A little get together in the Valley

[rlux4]

I got a call from Ventura Ace this morning asking if I was going to any of the Fiat functions today. I didn't even know there were any! (Ace is much more plugged into the various groups than I am)
I couldn't make the first one "Snakes in the Garden" which was a bunch of Cobras meeting at a Pasadena garden of some fame. (Cobras/Snakes, get it?)
But Krissy and I did agree to meet Ace and his wife Maureen at Merkle's for a short drive up into the mountains. It was a small gathering, but a great group of people, and a great drive.



Note the guy in the light red shirt standing in front of the cream colored Spider. I have to apologize, I didn't get a handle on his name, but what an interesting car and owner! It's a 79 that he acquired new off the showroom floor as a settlement from Fiat for a 77 coupe he'd bought that fell apart in about a year. Turns out it had been damaged in shipment and it wasn't disclosed. Now the interesting part: He converted it to FI, and it smogs so well there has been no problem with the state of California



The seats I think he got from a M3, note how the rocker panel rail has been scalloped to accomodate electric seats!



The woodwork inside is a gorgeous mahogony



The car overall is a gem



It was just an extremely enjoyable day.
Ron

[So Cal Mark]

converting a carb to fi in Calif still requires a trip to the referee for approval and a door jamb tag showing the approved mods. Looks like a nice car, but the steering wheel doesn't match the dash wood. That's a no-no in my book

[ventura ace]

Thanks for posting the pictures, Ron! The 'Serpents in the Garden' event today was an event planned by Hal's (V-8 spider and current supercharged 124 coupe project) friend Dan Ziol. The gathering featured 15 Shelby Cobras (including 5 originals, and the rest being replicas) nicely placed around grassy areas under the sprawling Oak trees in the beautiful Descano Gardens (http://www.descansogardens.org/site/). What a nice way to display the cars and enjoy the gardens at the same time! I may be able to get some pictures from Dan, and post them here later. We're starting murmurs of 'Aracnids in the Garden', for a possible spider event in the future.

Maureen and I spent the morning with the Cobras in the Gardens, and really hated to leave (could easily spend all day in the gardens, and had the amazing collection of Cobras to drool over), but knew we'd not want to miss the Fiat drive with our friends, so we met Ron & Krissy and the others around noon. Excellent day, topped by an early dinner in an Italian restaurant after the drive.

Alvon