Always Looking For Another

Video and snapshots from the Speed fest.

It is the 104th anniversary of the founding of A.L.F.A. and "Drive Your Alfa Day" . I took Margherita out with some of her cousins from Maranello on one of my favorite drives here in San Diego County. The driving group was composed of about 7 Ferraris (including a pristine F40), a couple of Corvettes and a couple of Infinitis.  The route was eastbound on SR76 to Palomar mountain, then a 5000' ascent on the South Grade road where my little Alfa kept pace with the 308 QV ahead of me all the way to the top. We went down the East Grade back to 76 and then a stop at Lake Henshaw for a breather. We then headed for more twisty bits on the Mesa Grande.  Came back down through Ramona and down the hill on the famous Highland Valley Rd. for lunch and debrief at BJ's. The sun was out all day, the roads were relatively clear of slow traffic and it was just the most fun I have ever had in my GTV6. When we pulled into the parking lot of BJ's I called my wrench, Erik, and than

We finally got Margherita into her "new" Stilautos.  I love the look of these wheels.

I got Margherita back home last night after the extensive maintenance that she desperately needed, thanks to Erik at Rathmann Auto Works in Poway.  He had to replace the old 3 liter cams since one of the exhaust lobes was severely worn.  I had found two sets of cams through the AlfaBB.com site; one came with a set of heads, which I did not need but Erik said that he could use them.  The cams were re-profiled and re-ground to spec. She now has a rebuilt clutch, all new rubber seals, drive shaft flex joints (commonly referred to as doughnuts in America, giubos in Italian), new braided stainless steel brake lines, brake pads, suspension tweaks, and so much more the invoice is literally 5 pages long; BUT I am not complaining.  Margherita is now the car that she once was.  Nice crisp handling and the distinctive exhaust note has returned.  She gets right up on the cams and scoots.  I can hardly wait for this weekend to shoot up to Cars and Coffee on the early morning speed run. A grea