Car Doctor

[James Bratek <james_bratek@domain.elided>]

CHERRY RED AND WORRY-FREE
by David Colman
The New York Times
Sunday, July 14, 2002

Ryan Pilla is a mechanic. The kind of mechanic, that is, that Danielle Steel
might dream up.

In the summertime, Mr. Pilla oversees his auto repair shop, the Car Doctor,
in Amagansett, N.Y., where he is chief medic to high-maintenance clients
like Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Simon and Lorne Michaels and their
high-maintenance cars. In his off time, he races -- formula and road cars
and hybrids of the two -- in rallies in the United States and Europe.

And not only does he work on and race in the coolest of vintage cars, he
also owns his share of them, including a couple of Ferraris, two Audis (a
roadster and a sedan) and a '57 Chevy. But when it comes to naming his
favorite, Mr. Pilla picks the car he drives most often: his little Alfa
Romeo convertible.

The Alfa Romeo is, more precisely, a 1986 Quadrifoglio Graduate Spider, in
cherry red. Quadrifoglio refers to the car's four-cylinder, four-valve
engine; Graduate, means it is a step up from the previous model; and Spider
denotes a convertible. The year is also important, because 1986 is when the
carburetor was replaced with fuel injection.

"It's the perfect summer car," he said. "Its looks are great -- kind of like
a Ferrari 250 GT -- it's a blast to drive around, and you can get one for a
great price."

Mr. Pilla bought the car about 18 months ago for $2,500 -- it came into the
shop smashed up from an accident -- and restored it himself, putting about
$5,000 into parts, he said. The result is, in vintage-car slang, "cherry";
that is, as close to new as one could hope for in a 16-year-old car.

And for the 36-year-old design, its looks are almost as au courant as the
new Ford Thunderbird. "It's totally classic," Mr. Pilla said. "The look
hasn't aged at all. That's because it's a Pininfarina."

The car was designed as the Duetto Spider by the famed Pininfarina design
studio in 1966. Founded in 1930 by Battista Farina, nicknamed Pinin, the
studio created some of history's sharpest sports car designs for carmakers
like Ferrari, Lancia, Fiat and Alfa Romeo.

Mr. Pilla fell in love first with a 1958 Alfa Romeo Guilietta, a sporty
two-seater he found in the early 1990's, fixed up and raced. The Spider has
some of the same elements as the Giulietta. "You really feel the car," he
said. "It's very mechanical, as opposed to today's cars. You get into those,
and even the suspension is computer-controlled. You could be on your couch
going down the street. They're built for people who learned to drive playing
video games."

A brand-new Alfa Spider -- no longer the Pininfarina design, which was
updated in the early 1990's -- would likely cost more than $30,000, Mr.
Pilla said, and one would have to go to Italy to get it. (Alfa Romeo does
not now have an American distributor.) Used Spiders can be found, though,
and because the company was never built up as a brand in this country, they
are relatively inexpensive. Depending on its condition, a 1986 model like
Mr. Pilla's could go between $2,500 and $9,500, which is about what they
sell for on eBay Motors.

Mr. Pilla's little Alfa, as prisitine as it is, appeals to him in part
because of its modest status. "Sure, I love driving the Audi," he said, "but
let's face it, one person opens his car door on it and your nice drive is
over. With the Alfa, I don't have to worry."
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