Shortly after buying the car in 1982 from the
original owner, who had purchased it from a dealer here in Los Angeles, I removed all the
trim and glass and had it repainted (it was originally green). Before putting it back
together, I installed an OEM dash cover and all new rubber. Over the years Ive
attended to the brakes, shocks, water pump, etc., but other than the addition of a Weber
carburetor and an alternator in lieu of the generator, and the conversion to a cabriolet
in 2001, its largely original; even the radio still works. Now with 154,000
miles on it, the engine (never rebuilt) has excellent compression and uses virtually no
oil. With structural reinforcements (most of them invisible), the car remains reasonably
solid, and putting the top (fully lined) up or down takes all of 15 or 20 seconds.
Even people with little interest in such things (my wife, for example) think its one
of the prettiest cars theyve ever seen. //Phil |