I now'ave a "p. frau" leather S2 Gamma interior, produced 1x for a G'misti 25yrs ago - a definate case of Gam ´Nuttiness - for Sfr 15,000 ....yes..that is true!! I stole leather, for 1 beer or 2, from Gam-Rene, who 'got it in a crazy-Gam-Deal' a while back !!. I received it via Dan in his Med-Supply-Van, Dan driving across some Alps to CH-DE border with friendly-police, both exiting & entering. No Tax Paid Thank You ! Not that I really needed lthr, but a Slvr Gam con blue-rugs didn't 'look-right' with brown-lthr-seats, so out go those seats, right into a Gold Gam with brown-rugs; which now looks great !!
Blue-lthr is in Slvr Gam thanx to friends who need to get outa the house on w'ends. That Gam retained its S1 door panels, just like a S1.5 Gam. The interior is a hot bed of sumptious-lthr-fetish; I think ! I've not sat in it yet; since Gam is still awaiting a non-spongy, suspension; thanks to Ed, who had a updated suspension & lots a other goodies installed in his Gam b4 he realized he needed a 'family sized-car' quik or a new-wife !
He & I traded a 'hot-suspension w/ Gam Coupe (or visa versa), for bits o' color-paper. His 'savable'-Gam has now donated: suspension, exhaust, f.-fenders, heater fan, lots o little items + 4 rare & perfect S2 wheels to svrl other Gam. It now sits in warehouse, occupying space I should use better.
The Slvr Gam's ex red/brown seats were also from P. Frau, ordered after the late 78 delivery of that Gam, originally with velour blue seats (current whereabout unknown) . Lthr seats cost DM ??? in 79. The Doctor who owned them won't tell me
This all & more has taken a lot of my "free-time" plannin&executin all these crazy-actions !.
Then - Oh yes, the Volunteer Fire Dept of my Home-Town in N.Y. USA visited my Now-Town in DE for Okt-Fest last week, 40 of them, which kept me & the other (few remaining) USA'ers in town busy - for weeks prior to their arrival, then a week of them being here, having FUN at -5° temps !! It was a wonderful visit of old & new friends; except for 1st hand accounts of "911 in NYC" from those who were there. It took me days to stop crying. This occurs every year ! Yikes !
Then - we opened an new office in mid-Fr (1 Day before Fr.Fulvia Ralley). The physical work was done by Fr. guys , not by me ! Which has been a success -taking lots o time; yipee! Viva la France !
Then - I went, myself, back to "field-work", by choice, since our summer-boom was over ! Just to experience an early Winter-Boom (yipee); putting a quik-end to 'field-work after only 2days & 2 new accounts. Yippee again, for 2 accounts & for me not being "out in the field!" B)
Then - our Kiev Office exploded (with orders). Once again, I did nothing to make this happen - Triple Yippee !!
All this good-news has caused me to spend even more time "not-being-in--field"; since I need to be in office / on phone when J of Kiev..
actually Ivan, which he told me is John in Russian ?, Rene (not Rene with Blu-Lthr) of Fr, Dan of CH etc need me to be (tu) & then Johnny the Young of Mi Casa volunteered to sell his slow, loud, economical,
not so hot for a "Date" Ami8 next spring & use the proceeds to buy the Fulvia ! What ??? He was upset & unhappy when I announced - some months back - that it was time to sell the Ful ! Barbara, who is afraid of the Ful, accused me, at that time, of infantile-jealousy; since JtY is now old enough to drive the Ful, She said I was selling the Ful to spit him !
Go Figure ???
J t Y said, "if U sell
my Ful U have to give me a Gam & promise to drive me to school each morning when the weather is un-Gamma-Like".
Yes, we have no Bananas & thus 'we' did not make a
real-effort to sell Ful, but I still had fun detailing interior with wet q-tips & playing w/ all sorts of sealers, floor-waxes, rubber treatments, with help & advice from my retired neighbors.
I did get some wonderful emails about purchasing it....but too many crazyish-persons (it seems) are looking for a "project car, they want "something for me to rebuild myself, with my own hands, over the next 25 winters". ha ha ha !!
I could not help them, other than to say...
you may want to replace the dash-cover,
Some said it was a sin to have removed the original-seats (still in my possession) ,,, but they never sat in the original unconfortable (& ugly) seats ! Not many compliments flowed in about the
RedWite&Blu (which is a lovely WW I Battle Song. if you like battle songs !, sang by English speaking (singing) Soldiers in Trenches .. Fellas who were, I assume, not happy at the time)....
Paint-Scream; sorry...I meant...
Paint-Scheme !!! ... So the Paint-Scheme (including worktimemoney that would be involved to undo it) didn't add much to hundreds of "real-offers" that didn't arrive.
Honestly, I've so many 'eggs in ma fryin-pan' these days that I'm glad I've no time to actually go about seriously trying to sell "my Z"....or the 3 Gam interiors I now have or sell a Gam nor sell Barb's Y, nor sell the many sets of Lanc Mag-Wheels ..Ful & Gam, nor sell other Lancia odds & ends that I should sell ! I'd like to sell Barbara's 12yr old Y so she can drive a newer car w/ A/C, more airbags etc...but she'd "rather fight than switch" ! She loves her underpowered Y, especially now that it has "zocko-wheels" ! So, who am I to fight smart decisions -
to keep 1 Z & 1 Y in the G family ?
Then, when John told me that he was to be the new Ful owner, Barbara stopped talking to both of us (which, we agreed has some benefits; ha ha ha). Then she accused me if being a poor-influence on an innocent boy; so then we washed & waxed her Y...ahem...courtesy of a Class A Car wash w/ free vacuuming. Then we paid for its bi-yearly (every 2 years ? is that bi-yearly?) service & then were too broke now - after paying for that service - to put fuel in the Ful.
She didn't even notice anything afterwards... or - if she did ... she was low-key in her euphoria ! No, thats not really true ... actually she said - a few days later , "it drives like a new car; it is much faster & quieter & red-dash-lights have stopped blinking & my rear wiper functions again & why didn't all this stuff get fixed earlier ?"
She was, of course, right...but finding 2 days when she was to be Lancia-less is like trying to steal my beer ! Almost Impossible! ha ha; she could have driven the Ful for the 2days her Y was in the shop !
Actually, the cost of the Y service was actually OK...no more beer for 6 months ! ; since it is actually the1st major-service in 5 or 6 yrs, so the actual operating cost averages out to actually be only pennies per month & she still loves 'My Lancia' (her words) meaning 'her Y' & now she talks to us again !
Back to:
not-selling the Ful: A Gam friend came to visit some weeks back; he yelled at me for even thinking about selling the Ful .. ...
cheech John, he said, nobody needs 2 Gam...sell 1 of them,,,,keep the Ful ! This friend is yet another John, but he is not American. He owns 7 or 8 Gam Cpe, 2 Kappa Cpe (at last count), a Y (for everyday driving) & lord knows what else -besides business Vans & Trucks- is hidden in his company's warehouse...... he is, btw, in the wooden-flooring business, not the Auto-Trade. Another Case of
Advanced Lancia Nuttiness. Long may he (we) Live !!
In any case, after having such a great time really truly & honestly in Fr. in 2010, again, again driving "My-Z-Sport" with so many other Posh-Lancia-Fulvia-Sport-Z-Owners, this year, what would I do if I had no Ful ?
Go Back to Drinking ? Polka Classes ? Violin Lessons ?
