I think Karl really enjoyed getting these carburetors looking spectacular. He and I are similar where we enjoy taking the time to have every detail looking correct. These carburetors look outstanding.

They go on a 365 GTC/4 that had an engine fire some time ago so they looked terrible with black soot staining the bodies. With some careful cleaning and masking and sending off the steel parts for plating, they look as good as new. With all new internal parts and throttle shaft bearings, they will be good for another 37 years!

Overhauled and detailed Weber DCOE

Boring post. Some of the stuff going on at the shop on this day. Trying to get that Lamborghini 25 anniverary Countach running correctly!

Red and Yellow on overcast day

We finished up the Lusso engine awhile ago but finally got to test run it. We set it up and it touched off immediately.  For the uninitiated, this is the 3 liter Ferrari V-12 engine out of the iconic 250 GT Lusso. We overhauled the engine with all new parts: Cosworth pistons at a slightly higher compression ratio, 275 GTB 9mm lift cams along with bigger 275 valves were installed. I am interested in how it pulls when it is in the chassis. This engine sounds very crisp and I am looking forward to setting it up with the exhaust to run it some more.

Listen to it crackle on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bKDgjhqgOc or just watch below.

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about Seth Beck and the Ford Fiesta that he won the opporotunity to test drive. Our friend Bill Lockwood was also one of the 100 people who won a Fiesta and he stopped by with the car to drop off the Mercedes-Benz/Cosworth engine to overhaul. He had just driven the car from Colorado and the car looked fresh. They claimed to have gotten over 40 mpg on the way back east.

Bill is a cool guy who works hard to keep up with the Rally scene here in the US. I am going to stop typing, open a new window and get some links to connect you with what he is doing.

http://www.fiestamovement.com/agents/view/13

http://rallyfix.com

http://blockwood.bnqt.com

Looks like fun Bill, I like your writing style.

Agent 13 Ford Fiesta

Graphics on Lockwood Fiesta

I found this butterfly in the parking lot of my local hippie health food store. It has an injured tail so i am guessing that it was hit by a car and fell out of the front end as the car was parked. This thing is so lovely that I had to share the photo.

I was shopping for some organic lentils to grille later that night. They are so good smothered in tempeh sauce and dandelion green and fiddlehead compote.

Gorgeous yellow butterfly

My Friend Seth Beck has a soft spot in his heart for the Ford Fiesta after crossing Mongolia in one of these automotive icons. When he heard that Ford was considering re-launching the model, he entered a contest to become a “test driver” for Ford to develop the car with the consumer in mind.

Seth let Dave Melichar and I drive the lime green car covered in graphics and we were both more than impressed. The car has a tiny 1.6 liter enigne that makes the thing scoot. Dave and I have kids so we noted that the rear seats could comfortable fit a car seat.

Anyhow, Seth can describe the car better than us, take a look at his website and see for yourself.  

http://www.badcolonies.org/node/1165

Here is a spectacular Ferrari 275 NART Spyder that is at our shop. It started life as a short nosed car and now it has an aluminum body with a spectacular shade of blue to showcase the shape. The car has a 6 carburetor manifold and retains the 2 camshaft engine.

275 NART Spyder

Kind of odd that we have three non-metallic dark blue GTC’s here. One is slightly more violet and another has gray in the color. The third is an accurate version of blue Scuro or Blue Pozzi. The cars look good in this color.

I like the way they look in the photo with the blue-gray driveway stone and overcast light. A perfect day to shoot them.

Ferrari GTC in dark blue

Photo of Ferrari 330

I read an article in the New York Times about the FIAT take over of Chrysler. This sounds like great news. I have heard great things about the FIAT and Alfa Romeo cars and look forward to seeing them here in the States. I think that Chrysler Dealers will really benefit.

In the article they mentioned that in the early 1900′s FIAT had an assembly plant in Poughkeepsie, NY. I knew that! This car was built there.

It has a 14 liter four cylinder engine with one carburetor that is so small that on a cool day it develops a thick coating of frost all over the brass casting.

Poughkeepsie, NY. built FIAT