[DeTomaso] The Vallelunga in the barn....

[Bill Moore]

Well done Mike, great story, please, please help Fred spend more money, lol.

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sent: October-02-12 3:54 PM
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: [DeTomaso] The Vallelunga in the barn....

Hi guys,

So, I had a long trek from San Francisco to New York, then an overnight 
flight to Milan.   I'm here serving as a seeing-eye dog for Fred Phillips, 
owner of the Mangusta Spyder, De Tomaso Competizione Sport 2000, De
Tomaso/BRM 
1-liter sports prototype, and a two-headlight Mangusta.   He wants to go 
visit RS Corse and De Tomaso and see what he can pry loose from their
collection, whether it's cars, parts or both, and wanted my help with that
project.

He also brought along a guy named Les Burd, who is a big-time Abarth guy.   
Fred has a few Abarths and is seeking more, as well as a ton of parts and
stories and memorabelia etc.

Our first stop from Milan on the way to Modena was an Abarth shop about
halfway in between--a guy who is sort of like the Wilkinson or Hall of the 
Abarth world.   Oddly, he's a Welshman of Italian heritage who moved to
Italy in 
1979 and never left, so he has a strong English accent yet is totally
'native' Italian.

While checking out his cars and parts, he casually mentioned that one of his
friends in his town (population less than 2000) happened to own a 
Vallelunga.   Fred's eyes popped out of his head and he reached for his
checkbook!   
Calls were made, and we drove three blocks to check it out.

We pulled up in front of a large medieval stone house, whose flat front 
faces the street with shuttered windows.   There was a single archway with a

pair of ancient wood and iron doors, with iron gates behind them.   We went 
through the gates into a giant courtyard filled with fruit trees.   The
house 
was shaped like a U, with the living quarters facing the street, and one arm

of the U being stables, and the other a barn, all made of stone.   Inside 
the dimly lit barn were a few motorcycles, a hot-rodded Ferrari 308, a Lotus

Exige, and a Vallelunga, DT0148, very much a driver.   It seems to have 
original paint, and is mostly stock other than the fact that the stock
engine and exhaust are sitting on a wooden crate (more parts inside), and a
Lotus twin-cam lies nestled between the frame rails.

The paint is crazed and chipped from 45+ years of hard use, but the car is 
all there.   It has a couple of NACA ducts cut into the sides to feed engine

and trans oil coolers, but otherwise appears completely standard--which is
to say, fantastic.

It definitely needs a full restoration, but if the price is right, Fred 
might take the project on.   Negotiations have yet to commence, but will
soon, 
I think....

What are the odds of standing in a little village talking with an Abarth 
guy, and finding out that a Vallelunga is lurking in a nearby barn?   Not 
high, I imagine!

Now in the hotel, and tomorrow going to meet the De Tomasos and get the
latest scoop on the goings-on over here.....

Mike
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