Back among civilized people

["Joe Garcia" <corsanostra@domain.elided>]

Finally!

After much back & forth, delays, contretremps, glitches and folderol...my 
new-to-me (and for all intents and purposes, damned new, period) Maratona 
has come come home. (Big tip o' the hat to the PO, Howard Jacobs, for having 
stored and maintained my car for so many years--and so very few miles--even 
before he knew it'd be mine.)

Quick impressions:

The trucking company claimed to have NEVER seen one before and sheepishly 
asked if it was worth "around $100,000". (I SWEAR I am not making this up.) 
They also said that traffic swirled slowly around the rig as people tried to 
get glimpses of the car. That makes a guy feel good.

As an aside, we went out on Saturday to Naples, FL to just "get away." For 
those who may not be aware of this, Naples, FL is a rather wealthy 
city...and in the course of getting to and from there I saw countless "new" 
P-cars, M3s & M5s, 3 Audi S4s, 2 S8s, 2 Ferrari 355s, a 456, and exactly 
zero Alfa Romeos. That also makes a guy feel good.

The first drive alone with the car was pretty cool. I remember, when 
test-driving it up in the frigid north, that the 2nd gear synchro was rather 
crunchy (I discovered when I forgot to double clutch ) until fully warmed 
up. However here in the Land That Winter Forgot, at WORST, 2nd gear 
exhibited a mild "thunk" but I double clutch nonetheless, just to be safe. I 
will chalk it up, as Br'er Scott says, to the car liking me.

While the engine didn't seem to be as free revving as I MISremember the 
engine of my late Alfetta GT, the torque (especially in the midrange) was 
supremely satisfying and the exhaust note was, well, extra yummy.

The first ride with the family was pretty cool. Numbah One Son (for whom the 
rear seat seems to have been expressly designed) pursed his widdle 
five-year-old lips and made "brr-brr-brr" noises throughout, and Numbah Two 
Son enjoyed being in a snug space for a change. My wife was pleasantly 
shocked that the a/c 1- worked and 2- worked well. She still looks at the 
unpowered steering with a jaundiced eye, but if it REALLY becomes an issue, 
a Milano unit might find its way under the hood.

Another thing that takes getting used to, and those of you who have ever 
spent any appreciable time being between Alfas will know what I mean, is 
Alfa Smell. It's definitely an automotive pheromone of sorts, a very 
mechanical scent, redolent of Alfa carpeting, olio caldo e benzina and NOT 
smelling all sanitized. I swear pile carpeting smells different that loop.

And then there is all the wiring and whatsits right there in plain view. 
("The disgronificator is NOT falling off, it's *supposed* to be that 
way...here, look at the picture in the manual.")

It's gonna take me some time to get used to the visceral-ness after a long 
spell behind more "insulated" vehicles.

-Joe in reasonably sunny SoFla
1984 GTV-6 Maratona, ~12K mi.

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