Sometimes it’s curious how some nice cars live tucked away not in remote barns in the desert, but just in the middle of a big city.
This is what I found a few days ago in a private garage in a central part of Rome:
The car is owned by the widow of the first owner, who passed away 4 years ago, and has an interesting history: was bought by a young banker a few months before his wedding in the spring of 1970, and was the car in which he drove away with his bride.
The honeymoon was spent in a nice holiday destination near Stuttgard called Zuffenhausen, where the owner was taught by factory drivers the secrets of 911 driving. There he decided that the standard seat was not supportive enough for fast driving, and had a “race” (i.e. Scheel) seat installed. The original standard seat was packed and posted back to Rome, and is still in the garage, in front of the car, unused.
The car was then brought to Brescia to the shop of Ennio Bonomelli, where the general suspension set-up was optimized.
A few years later, while at a traffic light, he was hit in the back by a Vespa, and the engine lid was lightly bended. He purchased an original ducktail, and installed it. You can see the original (still bended) lid hanging on the wall of the garage.
A few other modifications included a set of Bosch driving lights, aftermarket plastic front spoiler (like the 2.4l cars, was produced by Lester in Italy I think), Fusina wheel (the original is in the trunk in the Fusina box) and a set of Cibič Pallas lights that he decided not to install (and are still in the original boxes in the car).
Over the years, the car has always been serviced by the very same person, that worked for Autocentri Balduina, the oldest (and still active) Porsche dealership in Rome.
Car is well used but original, undamaged and matching, maybe suffering from lack of use, and the lady agreed to sell it, she told me it's a bit like selling part of the family, but she couldn't stand seeing the car just getting dust in the garage. A nice, charming and enthusiast lady.
In the terrible heat of Rome we pulled it out:
Interior:
Reply With Quote
