If variety is the spice of life,
this mixture of bikes is Chile de Arbol!

Above is Pekka Rossi’s gorgeous 1996 Aprilia Moto 6.5, designed by Philippe Starck.

Once upon a time there was this way cool Countach …

It was a lazy Saturday in the early 1980’s.  My wife and I took a drive to Moss Landing, a quaint little community along California Coast Highway 1, between Santa Cruz and Monterey.  We enjoyed the antique shops there  and, in particular, browsing in Potter Palmer’s compact store filled with all manner of very old, very pricey jewelry, and a few starter pieces for the likes of young, impoverished couples like us.  Potter was a friendly guy and wonderful salesman.  He made shopping fun by sizing up his customers and putting on his counter what he thought might be most tempting.  Then he’d begin to gently probe to see how far he could bump us up in price, from an inexpensive starter trinket to something much, much nicer … the kind of somethings he kept out of sight in his back room, until the time was right.  As Potter worked his magic, he might make three or four trips into the back, each time returning with better pieces than before.  We liked to play the game, but were definitely limited to the “cheap trinket” category.

On this day we were driving our fire-breathing 48-horsepower, 1978 Volkswagen Dasher diesel station wagon.   As we came into town I parked behind this stunning Lambo, the likes of which I’d never seen on the road, not even in car rich Silicon Valley.  My wife and I made our usual visit to Potter’s store, and as we were leaving he saw me eying the Lambo, which I did not know was his.  “Would you like to sit in it,” he asked?  What a silly question.  Of course I would.  So Potter walked over and opened the scissor door.  I don’t remember that we bought anything that day, but it was a memorable visit.  After that,  we always stopped in to say hello when on the way past, and that always led to our browsing while Potter played the jewelry game with us or other customers.  He passed away years ago and though his family maintained the store for a long time after, we never heard what happened to the Countach.  I don’t know what happened to me, either.  As the photo below shows, I used to be much thinner and younger.

Felix Petrol admires our display of Lancias
from the cabin of his Fulvia coupe

For those of you who don’t know him, Felix Petrol is the creation of Guy Allen and is a regular feature in Octane Magazine (www.octane-magazine.com). The irresistibly charming Felix drives a wide range of cool cars, many of which can be seen on Guy’s web site.  Guy’s copyrighted art is used with permission.  Octane is now edited by James Elliott, most recently of Classic & Sports Car, which also uses Guy’s wonderful art.

How do you pronounce the name of this century-old auto manufacturer (founded in 1906)?  Is it Lawn-cha?  Lan-cha? Lan-cee-uh?  Or something else?  We thought we’d clear it up for you:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDBP0Ht9aUY&vl=en-US

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB_xQnxuwfw

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TciCWYdsq-Q

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plh-_OV1Lss

5. https://www.pronounceitright.com/pronunciation/lancia-13204

Sleek Maseratis look good and sound good

This Maserati art is copyrighted 2009 by Guy Allen, whose work can be seen …and purchased … at Guy Allen-Art.com.

Rare Moretti racer owned by Joel and Rosa Stein

Joel Stein tells the story of his 1500 Sports Racer “Freccia d’Oro’:

Starting in 1949 and continuing through 1957, Moretti cars have had a long and exciting history of participation in the Mille Miglia. This car, a Moretti 1500 Freccia d’ Oro, is powered by a Moretti designed and built 1500cc 4-cylinder twin cam, twin plug, twin carburetor, and twin distributor motor. It has both body and tubular chassis by Moretti.

The four speed transmission is Fiat 1100. This car was one of three specially ordered and built in 1955-56 by Moretti for the 1500cc class by an Argentinean group who wanted to compete against Maserati 150S and OSCA 1500, among others. This is the third car of the three built, #001 went to Argentina and was never paid for, but destroyed/crashed; #002 and #003 were bought by the Trustee for Moretti’s bankruptcy as an independent constructor in the sixties.

Moretti survived several more years as a carrozzeria or body designer/coach builder, mostly for Fiat. The #002 was traded in the late sixties by the Trustee for a Renault Alpine 108 and has disappeared. The Trustee sold #003 to a lawyer from whom I bought the car. It is the only one known to exist.

After the Moretti factory closed, the man charged with selling the assets stored the car. The car was purchased from that liquidator, Sig. Nebbia Giacomo, in the most original condition imaginable. With the exception of new paint and engine rebuild, the car is in the same ready to race condition as it was when built. The car was first shown to the public in August 2000, at the Concorso Italiano in Pebble Beach, California.      Joel D. Stein, D.O., F.A.A.O., F.A.O.A.S.M.

More Moretti pix

This 1957 Moretti Coupe belonged to a well-known Alfista in the late 1968s. Knowing this, how many of you immediately think, “Hey, he must be talking about Jim Steck?” If you did, more power to you; we have a hard time seeing Jim in this cute little Moretti, instead of behind the wheel of Bonnie, the 230+ mph Alfa Bonneville record holder or 4SFED, his incredible turbocharged “street” GTV.

Daniel Vitesse, who lives in Uruguay, has his work cut out for him with the restoration of the “slightly aged” Moretti shown below. Daniel’s other projects include a Fiat 1100 TV Coupe, a Topolino ( both on the Fiat page), and VW Hebmuller replicas that his company makes for enthusiasts like himself. We don’t usually post non-Italian cars, and the VW shown below doesn’t fit here,but you have to admit that a VW-Hebmuller replica is Non Originale.