Their Cars: One Man's Alfa

By Pete Vack

Does this look like someone in the midst of a mid-life crisis? Nah, just Rich Minor, a happy Alfa owner.

We first caught sight of Rich Minor's green 1972 Alfa Spider at a stoplight coming out of our neck of the woods. The top was down, the driver was wearing one of those neat 1950s ivy league cap that disappeared with the JFK administration, and he looked about as happy as a middle-aged guy could be. The car sounded good too, and in an instant, he was off, smoking only slightly, the injection running just a bit rich.

We spotted him again a few days later turning on a street near our house, and jumped into the car to try to find him. It was a nice day, the sun was out and again the top was down (always a good sign), and figured he would be stopped outside of his or someone else’s house with the car proudly in sight. Took about three minutes through cul-de-sacs before we found the Alfa and an instant friend.

Rich is a guy who truly enjoys his car; not for him the expensive maintenance on a garage queen, (see story at left) but a reliable, enjoyable classic which is fun to work on and won't deplete his lump sum pension. Originally from New Jersey, Rich works as a claims advisor for a major insurance company, and had owned a variety of interesting cars in his distant and not so distant past. "I hadn’t had anything but a family sedan for years and wanted something to work on and drive for fun," Rich said. "I had always liked Alfas, but never owned one, and the marque was on my short list when I began to search for a car."

And was his family happy when he came home with this? So far so good. The Alfa is in very good shape, and Rich is working to make it even cleaner.

Alfas can be difficult to find in good shape. 1972 was a whopping good year for Alfa though, and thousands were imported to the U.S. For the most part, these descendants of the Duetto were smart, reliable, and for a while, there were a growing number of dealers throughout the U.S. As they aged, rust invaded, interiors fell apart, injection systems went sour and dealers disappeared. Never worth a great deal of money, most fell in disrepair and stayed there. Rich had found one which had been suitably repaired, and knew it. Therein lies an interesting tale of how to refurbish a car and not lose your tail. We'll let Rich tell it:

"I purchased the car from a Ben Powell who in turn had bought the Alfa the car when he was interested in getting back into sports cars. A friend that restored cars told him he should really try an Italian car--the quality was so much better, so he looked for an Alfa, but found nothing but rusty junk. He bought a Hemmings and found the '72 Spider nearby. The man who owned it was the head of the Regional Jail and he had actually gotten the body repairs done in the automotive repair shop at correctional facility! The warden had been into racing and actually had a race ready MGB but had to get out because of a heart attack--he sold the Alfa to Ben and bought a MiniCooper. He died of a massive heart attack 6 weeks after he sold the car to Ben (this tells me-KEEP YOUR ALFA)."

There was no problem finding Rich once we tracked him down to a subdivision. It was, as we figured, enjoying life in the sun.

Obviously, the inmates were inspired and enthused--working on an Alfa is far better than breaking rocks. They did a very nice job replacing the sometimes difficult rocker panels and sheet metal around the fenders. It's not going to win any prizes but it’s as good as it gets within reason.

Rich got the car at a good price (he is embarrased to say $2000) and drove it home. "I didn't believe it would be in such great condition--I bought it on the spot (the owner had to get a ride home from work. We went to the DMV and I bought the vintage plates for it."

We did mention that Rich was going to make it even cleaner---

Rich's son and daughters think the car is great, but his wife thinks its signs of a mid-life crisis. "No way", said Rich. "Besides, the car's not even red."

Will the thrill last? Will Rich have to spend his children's college fund money on new brakes and fuel injection tune up? Or will we see him again, driving the Alfa with the top down and heater up, smiling as he shifts up at seven grand to get around that Lexus? Stayed tuned, we'll have more of the adventures of one man's Alfa in future editions of VeloceToday.