After some paint repair and replacement of the trim Vignale 1119 is ready for Monterey Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well from the picture it does look like the fan is sticking thru the shroud but it is not. There is a slot in the shroud and you can see the fan thru it. Sorry I am not the best photographer
It is very nice to see a well sorted Vignale Spyder such as yours. I would like to know more about how it is fitted. i.e. Brakes, disc drums, 4 sp or 5 sp matching numbers etc. As they rise in price more and more of them will get what I will call - a Pebble restoration - and from there they will end up in a man cave somewhere as an investment vehicle and seldom driven. Our community will see them less and less and that's a shame. That inline six on webers is a sight and sound to behold, as you well know. Having owned a Ghibli Spyder for over 18 years I found it to be - excuse me - but too civilized. The Mistral Spyder I found to be sporty and refined but with a driving position that did not agree with my long legs which made long drives (for me) uncomfortable. The Vignale on the other hand has leg room to spare and is in my humble opinion the best of the best when all is considered. With a properly tuned suspension and an engine that has been blueprinted this lovely package will perform to the nines and never leave you wanting for more. I was out driving my Mitchell L Mitchell 3500 a couple nights ago, I like to take it out between 7PM and 9:30PM. From Mercer Island I drove East on Highway 90 to North Bend in the Mountains. Driving these cars is as most of you know is the only way to keep them in good working order. The object is to burn a ¼ tank of gas or more on each outing but the dam thing gets such great gas mileage it is hard to do. So on the way back I take the exit to Carnation on onto Duval through the winding country roads. It is here that the 3500 is a pure pleasure. The only thing better would be to have the top come down. You're a lucky man Gene and you were very smart to resist all the offers that Im sure came your way over the years. Maybe one day I will be lucky enough to acquire a Vignale Spyder to take on those lovely winding country roads on my evening summer drives. I am looking forward to seeing you and your car in Monterey. Ciao, FGM
Beautiful car Eugene! I will look for it and say hello. Looking forward to seeing all the entire range of cars for this 100 year event.
Frank as you probably remember I have had the car for 32 years and took it to the first Maserati meet at the Quail Lodge. Yes the car is a numbers matching engine and chassis. The 5 speed transmission number does not match the chassis but I believe this is the case with most of the 3500 cars. According to the factory docs it did come with a 5 speed and wire wheels. Most of the parts on the car are stamped with the body number which is 125. Both bumpers and most of the trim have this number. It has drum brakes in rear and discs in the front As you can note from the front the running lights are not the standard 3500 lights. I did not understand this for many years. Fabio did some research on the files for the car and advised the car was returned to the factory in 1966 and fitted with these larger light with Marchal TP6 lamps for rallys. He sent me a copy of the work order for the modification. The car did not come with the hard top but I did get one with the car when I bought it 30+ years ago. Last year I pulled the engine to replace the rear main (sound familiar) and detailed the engine compartment. I did checked all the bearing clearances at the time and had lapped the valves to be sure the seal with the seats were good. As you mentioned driving these cars is the most important part of keeping them running. Due to the paint work it had not been run for 6 months so it certainly needed a little Italian tune up when I got it back together. I think I have correctly restored and replaced the hoses and clamps on the engine, but I would welcome your comments if you see anything that you believe is not correct. The car was repainted 30 years ago in the correct silver and in lacquer.
That is a really great story. I was wondering about those fog lights and you have cleared that up. I am not the kind of guy to pick another mans car apart, unless asked. Little things do not mean much to me as they can be fixed later. The important thing is drivability and reliability. One must always strive to keep the car in drivable, reliable condition. The test is to be able to jump in the car and head off on a 500 or 1000 mile drive with NO problems. Everything else is secondary. To digress, I now find that I will not be driving my Mitchell car, except to run some fuel through him and to keep it maintained. I have come to realize that if I were to get into an accident it would destroy the value of its originality. Having a never wrecked car with original paint means it can only be that way once and as the caretaker I must be sure it survives my tenure as the currant owner. It is one thing to have accident repairs to one of my other 3500's, It is quite something else for the Mitchell car. My compliments once again for a really great Vignale. FGM
One of the most beautiful cars ever manufactured. Jawdropping to say the least. I know there is at least one in our remote little corner of the world, but I guess I will never see it in person. You are one lucky man Eugene.
