Re: Alfa Purchace Decisions..

[Scott Fisher <sfisher71@domain.elided>]

--- Jon Pike <jhpike@domain.elided> wrote:
> 
> I'm kind of torn.  I'm not afraid of working on a
> car.. 

Here's something to consider, Jon.  Even if you get
the nicest Spider you can buy (the route I went three
years ago), you will still have a lot of reasons to
work on it.  Maintenance, cleaning, updating/upgrading
-- there's no shortage of reasons to get your wrenches
greasy even on a well-running, sharp-looking Alfa.

And in the meanwhile, you'll have a well-running,
sharp-looking Alfa that you and your wife can enjoy
whenever the mood strikes you, instead of a sad,
decrepit heap that's sucking all the joy out of your
life, your marriage, and your checking account.

So there's a thought to consider -- keeping up with
the standard maintenance on these cars is a
comfortable, rewarding hobby that can provide you with
a very satisfying automotive experience.  So you
really have to decide what you want to end up with. 
Do you want a car to tinker with between jaunts to the
mountains/beach/forest/cafe with your sweetie?  Do you
want to sink three or four years of your life and
untold thousands of dollars into a POS car -- but at
the end of it have it be all YOURS?  

They're both valid viewpoints.  Neither one is right
or wrong, any more than, say, living in the city
versus living in the country is "right" -- only uou
can decide what matters to you; look at the tradeoffs
and pick the one that gives you what you want most. 
What matters the most to you?

I'll even offer the other viewpoint, with a recent
non-auto example: my friend Jeff bought a 1962 Clipper
Craft 17-foot mahogany boat a year ago March.  He and
I spent the next several weeks stripping old paint and
varnish, sanding the wood, touching up the hull paint
and finally masking and varnishing the mahogany
sections.  Kim polished the aluminum trim, Jeff and I
got the outboard motor to run and fixed the
transmission, all before either of us had even put the
boat in the water to see if it would sink.  About a
year ago (Memorial Day weekend 2001, in fact), we took
"June Bug" down to the Clackamas River and gave her a
test run.  It was glorious: people waved and cheered
as we putted up and down the river, the kids were
enthralled, our wives were delighted -- it was a scene
straight out of "The Wind In The Willows" (except for
me singing "I Am The Monarch Of The Sea" from the
forward passenger's seat).  

And I turned to Jeff and said, "You know, there's
really something to be said for putting in all the
hard work first and then reaping the rewards all at
once."

Which do you like best?  Apples are crisp and
delicious, oranges are juicy and fragrant.  Take your
pick...

I will, however, offer the observation that buying a
cheap Spider in need of restoration will cost you
significantly more -- as in several multiples of the
higher initial cost -- than simply buying the best
Spider you can find right now and maintaining it. 
Just so you don't delude yourself into thinking that
buying a $1000 Spider has any chance of being less
expensive than a $10,000 Spider by the time you get
the $1000 car into comparable condition.  In my
experience, the best way to estimate the cost of a
restoration is to subtract the cheap car's cost from
the expensive one and triple the difference.  And
that's if you do a lot of your own work; if you farm
it out/pay to have it done, it'll cost more.

So there are still lots of little things I'd like to
do on my Spider.  I'd like to replace the door panels,
fix the separating seam in my driver's seat, finish
cleaning up the cool old alloy wheels I just put on
it, etc.  And of course it's time for an oil change
and some new filters again -- it's been four months
and two round-trips between Portland and San Francisco
since I changed them.  But when I take it out to lunch
or park it outside the barber shop or whatever else I
do with it, my jaw still drops when I look at it. 
After years of driving rotten old cars, it still stuns
me to see THAT car waiting for me in the parking lot
or the garage.  

So if all you're looking for is an Alfa that's also a
hobby, just remember that even a REALLY NICE Alfa
Romeo is a lot more work than any modern car.  The
difference is, you get to have a really nice Alfa
Romeo, and there's really nothing quite like that.

Apples and oranges -- both perfectly fine fruit, it's
just a matter of choice.  As John Hertzman says, enjoy
yours.

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon
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