The past weekend was an orgy of sports car action. Saturday, BMW and Mercedes were the featured marques at Cars in the Park, the “everyman’s section” of The Allure of the Automobile exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. The SCM Isetta was featured next to a BMW 507 (owned by SCMer Brown Maloney) and and an M1 (owned by SCMer Tom Anderson, owner of Carrera Motors in Bend, OR). Our four-year-old Bradley decided the Isetta was his personal mobile playset, and invited other kids to come scramble around on it.
The BMW club offerings were organized by SCMer Brian McCone, and the Mercedes Club by SCMer Allen Stephens. We’ve never owned a really good 2002, and seeing so many of them in one place had me repeatedly checking the balance in my checking account. On the Mercedes side, we haven’t yet settled on what our next Benz should be, but a finback with floorshift is currently leading the race.
The following day we exercised our new-to-us 1967 GTV on an Alfa tour, followed by a memorial tribute to Bob and Margaret McGill, who played a large part in the development of the Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon.
The GTV was restored bySCMer Dave Rugh over twenty years ago for his wife, Colleen, for use as a daily driver. Outfitted with Rugh suspension and a mild 1750cc engine, it is easily the best-driving Alfa I have ever owned. It’s nice to have it in the SCM fleet next to the Giulia Spider Veloce. Now I’m thinking that a family-friendly Giulia Super or a 1969-71 Berlina is all we need for a full house. Anybody have one, email me at keith.martin@sportscarmarket.com. I promise this will be my last Alfa… until the next one!
