The summer officially began on July 2, my last day of semi-regular employment and first day of a period of vacation and car project activity. The vacation was spent in and around Seattle, which lead me (inevitably) to browse the Seattle craigslist postings in the weeks leading up to the trip. I had a romantic notion of finding something fun and interesting and driving it home, forfeiting the return plane ticket in favor of a fun little ride to complement my current rag-tag assortment of Alfas. I thought about looking at this BMW 2000 sedan, then focused my search on a Dodge A100 van or splittie VW bus. Then the Motherlode 400 happened, and I found myself newly afflicted and looking for a classic Mini, ideally an early MK1 or an Innocenti variant. Any commentary I could make on the appeal of a classic Mini would go into a great pile of redundancy that has been accumulating for over 50 years. What I didn’t want, however, was a car that had been given the usual treatment with Union Jacks or checkered flag motifs adorning otherwise clean panels, billet under the hood, VTEC conversions, etc. I did want something that was more suitable for modern traffic, though, meaning as big an engine as possible, disk brakes, safety belts… What I found was this:

1959 Morris Mini, looking very clean in off-white and black

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The great and sobering moment happened this morning at about 9am, before coffee, shower, or any other preparatory action could take place. Alex, the shipper, made remarkably good time considering the distance (3000 miles) and the weather. The car was rolling but just barely, with both front and rear suspension held on by finger-tight bolts and only the front left wheel attached to the steering arm. It was a bit of a chore getting it off the trailer and into the driveway.

on the winch, very slowly

Giulia Super goes nose to nose with the Giulietta

Once we got it onto the driveway, I pushed the car into the garage and spent the rest of the afternoon making sense of what I had and what was missing. (more…)

I will soon be in possession of a ’59 Giulietta Sprint. Within a certain context, this is one of my favorite cars of all time, ever, forever and always. Stories of its beginnings are hard to believe, with rushed design and manufacture, but the result is equally hard to ignore.

advertisement for the Giulietta Sprint

Of course, the one I’m about to own looks little like that. Or rather, it’s the same car with 50 years of use and abuse. (more…)