
 

Gliderman8

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Great pics... Thanks for sharing.
 

NutmegCT

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Paul - great photos! Thanks for jumping through all the hoops to get them online.

You beat a Cunningham, eh? Should be one for the record books.
Tom M.
 

DrEntropy

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I'd consider about any DB car as an LBC any day. Rollies, mmm... not so much.

One of these things is not like the others:

cousins-1.jpg
 

DrEntropy

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pdplot

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Boy do I wish he was up here.
Check engine light would come on, a code would be thrown and I would throw up. I did call Luciano once and he was very informative. But he's 1500 miles away. My guy here is good. He replaced the clutch system, refaced the flywheel, installed a new thermostat (not so easy on this car) and checked it over. $2,100.00. Luciano told my son there's a fuel injection part that lasts about 3-4 years and has to be replaced, but he has a way to fix it so it is good as new and he did so when my son had the car in Florida. This thing has Bosch fuel injection of which I know absolutely zip, all kinds of sensors, crank sensors, crankbait sensors, cranky sensors, very cranky sensors - WTF....even if I had the repair manual, I doubt I could ever find and fix what was wrong. Ever hear of a Giubo? This car has one. So does a BMW.
 

NutmegCT

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Giubo - the rubber flex disk in the drive train!

Giunto Boschi - the "Boschi" joint/joiner

(Same on old Mercedes-Benz: one for the drive train, one for the steering column).

mercedes-flex-disk.jpg
 
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pdplot

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This thing even has a two-piece driveshaft. But I'll say this - that DOHC engine is a work of art and puts out 120 hp from a bit less than 2 liters. That's about 1 hp per cubic inch. Not bad for a smooth-running engine with no temperament. It does like to rev and dies fast on hills in 5th gear. The Porsche synchromesh is iffy and shifts from 1st to 2nd can't be hurried. Some owners double clutch but that's a PITA and I don't bother. The throws are much longer than the TR6.
 

DrEntropy

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Owned four Alfas in the last forty years, driven many more. In about half of 'em the second gear synchro was "iffy". With my own cars I'd double-clutch or stutter-step shifting. If a customer couldn't live with the problem we'd fix it. Rebuilding those boxes requires a hydraulic press and time, it wasn't that inconvenient to me. One pal described it as part of "The Mystique of the Marque." E-Type Jags would suffer a similar problem, I once had a salesweasel tell me: "They're all like that, sir." Bah.

Both my Lotus cars have four 'donuts' on the rear axles, notorious for causing "The Lotus Hop" if the driver is inexperienced at getting the car off the line. Done many Giubo replacements on Lotus, Alfa and Benz cars. On the S-3 Elan, a CV jointed set of half-shafts is on the list of upgrades.

As for the twin-cam engines in Alfa and Lotus cars, I'm infatuated with both. Alfa came up with the hemispherical chambered design long before Costin and Duckworth, but both are strong, dependable units for the most part.
 
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