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August/September, 2003 |
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| Fiats
of St. Louis RC at the Kart Track |
Lunch and Winery in Norman New Members' Cars |
Grapevine CarFest Ron's Trip to Canada |
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August/September, 2003 |
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| Fiats
of St. Louis RC at the Kart Track |
Lunch and Winery in Norman New Members' Cars |
Grapevine CarFest Ron's Trip to Canada |
Lunch and a Winery run in Norman
On August 16th club members met for a lunch at Lake Thunderbird
and a ride to the Canadian River Winery in Noble. The Loflands
arrived in the brown Spider from Wichita and met with John (X1/9),
Sarah (Pininfarina), Delmer (Spider), Sonja (Delmer's Scorpion),
Les (124 Sedan), Tony (Spider at home) and myself, Ron (Spider).
Of special note was the ride of Les Anderson. His 1965 124 Sedan
has been a project for the last two years and finally got out
in public after 20 years sitting. This car is being touted by
me as the oldest 124 in the country. It has right hand drive and
was shipped to the USA with only a few hundred miles after a European
tour. Les bought it as his first car and has owned it since. Csaba,
Les, Delmer and Ron worked on the car to make it roadworthy again.
I met Les at his home on this sunny day in August so I could test
it around the street before hitting the highway and it ran poorly
but smooth. It had no real power and a fussy idle but good enough
to buzz around town. Les hopped in and headed to the meeting place
with me following in the Spider. Two miles later at Delmer's home
he pulls in with the idle sky high and saying he never needed
the gas pedal. So I tried to reset the idle and it stabilized
at 700 rpms and sounding so good Delmer and Jim tried it out and
came back all smiles talking of power and fun. I guess it coughed
up what ailed it.
Lunch was good and the wine tour a success. Tony is a member from
Norman.
New Members
This issue features two new RC members and their cars. We welcome
them and look forward to seeing them at all of the upcoming events.
If you have a story and pictures of your car, send them along
to Allen, Ron, Ken, or Mike and well be sure to get your baby
up on our newsletter.
First
is Paul Prather via eMail
Though I haven't been able to make it to any of your events yet, I am going to certainly try to make it to the September event in Grapevine if not an event sooner. Attached for your use in any way are several pictures of my Indra at the Concorso Italiano in 2002. It was called "One of the rarest cars at the (2002 Concorso Italiano)" by CarandDriver.com. The handmade Italian body was designed by Franco Scaglione. A factory standard Chevrolet 350 Corvette Engine and GM-turbo Hydramatic transmission provide its muscle. Imported into the United States as a 1967, it was made in 1973 and is believed to be the last Indra to be sold by Intermeccanica in Italy.
Nick
Shaver via eMail:
We found it in May 2003 in an ad in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, and promptly bought it. We'd been looking for a Fiat Spider for a couple of months, and I'd wanted one for many years. This one had a pretty straight body, no major rust, a pretty weak motor, average suspension for a 1977 vehicle, and a pretty worn interior.
After diagnosing the engine enough to know it needed an overhaul, I decided to try and fine someone else to do the engine work. After MANY calls to foreign mechanics in Arkansas I finally found Chris Casey in Little Italy. He's got a restoration shop. He did lots of suspension work, and installed an engine that I purchased from Vick's auto (high-comp. pistons, P&P heads, 4-2-1 header, Webber 34-34 carb). Chris Casey did a wonderful job, and I can't recommend him highly enough.
It's got new 2.25" pipes with a magnaflow freeflow muffler. We just bought a new upholstry from World Upholstry and I'm working my way through installing it. This winter we plan to add some panasport wheels (15x7), new tires, fix the door dings, and get it painted.
I hope that's a short enough history. I've attached a photo
of the car in its current condition. Thanks again for contacting
me. I look forward to meeting everyone in the group.
Gary
Roberts's 1978 CS1:
Garry lives in Bristow, OK and is preparing this car. He is
one of several new members who have recently joined with us. He
writes this:
I purchased the car in July '03 from my nephew. It was given to him by his Grandpa who lives in Texas. My nephew had it in is possession for about 18 months. He drove the car on a regular basis around Tulsa. My niece informed me that he was wanting to sell it (divorce thing). Anyway, I boughtit for $500.00 and picked it up on a trailer and brought it home! It runs great and I will drive it for the first time this evening when I take it to my neighbors house down the road this evening. I can hardly wait :) I am planning on replacing the top, having it repainted (original color, purple), new exhaust system. I am also going to purchase a top boot for it. I don't plan on driving the car with the top up unless I get caught out in the rain. A new set of wheels will be added to the list later on to make it a little more sportier looking. Anyway, here is the info on the car itself CS1 0138470 124 Spider built in April 1978.
More new Members: Click on the link of the Fiats of St. Louis here or above to see the cars of new members Marc Sova, Rick Wilson and Ken Wood.