Great Cars Available…Get It Before It's Gone. Check the date of the post. If it is a few weeks old, it is probably too late.

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Drivers fast, Internet, not so fast!

27161775872_6323b2d4b0_kYesterday we visited a small town in central Italy. We rented a BMW 1 Series and it was almost too big for the narrow and steep streets of Naro. But this isn’t a travel blog, it is about cars. With that said, we have to mix a little travel log with car blog. I miraculously found an “agriturismo” farm called Mandranova. They specialize in award winning olive oil production. Our first night we sat alone with the founder, Giuseppe, and just began the usual small talk about where we came from and how we like Sicily. About 5 minutes in, I hear the Giuseppe mention his love of classic cars and the rest is history. 26652264644_6f7a701e4a_kThe next morning we toured not his olive oil production but his collection of 5 spectacular classics. The stable includes a 3 time Mille Miglia Storica Lancia B20GT, a 356A Porsche Coupe, an Alfa Giulia Sprint GT Veloce and my fave, a Fiat 1100TV race car. Call me crazy but it is so cute. I told him about the collection of my grand cousin and he may be interested in some of the cars. His restorer is in Palermo and by the looks of the collection, he is pretty talented. Today we tour the olive oil factory and ponder the old dusty collection. Decisions will have to be made soon. Projects anyone? Raise your hand soon! The clean cars are not part of my cousin’s collection!! of27258977065_e5c4d5d65b_k

 

 

 

 

 

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We have arrived in Sicily!

FIAT 508 BalillaIt isn’t surprising that the worst experience we’ve had so far involved something referred to as dinner on American Airlines. The lovely flight attendant said “my you didn’t eat much” and I answered, “I wonder why?”. She laughed, “I know”. We are in Sicily now, overwhelmed by our experience to date. Our family has been the most gracious hosts, feeding us home cooked meals twice a day. Dinner ends at 11 o’clock. After spending 2 days hopping around old cars parked door handle to door handle, we were and are exhausted. The entire experience met our expectations. We knew the cars were hidden away, many for more than 50 years. Some were unfortunate beyond being abandoned – part of the roof of one of the stone and wood farm outbuldings collapsed on them. 26576775023_c57ebce30a_kSomehow the unrealized dream of packing up one of the cars immediately for my own selfish pleasure didn’t bother me. With that said, some of these family members will make it to the USA. Which ones I am not entirely sure. I laughed at wanting the 1934 Fiat Balilla 508 that my mother rode in 50 years ago. The sentiment is certAlfa Romeoainly there but the reality is it would never make it up the hill we call Sheehan Road. And scarier is the thought of descending said hill. I have to digest about 400 pictures taken so far and perhaps 10 mini-films. So please be patient while we try to do justice to this experience. I met Tom Cotter at Amelia Island this past March and he is of course, the well-known “barnfinder”. When I told him what was in store for us he said it was a book. I think so.

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A 50-Year Journey

Study Hall was invented to allow high schoolers the opportunity to do what they didn’t do the night before. For me, not so much. I preferred to slip my new issue of Car & Driver, into my English Lit notebook, so Brother Gabriel “the punisher” wouldn’t catch me. I couldn’t see the difference between reading Chaucer and his insufferable use of the English language and reading David E. Davis waxing poetically about the benefits of disc brakes and radial tires. David E., the editor of Car & Driver, once said that “god does not charge us for driving before breakfast”. Brilliant.

My grandfather on my mom’s side died unexpectedly in March of ’65. I was a freshman back then. When the dust settled and the last cannoli devoured, my grandmother declared she wanted to return to the old country, the country where she grew up and met the love of her life. My mother was the only sibling of 4 that had a command of the native language so she packed grandma’s black dresses and off they went.Car & Driver

First stop, Rome, the eternal city where cousin Simone was the Questore di Roma. That position was like a police commissioner and prosecutor rolled into one. Because of his high rank, he sent a car and driver to meet the grieving Americans. The car and driver (no pun intended) would be at their disposal during their stay. And their planned stay would be 4 weeks. A long time to be without a mother. But there was time for letter writing.

Her first letter included a picture of her standing next to a Ferrari 275 GTB. She stopped a gentleman who had just parked the car and told him how much her son would enjoy a photo. Luisa & Ferrari Open DoorShe stepped behind the open door as he captured my favorite image of her. I wrote back asking her to make sure she made it to the Baths of Caracalla, the largest in ancient Rome. We were studying ancient Rome in Latin class and I knew I could use the extra credit the pictures would get me. After her stay in Rome, the grief tour headed south to Sicily and my grandparents’ home town of Savoca.

My first letter

Savoca is one of those ancient mountain towns so typical of Italy. Allegedly, Savocans are more pure Sicilian than most because they were able to defend the town from the invaders. And there was no shortage of hordes desperate to take Savoca. There are many blonde haired, blue-eyed Savocans and I am not one of them. I have the blue eyes, but the hair, not so much. It is here in Savoca, back in 1966, that my current story takes shape.

Not long after her arrival in Savoca, I received another welcome light blue air mail envelope from my mother. The letter told me of her travels with Grandma and their first visit in Sicily with another cousin, a radiologist by the name of Salvatore Bongiorno. They call him Turredo. The next paragraph in the letter would set me on a 50-year journey that will end sometime in the very near future – Turredo was a car guy and allegedly had a collection of really neat old cars. I couldn’t convince my dad to let me call mom that very night. I needed to know what cousin Turredo had tucked away in that little mountain town in Sicily. I wrote back but there wasn’t enough time left for her to answer via snail mail.

That grief tour turned my mother into a true Italian. Not a version of Carmela Soprano. More like Olivia de Havilland as Meg Johnson in Light in the Piazza kind of Italian. When she left for Italy, her first name was Louise and when she returned, it became Luisa. Her trips became more frequent, almost annually and always 4 weeks or more. She brought back Gucci, Trussardi, and recipes from family cooks but never information about Turredo’s car collection. One trip yielded a clue. She brought home a black & white image of Turredo’s son, Carmelo, when he was a boy. He was featured piloting an Auto Corsa Indianapolis children’s car. He posed wearing a helmet and driving gloves in front of an Alfa Romeo Gran Sport Quattroroute- an Alfa Romeo recreation built between 1965 and 1967.

Turredo's son

Fast forward 49 years. My beautiful mother who posed in front of a flaming red Ferrari was now confined to a wheelchair, ate purred food and hardly uttered a word. Some part of life sucks and then you die. And she did, just days ago on March 31st. But what a life she had. Our connections to family in Italy remain strong because my sister, Rosemary, took over the responsibility. She could never figure out how to master a manual transmission however Rosie had a way with languages that escaped me. In life there are forks in the road and I took the one with lots of curves.

Rosie was in Florence visiting another favorite cousin, Mario Bongiorno. She sent me a text with a picture of her with her husband, Lou and Mario at a restaurant in Florence. Rosie was eating my mother’s favorite dish, braised rabbit with olives and rosemary. I knew Mario kept in touch with Turredo who is now 93 years old. I jokingly sent back a response that said something like “ask Mario to call Turredo and tell me what cars he has”. There aren’t many things in my life that have turned my knees into less than reliable support. But the next text I would get an hour later made me reach for a chair. Turredo has 53 cars and he wants them all gone.

That was October of 2015. Since then, I have been in touch with Carmelo, his son, who must be in his late fifties now and is handling things for his father. He isn’t the best communicator and doesn’t write to me in English. I rely on Google for translation. I wanted to book a flight right away but he urged me to wait for spring. Since then I have been given a list of the cars in the collection. Months went by as I try to pry more details from Carmelo. He has learned well from his father. Don’t say too much and that I am told that is a typical Sicilian trait.

The collection has 8 Alfas that I am interested in. There are Giulietta Sprints and Spiders, a 2600 Sprint and a brace of those cool Giulietta 1300Tis. I think a few 1600Tis too. The Lancias range from early Augustas, Ardeas and Aprilias to a cool B10 and B21 Sedan; almost all Mille Miglia eligible. The Fiats are ancient too including a rare 2800 Ministeriale that was used as a parade car. There are Topolinos, Balillas and 1100s too. Turredo has a rare Moretti Alger Le Cap and one of these cars is a real Mille Miglia survivor. I don’t yet know which car is the survivor nor do I know the condition of any of the cars. Carmelo says some need to be “restored”, others “renewed” and some “revived”.

My wife and I are 19 days away from our flight to Rome with a direct connection to Catania. From there we head inland to Savoca. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time studying and researching as I probably should have done back in Xaverian’s study hall. I now know where to find chassis and motor numbers for most of the cars I will be inspecting. My wife and self-appointed infectious disease doctor, Ronnie, has acquired latex gloves and dust masks to fend off the unknown pathogens lurking in the various “houses for cows” where the collection is hidden.

I bought a new camera that takes HD video at 60fps and can handle 5,000 photos before saying “uncle”. We’ve got batteries and chargers and an Audi A1 rental that has WiFi. So images will be coming back to loyal readers and collectors of interest faster than images from the Mars Rover. Stay tuned and watch for news from Sicily. Please know this, loyal readers and friends of Mint2Me: If I discover that some or all of the cars are worth bringing back, you will be the first to have the opportunity to acquire one. Let me know what you might be interested in and we can stay in more formal, personal contact.

Ciao, and my Instagram account is Mint2Me. Follow us on the trip!

BTW: I have changed the name of cousins and the actual town the cars are located for obvious reasons…to protect the innocent.

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The Amelia Island Concours – 21 years

A Ferrari 250LM and an OSCA guarded...

A Ferrari 250LM and an OSCA guarded…

We met a few friends here at Amelia during the weekend. Our friend Judy Stropus invited us to a casual dinner party where I listened to some great stories from Dick Fritz, former NART team manager and Chuck Cantwell, godfather of the Shelby GT350/GT350R program. The Mahi Mahi was okay but the conversation was outstanding. And this is what is great about Amelia Island Concours. It attracts some of the greatest contributors to Motorsport in addition to the opportunity to admire the world’s greatest automobiles.

I must confess that I do not play golf and therefore I can think of no better use for the beautiful greens of the Ritz-Carlton’s 10th and 18th fairways than showcasing some of the world’s most important and historic motor cars. The magician for making all of these cars appear seemingly over night is Bill Warner. “Diverse doesn’t begin to describe Amelia 2016,” said Bill Warner, founder and Chairman of the Amelia Concours d’Elegance. “We let our passions shape Amelia, so the field has a unique flavor that even hard core racers tell us they really love.” We thank Bill and his team of literally hundreds of volunteers for making this event possible. And what an event it was.

My personal favorite effort of Bill’s team was assembling a collection of Spanish Pegasos. I am told that around 20% of the entire production of Pegasos were on hand to amaze. Each one in spectacular coachwork. We were surprised to see a Pegaso owned by one of Mint’s neighbors, Keith Andersen. Frankly, Keith has some great cars that he occasionally parks outside his fabulous restaurant, Community Table. I didn’t know a Pegaso was part of his collection. BMW was given the opportunity to share its 100-year milestone giving driver Hans Stuck a chance to reacquaint himself with some of his finest race cars. Lamborghini Miura celebrated a birthday too – 50 years of making incredible music to those lucky enough to hear one run, full chat.

Pegaso Z-102 Saoutchik

Pegaso Z-102 Saoutchik

 

 

 

 

 

Pegaso Z-102 Touring Berlinetta

Pegaso Z-102 Touring Berlinetta

There were concept cars from everywhere but Detroit placed gingerly around a water hazard – most celebrating styling cues from the jet age. Outlandish in concept yet spectacular to look at. I had an opportunity to get up close with the famous Phantom Corsair and actually spotted it driving to the tee it would occupy during the event. Crazy impractical but imaginative. By now you understand Bill Warner’s comment about diversity.

Phantom Corsair

Phantom Corsair

The crowds on Concours day were amazing. Mind you, this is a fund raiser and they aren’t shy about ticket prices. You need $120 to enter and it is worth every cent. I don’t know what the total amount raised is as of this writing. Thankfully, we were able to get on the field on Saturday late afternoon and early on Sunday. One of our favorite opportunities was to get up close to a 1934 SS1 at the Jaguar Heritage display. The SS1 is actually the first sports car produced by SS (to be renamed Jaguar after the war), and was constructed by one of SS’s senior employees. Rare indeed.

1934 SS1

1934 SS1

The judges had their work cut out for them. Once again, Bill Warner assembles some of the most influential people to review and compare the best of the best. Pete Brock, Derek Bell, Wayne Cherry, Luigi Chinetti, Jr, Ken Gross are just a few of the more than 100 experts on hand. They awarded Best of Show Concours de Sport to the 1952 Pegaso Z-102 BS 2.5 Cupula Coupe owned by Evert Louwman and Best of Show Concours of Elegance at the 2016 Amelia Island Concours went to the 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Town Car from the Nethercutt Collection.

Pegaso Cupula Z-102 Winner

Pegaso Cupula Z-102 Winner

We couldn’t possibly photograph all of the entrees and I encourage you to read other reports like Hagerty.com, Sports Car Market and my fave, Petrolicious. Until next year.

762 Mile, Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite

762 Mile, Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite

Janis Joplin's Porsche 356 Cabriolet

Janis Joplin’s Porsche 356 Cabriolet

'53 Fiat 8V Supersonic

’53 Fiat 8V Supersonic

'53 Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale

’53 Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale

 

 

 

 

 

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Cool Historic Rally Video!

This is a video of the 1962 Argentina Rally where our intrepid Mercedes-Benz Fintails came in 1st and 2nd place. First place driver looks particularly happy about her achievement.

 

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Drive it: ’67 Ferrari 330GTC

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The 330/365 GTC is on almost every Ferraristi’s list of the one of most beautiful production Ferraris ever. It’s taught lines and muscular looks are the stuff dreams are made of. According to the Ferrari Market Letter, 597 of the 330s were built between ’66 and ’68. The V-12 boasts 300 hp nestled in a chassis similar to the 275 GTB. Today’s 330 GTC is the kind of Ferrari you want to have around. We know this car very well and have had a chance to drive it on occasion. It is very well sorted, cosmetically appealing and a kick to drive. The kind of condition that allows you to drive the car frequently without fear of getting a nick here or there. It is originally Silver with black leather/red carpets and equipped with factory A/C and power windows. Read More

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Just getting started: ’95 BMW 540i

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A 1995 anything with 102,000 miles should be considered low miles. That’s 5,300 miles a year. There was a time when a car with 100,000 miles was considered used up. No longer. Irv Gordon taught us after he clicked over the 3 million mile mark. One of Mint’s customers brought in their son’s ’94 530i with a blown out spark plug. It has 275,000 miles on it. We installed a Heli-coil, changed the plugs and it runs like a young pup. Today’s 540i looks a little tricked out wearing huge Hartge wheels but it sort of works. Read More

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Small Woodie: ’62 Austin Mini Countryman

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Not too many cars cuter than an Austin Mini Countryman. This one is all done and ready for summer fun. It sports a 1,100 cc motor, bare metal respray in a very Mini color. The restoration included a new wiring harness, clutch, slave cylinder and a host of other things. We like it big time. Click here for the listing.$_57-4

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Vinyl wrap: ’73 BMW 2002

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It is a California Roundie in amazing original condition and unfortunately it is painted Sahara Beige. We have a friend who just vinyl wrapped his Range Rover. We thought he painted it flat military green but alas, it is wrapped in vinyl. Therefore we wouldn’t let anyone pass on this one. Wrap it in red and have a blast. The interior needs some re-stuffing and cleaning but that is the easy stuff. Read More

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Did one of our readers buy this Buick and ship it to New Zealand?: ’70 Buick Skylark

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One of our readers from New Zealand is now the proud owner of this California Skylark. It was featured almost a year ago submitted by our friend Tony B. who spotted it on the street near his home in Venice. The new owner would like to know more about the car and how it wound up in New Zealand.  Read More

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Absolutely New & Exclusive

No narrative required. We’ll tell you what we have access to and if you know what they are and have been looking for one, call us. We have interest in both but they are still uncommitted at present.

Ducati 750SS’74 Ducati 750SS Green Frame – totally original and quite remarkable.

 

 

 

 

74 750 GT’74 Ducati 750GT – restored.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call Mint (Michael) at (203) 417-6856 for details. But don’t wait too long. These are rare items that don’t come to market often.

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Luxury: ’68 Porsche 911L

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In ’68, Porsche offered a new model , the 911L. It is powered by the 130bhp ‘O’ series engine from the original 911. The L retained all of the 911S upgrades and amenities like dual-circuit, ventilated disc brakes, as well as the recessed button door handles, aluminum dash, black steering wheel, black-faced gauges and black wipers. The 911L was most expensive and luxuriously appointed Porsches ever offered in the US. According to those who know these things, they made 450 911Ls. Read More

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Maybe: ’71 Fiat 124 Spider

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First things first: is it Spider or Spyder? We think Italians spell it with an “I” and Germans with a “Y”. What say you? Of course no matter how you spell it, the reference dates back to a sporty horse-drawn carriage with big wheels and 2 seats. It was said to look like a spider hence the name. The Fiat 124 Spider and its stablemate Coupe were really excellent little sports cars particularly early cars like this ’71. Go through the list – 1600cc, DOHC, 5-speed transmission – all add up to lots of fun for the money. The styling is from Pininfarina and has aged really well. Pininfarina actually built the Spiders while the Coupes were built by Fiat. It is a rare sight to see one of these. Read More