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

[Bill Moore]

The picture is very well painted.

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of Bill Lewis
Sent: October-02-12 4:50 PM
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] The Vallelunga in the barn....


     "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."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mike, when you
do the article for Profiles, be sure and photoshop the picture:  Night
time...thunder, lightning, rain!    "It was a dark and rainy night...Igor
opened the ancient wood door!"> From: MikeLDrew at aol.com
> Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2012 17:53:49 -0400
> 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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