cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
20993
I went to an A/C training class once
The teacher told us BMW engineers said their Euro a/c systems were ok for the US models. The US import organization said send us those engineers. They put them in a black car in July/August and asked them to drive from Houston to Phoenix... soon an enhanced system was developed.
A truly rare sight in the wild these days… 🇮🇹
The glorious 2,6l V8 powered Alfa Romeo Montreal. A little gem from the 1970s 👌🏻 I wonder if any members (looking at you, Cazalea 😁🤞🏻) have first hand experience with the car? 👍🏻 ...
I looked at buying one …
The car looked beautiful in orange. One of the difficulties with maintaining this car is the fuel injection system. Advanced back in the day but problematic to maintain. I passed on the opportunity but remember driving it vividly ! Best Captain
In all honesty …
I like my classic cars well maintained and this one needed a little TLC. Looked very good on the outside, suspension needed a revamp and the tyres needed replacing on all four corners. The throttle / injection needed recalibrating below 3,000 rpm little h...
I am grateful you did 😁
At the end of the day one should not regret such decisions too much in hindsight - so good to know 👍🏻
Times have changed …
and or joy for nostalgia sometimes gets the better of our judgment when it comes to classic cars.
I completely agree …
We must discuss this at length sometime soon. I have a few stories for you 😉
Only second-hand knowledge
One of my editors, an Alfa fanatic, owned one. I can recall he said the parts were hard to obtain which was a shame because it was fragile, but I suppose that's the case of most Alfas in the US.
Like a friend of mine was told when he said "I found a Jaguar for sale only $750! How can I go wrong?"
to which his mechanic sadly replied, "You can go plenty wrong, my young friend, plenty wrong!" ...
Let’s not forget…
That many prestigious brands from back in the day were the precursors to Tesla in this respect - by making the customers the beta testers, since they couldn’t afford it themselves (Tesla does it for different reasons) 😊
Does depend on the mechanic a bit…
Seemingly most vintage Citroens with a reputation for being temperamental running much better now than new simply as a result of being taken care by people who are trained and experienced enough to know what the cars require 😊
In the case of Citroen…
It was technology that didn’t usually get offered at that level. The hydropneumatic suspension was borrowed by Rolls Royce and Mercedes for instance 👍🏻
That was a bargain…
Even if you kept it unused in a garage you would probably get a very nice return on investment 👍🏻
That I get…
Especially if you drive it daily, like the Volvo. Bit the prices have gone through the roof - compared to that level - since.
A key reason why so many import brands failed in the US 🤷🏻♂️
Organizing a proper parts supply back in the day on an American geographic scale proved to much for most - especially since they couldn’t fathom it from their European perspective…
I went to an A/C training class once
The teacher told us BMW engineers said their Euro a/c systems were ok for the US models. The US import organization said send us those engineers. They put them in a black car in July/August and asked them to drive from Houston to Phoenix... soon an enhanc...
Similar story with Chris Bangle and cup holders in the US…
He got top management to the US, bought them all a large drink at a drive through and after two hours they finally admitted that fitting cars with a cup holder might not be so stupid as they always thought 😂👍🏻
