I saw my first love again!!! A long strange trip...

My long strange trip…

30 years ago, I came face to face with my first Italian car…not in a movie, video game, or buzzing by on a highway. No, in my best friend Mike’s parents’ garage. There sat a 1979 Lancia Zagato, as Italian as an Armani suit, with a touch of Versace thrown in for good measure. She was a very limited edition model with a black and gold paint job and the softest most delicate leather I could remember touching. The car belonged to Mike’s older brother…a really big tough dude, who had little patience for either of us. At all of 13 I felt pretty devilish when I opened the door to the Lancia and got in. So began a strange journey.

For the next three years, Mike and I would often retreat to this garage and sit around the car talking about things that were important to teenage boys, from girlfriends, to parents, to future dreams. All the time, this Zagato sat patiently in the backdrop. When Mike turned 16, his brother and Father surprised him. The Zagato would be his when he turned 17. For the next year, Mike and his brother began the furious task of restoring her. I would stop by and lend a hand, which usually consisted of scavenging parts off other parts cars. Over time, I learned a great deal about the mechanics behind vehicles.


Mike turned 17 a few months before me and the Zagato became the symbol of our new found freedom. More fantastic youthful adventures began and ended with a turn of the key. It is also how I truly came to love Italian cars. The sound of the Lampredi engine breathing through the Weber carb and exhaling though the Ansa exhaust gave me goose bumps with every shift off the redline. The old Italian seating position, familiar to bus drivers anywhere, forced you to adjust to its demands. It just oozed charm and character. Most amusingly, at least in hindsight, was its stubborn refusal to complete any journey without at least one stumble. We truly explored the limits of AAA patience as almost every Lancia story ended with “…and there we were, stuck on the side of the road.” As frustrating as it was at the time, I met so many fun and interesting people I wouldn’t have met without her. We once even had an impromptu three day “vacation” at a Baltimore Truck Stop hotel, when the distributer crapped the bed. That was one of the best vacations I ever had and one of the fondest memories I have of another great friend, Gar, who left us all too soon.

Mike and I went to college together and through thick and thin and all sorts of machinations we managed to keep her on the road. This car meant the world to us. I happened to graduate college before Mike and as a graduation gift, he gave the car to me. Up until then, It was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for me. Unfortunately, not too long afterwards my parents separated and I no longer had anywhere to store her, nor could I afford to ship her back to Mike in Florida. We decided to sell her to a friend of Mike’s sister who had another Lancia.

That was 20 years ago this August. Since then, though law school, my parents divorce, my marriage, kids and work… I have closed my eyes many a night to this fantasy of what I would do if I ever got that car back again. I have spent countless hours on EBay, Craigslist, Hemmings, trying to track down another 1979 Lancia Zagato Special Edition, but as they only made 500 of them and most are long gone, it was like trying to find a unicorn. Two weeks ago I found my unicorn in the form of a completely original unmolested Zagato, identical to ours in every way. She was sitting at a no name shop in California and I scooped her up immediately. She is now at the shop getting fully sorted. At the time of her arrival, I waxed poetic about finally owning a Zagato again. I will also admit I shed a tear the first time I saw her in person. Little did I know the best was yet to come. Mike’s sister was so touched by my little write up that she managed to track down the last owner of our Zagato,, who had alluded Mike and I for years.

I came to find out that our Zagato had been sitting in a storage container in a warehouse in New Jersey for the last twenty years. Today, Jay and I made the trip to see her. The conditions were dark and extremely dusty, but I got to say hello to an old friend. I sent Mike pictures in real time and we both just pretty much lost our collective minds. We are now negotiating with the hope that he will let us take her home. Jay, just about the most generous guy I know, has agreed to help me bring her back to life. Jay and I will completely tear her down and restore her into something new and special. When we are done, I will put her on a truck and send her home to Mike, so his two boys can enjoy her much like he and I did all those years ago…and I can finally return the favor Mike gave to me so many years ago. Here is a photo of the old girl in 1991 during rebuild 3.0. Here is a photo of our new “California Lancia” and here are a few photos of our original car as she sits today…I can’t wait to get her home.

 

All of us tending to her in 1991... Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Our California car... Image Unavailable, Please Login
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My old girl as she sits today... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

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I'm excited to report that negotiations have been concluded! We are now the proud owners of our old zagato!

One catch... I had to commit to buying all three he had!

So now I own four Zagatos!!!

Even for me that is nuts! One of them was a friends first car too coincidentally...

So I will probably
Just get it running and return it to him. The blue one will probably be cut up for parts to save our car... But our old black and gold girl will rise again!!

Can you believe it!!!!!

 

I plan on hosting a welcome home party at Nick's when they come home, and I will show them to you in person

In the meantime I will try to take photos when we pick them up!

 

Well, we came to find out that the white one we are buying was his first car! I think it was pretty tough for him emotionally to turn it over because he had dreams of restoring his car over the last twenty years, using our car and it never materialized. In his mind, by returning our cars to us, he kind of shut the door on that dream. It was telling that he asked that we not cannibalize his car in the process of restoring ours. We didn't commit to that, but Mike and I both decided that if it is salvageable,we would just clean his up and get it running and send it back home. Whether he intended to or not, he preserved our baby for twenty years, and it is hard to describe our gratitude.

 

Awesome!!! I have to get that book!

Are you interested in parting with anything?

It has been extremely frustrating finding any performance parts or really any parts, thus far. It seems like the parts supply dried up! Luckily, I found a local supplier, but there are still gaping holes in his inventory. I even had to go as far as to order tensioner bearings from Europe!


Incidentally, our Zagato... Assuming the engine hasn't seized after all these years, had a pretty hardcore engine in it if I recall. It was blueprinted and balanced and bored out with High compression Pistons, hot cams, headers, and an oversized carb. She also ran headers and a straight pipe to an Ansa exhaust can. She also had a Koni suspension all around.

I haven't heard her run in over 20 years, but I remember her sounding the business...

Unfortunately, I would surmise that all those mods probably only netted us an engine making, at best, 120hp. A big improvement over the stock 87hp, but not enough to make a 2800lb car move with any authority.

Still, If we can get her to sing again I am going to lose my G-d damn mind!!! Having this car back is like winning the lottery... There is... Literally... No other car I would rather own.
It transcends performance, this car and I have some serious history together.