Thanks Dragline, You know, it is funny how the knee bone connects to the ankle bone. My first car, given to me by my dad for getting good grades turned out to be a 57 Hillman Minx. Boy, what a let down that was. No power and slower than molasses on a cold day. Consequently, the only thing left for me to do was drive it like I was Jim Clark. Wearing off the sides of the tires and taking suicidal plunges through traffic (going downhill) where all I could get. Other kids were into drag racing and you sure weren't going drag racing in a Hillman. Although it is said that if you drove one off a cliff, you could get it up near 50 MPH. All this is to say that my thing for sports cars came from that Hillman. I was probably the only kid in town who could tell you who Mother Muller and the SCCA were.
It has been a great run for me. Along the way, I met old guys with 120 and drophead coupe Jags hidden in their back yards. I bought a 120 barn find that I never got together.
Then I raced a season with a guy running a mini. Also bought a Volvo 544 at one time. Great car. Later in life, I ran a VW and Porsche repair business, was a mechanic for Mickey Thompson for awhile, etc., About the best it got was being a second mechanic on a 962 #67 IMSA prototype (group C) for Jim Busby out of Laguna Beach ( I was fired from this job) There was a lot more, but that is enough bubble blowing for one day. It all goes back to that ugly old Hillman. The Prince of Darkness was always stalking me in that thing. Luckily, it had a hand crank and I could start it by winding up the crank. God help me if the engine was way out of tune.
Well, imagine my thrill when I got my first Alfa. That thing would fly. (or so I thought). One day, I was out of a ride with my roommate and we were coming down the mountain into Bear Lake Utah. A Mercedes sedan came in behind me. I was pouring the coal to my Alfa, but the Mercedes just sat there off my rear bumper. Finally, I got a look at the occupants in the Mercedes and what do I see, . . but some guy with his wife and two kids. Talk about an ego deflation . What was worse was that he was yaking it up with his wife and I doubt he was even pushing that Mercedes sedan. It wasn't too long after that that I was looking for more ponies for my true love. I hope this young guy finds his machine and gets to experience all those great things. The first time you sit behind that offset steering wheel and get to feel the front end over steer flinching under high speed acceleration, he will be hooked.
By the way, where is the BS thread so I am not junking up the classified?