Tony K
20th May 2010, 08:50 PM
Greetings, fellow Lancia enthusiasts!
I am very happy to once again have a Scorpion! :) I don't know if anyone remembers me, but from 2003 through 2005 I had an azure metallic 1976 Scorpion, #149.
http://lancisti.net/photopost/data/505/medium/sc2.jpg
That car was special, and it was not long after selling it that I truly missed it, and told myself that if the right one comes along, I will buy another.
Well, the right one did come along. Here's a little story:
In 2003, I met the lovely angel who would four years later become my bride. She doesn't care much about cars themselves, but managed to find enjoyment sharing trips and experiences together of which my collectible cars were a part.
Among those fun times were a few miscellaneous trips in the Scorpion, including a few visits to the beach. In general, she liked #149, and the times we spent with it were happy ones.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j207/Tony-K/Lancia/lanciawildwoodforweb800.jpg
For roughly the two years we dated before we were engaged, I owned #149. I sold it in December of 2005 for an opportunity to acquire the white Lotus Esprit I always wanted. The Lotus was a project, in a similar state to how #149 was when I acquired it. I later on regretted the fact that I spent so much time and TLC on #149 and then sold it so soon, never really getting to enjoy it enough for all of the work I put into it.
It was obvious that Patty, my angel, was the one, and we were engaged in 2005 with a wedding date of 7-July-07 (yes, 7-7-7; we were one of many couples to wed that wonderful day).
We were going to use the white Lotus as our wedding day car, but as 2007 crept in, having it finished in time was looking less and less likely. Our answer came in the form of a blue Lotus Esprit -- one I had known about and wanted for the past seven years, and wasn't going to pass on the opportunity to buy.
So this excellent blue Esprit S1 became our wedding day car, and also served as our transport for our honeymoon trip:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j207/Tony-K/Wedding/backatroccos.jpg
Fast forward a few years . . . I've enjoyed a bunch of cars, including a few more Esprits, Jaguars, and Porsches that came and went. But I never lost interest in having a Scorpion. Before long, as noted at the start of this story, I started saying to myself, "Those cars are too charming. If the right one comes along, I'm just going to buy it . . ."
...
So I was browing eBay a few weeks ago, and as a matter of course checked Lancias. There was a '77 Scorp. At quick glance, it didn't even look all beat-up or rusty like most eBay Scorpions do -- it actually looked decent.
A closer inspection of the ad revealed that the body indeed looked pretty good, the car overall looked very original and complete (save for a repaint and a much desired Ansa exhaust), and it was only one state away from me (as opposed to half way across the continent). Hey, not bad, I thought; a 1977 Scorp (I like the glass buttresses) that is very complete and original, reasonably good body (on the outside), and not far away!
But then came the kicker: The photo of the VIN. 137AS0101777. 777! It was calling me! I had no choice! This was the right one!
I called my lovely wife into the computer room. "Hey, look," I said, and proceeded to show her the pictures, tell her why I liked it, and topped it off with the '777' VIN (and also the odometer read 67772).
"I liked the blue one," she said with a smile. :)
"Can we buy it?" I asked.
"Sure, why not," she said.
Okay, that was it. I decided I wanted this car, no matter what was wrong with it. If we could get it, I'd take care of whatever it needs, and it would stay with us and we'd once again have a Scorpion to enjoy.
So I looked at how much we had to budget for (yet another, <gulp>) car, and made the seller an offer that I felt was more than fair and more than what anyone else would seriously pay for it, crossed my fingers and waited. I told him about our old Scorpion, how my angel wife liked it, our wedding date was 777, and that we would be buying the car to keep. I didn't bog him down with questions or pick the car apart, and told him that whatever it needed didn't matter to me; I would eventually take care of it.
Two days later he called me and accepted, and within an hour I was riding in a van across Pennsylvania with an empty trailer in tow.
In person, the body turned out to be about as rust free as one could hope. The only real issue with the body is some minor side swipe repair on the passenger side. The car had been in storage for 15-20 years, and it is obvious that, before putting it away, the previous owner went to great lengths to preserve the car; it is all around in surprisingly good condition.
The car needs a lot of TLC overall, but that is something I will enjoy very much. It will be kept as original as possible save for performance improvements, and has from the first moment become a cherished part of our permanent collection. So here it is, Scorpion #1777. I'm looking forward to many years of fun with it. :)
http://lancisti.net/photopost/uploads/1622/1777rightrearforweb700.jpghttp://lancisti.net/photopost/data/950/1777rightrearforweb700.jpg
Best regards,
Tony K. :)
I am very happy to once again have a Scorpion! :) I don't know if anyone remembers me, but from 2003 through 2005 I had an azure metallic 1976 Scorpion, #149.
http://lancisti.net/photopost/data/505/medium/sc2.jpg
That car was special, and it was not long after selling it that I truly missed it, and told myself that if the right one comes along, I will buy another.
Well, the right one did come along. Here's a little story:
In 2003, I met the lovely angel who would four years later become my bride. She doesn't care much about cars themselves, but managed to find enjoyment sharing trips and experiences together of which my collectible cars were a part.
Among those fun times were a few miscellaneous trips in the Scorpion, including a few visits to the beach. In general, she liked #149, and the times we spent with it were happy ones.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j207/Tony-K/Lancia/lanciawildwoodforweb800.jpg
For roughly the two years we dated before we were engaged, I owned #149. I sold it in December of 2005 for an opportunity to acquire the white Lotus Esprit I always wanted. The Lotus was a project, in a similar state to how #149 was when I acquired it. I later on regretted the fact that I spent so much time and TLC on #149 and then sold it so soon, never really getting to enjoy it enough for all of the work I put into it.
It was obvious that Patty, my angel, was the one, and we were engaged in 2005 with a wedding date of 7-July-07 (yes, 7-7-7; we were one of many couples to wed that wonderful day).
We were going to use the white Lotus as our wedding day car, but as 2007 crept in, having it finished in time was looking less and less likely. Our answer came in the form of a blue Lotus Esprit -- one I had known about and wanted for the past seven years, and wasn't going to pass on the opportunity to buy.
So this excellent blue Esprit S1 became our wedding day car, and also served as our transport for our honeymoon trip:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j207/Tony-K/Wedding/backatroccos.jpg
Fast forward a few years . . . I've enjoyed a bunch of cars, including a few more Esprits, Jaguars, and Porsches that came and went. But I never lost interest in having a Scorpion. Before long, as noted at the start of this story, I started saying to myself, "Those cars are too charming. If the right one comes along, I'm just going to buy it . . ."
...
So I was browing eBay a few weeks ago, and as a matter of course checked Lancias. There was a '77 Scorp. At quick glance, it didn't even look all beat-up or rusty like most eBay Scorpions do -- it actually looked decent.
A closer inspection of the ad revealed that the body indeed looked pretty good, the car overall looked very original and complete (save for a repaint and a much desired Ansa exhaust), and it was only one state away from me (as opposed to half way across the continent). Hey, not bad, I thought; a 1977 Scorp (I like the glass buttresses) that is very complete and original, reasonably good body (on the outside), and not far away!
But then came the kicker: The photo of the VIN. 137AS0101777. 777! It was calling me! I had no choice! This was the right one!
I called my lovely wife into the computer room. "Hey, look," I said, and proceeded to show her the pictures, tell her why I liked it, and topped it off with the '777' VIN (and also the odometer read 67772).
"I liked the blue one," she said with a smile. :)
"Can we buy it?" I asked.
"Sure, why not," she said.
Okay, that was it. I decided I wanted this car, no matter what was wrong with it. If we could get it, I'd take care of whatever it needs, and it would stay with us and we'd once again have a Scorpion to enjoy.
So I looked at how much we had to budget for (yet another, <gulp>) car, and made the seller an offer that I felt was more than fair and more than what anyone else would seriously pay for it, crossed my fingers and waited. I told him about our old Scorpion, how my angel wife liked it, our wedding date was 777, and that we would be buying the car to keep. I didn't bog him down with questions or pick the car apart, and told him that whatever it needed didn't matter to me; I would eventually take care of it.
Two days later he called me and accepted, and within an hour I was riding in a van across Pennsylvania with an empty trailer in tow.
In person, the body turned out to be about as rust free as one could hope. The only real issue with the body is some minor side swipe repair on the passenger side. The car had been in storage for 15-20 years, and it is obvious that, before putting it away, the previous owner went to great lengths to preserve the car; it is all around in surprisingly good condition.
The car needs a lot of TLC overall, but that is something I will enjoy very much. It will be kept as original as possible save for performance improvements, and has from the first moment become a cherished part of our permanent collection. So here it is, Scorpion #1777. I'm looking forward to many years of fun with it. :)
http://lancisti.net/photopost/uploads/1622/1777rightrearforweb700.jpghttp://lancisti.net/photopost/data/950/1777rightrearforweb700.jpg
Best regards,
Tony K. :)