Yes, Steve, you have definitely gone 'over the edge'.
No-one in their right mind (mind you no-one has ever accused Alpine victims
of being in their right mind) would look at the odometer and believe it!
Perhaps ' The Mole' could comment -
When you bought the Black Beauty (for a pittance I might add) did
you believe what the odometer said? Did you get a written guarantee? Did
you check with the Motor Vehicles Branch? Did you even evaluate the Vendor?
Did you know that the speedometer came out of a grab-bag from another
hapless Alpine owner who later bought a Chrysler convertible! (what can you
expect from anyone who would buy a Chrysler convertible?) Did you know that
even the Vendor came out of a grab-bag from the Federal Government? Did
you know that the engine, tranny and (new) clutch came from a guy here in
Victoria who had 'given up' on Alpines and was into some kind of
muscle-car?. Did you know that there was a little girl (Yes you did because
I told you by direct e-mail) in Vancouver who still thinks she was Jackie
Kennedy riding around in Victoria in the Black Beauty a few years back - she
was about 12 then - now 16 or so - who is still waiting for 'her car' to
drive up to the door (just off Broadway)?
I do digress - the point is - an ODOMETER is a useless piece of
equipment in most cars - and definitely in an Alpine! The only things you
can trust when looking at an Alpine are - your eyes, your ears, your hands -
and probably your wallet!
I'm with you, Steve
Happy New Year to you and all our fellow Alpine Nut Cases!
Barrie Henderson
'Pineless in Victoria' (I'm working on it)
At 08:32 12/31/96 -0500, you wrote:
>On the way home from work last night I experienced a classic car moment.
>The Alpine ticked over the magical 100,000 mile mark. I slowed down to
>watch the 9s turn slowly to zeros. I even pulled over to try to
>disconnect the speedo cable so I could take a picture when I got home.
>After fiddling for a minute, I decided that the moment was all that
>mattered, so I drove on. When I pulled into my garage the odometer read
>1 mile. 100,001 miles. Wow. Well, there was that time that the speedo
>cable broke and I didn't get a new one for a few weeks. I drove it
>quite a bit then. And, then there was the time I sent the speedo to
>Nisonger for rebuilding and regearing. About a month of driving there.
> Of course, there was another month at Nisonger when I had to send it
>back because they forgot to regear it. Oh yea, it needed regearing
>because it was about 10 miles per hour off when I first bought the car.
>And, of course, it was 40 miles per hour off when I installed the
>overdrive, and I drove the car like that for about six months before
>sending it to Nisonger the first time. Then there's the fact that its
>not the original speedo for the car. The crazy thing is . . . it was
>still a special moment. Maybe I've gone over the edge?
>
>Steve Semeraro
>Series V Alpine
>1968 Marcos GT
>
>
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