birkins3

שלום לכל. מאחר שעניתי במספר שרשורים פה - ראוי שאציג את עצמי: שמי רון. בעבר גרתי בחיפה. כיום בארה"ב. OK, I just spent 10 minutes trying to write this on a keyboard without Hebrew letters - and it drives me nuts - so I am back to English. Sorry about it - but I honestly do not remember how to write properly without the markings. Anyway, before moving to NYC I had a 1988 Alfa Romeo Spider. It was sold around 1994 when I moved. Sometimes I wonder if anyone knows where it is today. I must have some pictures of the car somewhere that I can scan and upload. The Avatar is me in that car - but I must have better pictures of it somewhere. Currently no Alfas in my garage. I do have one proper "classic" car - an old roundie BMW 2002 which is very nice. It does not have the romantic feel of the old Alfa - but it is very nice and reliable. I also have a future classic that I use as a daily driver - a 1993 Miata. It seems, if I read the forum properly, that I am driving the unofficial Israeli car of the masses - a 1600cc Mazda. At least it is not automatic - and from what I noticed when I came for visits - Miatas do not exactly grow on trees in Israel either. If anyone is interested - I can try to find some pictures of my cars. I like classic cars, always have. It is a shame that I did not know of the vibrant classic car scene when I lived there.

'73 would not be a 730, I think - more like a Bavaria or 3.0S A 730 should look like the following: I have no idea what the prices are in Israel - but in the US, a car like this, that is not working and with no current road tags would be a $1,000 at most.

I am going with 89 for the red one.

More than this, I guess The general shape is the same, but I have to admit that there is something very crisp in the Lancia that just makes me happy. Not that the VDub is not a pretty car - it is just that for me, for some reason, the Lancia really stands out.

I have to admit that I do not see too much similarities between the Karman Giha and the Fulvia Coupe. Nice pictures. I am getting the feeling that I need to get me some ownership time with a Lancia like this.

Actually, I was thinking about the Ambroz prototype. On closer inspection - it does not seem to be it - but is very similiar - only shorter. http://www.tatra.demon.nl/cars_history_T97.htm

I am not sure what this red thing is - but something about it just shouts Tatra to me.

This is not a Ferrari. This is a CISItalia 202. This company later went out of business when they tried to create a Formula 1 car (designed by Mr. Porsche) and ran out of money. The assets of the company were bought by one Mr. Carlos Abarth who changed the name of the company to - you guessed it - Abarth - and the rest is history. More info - http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.php?file=car.php&carnum=2108

The Glas V8 you posted belongs to Mike O'hara - one of our local BMW gurus. He owns a repair shop here in town. Here are a couple more pictures of the same car: Mike is a very nice guy. He often drives around in a 2002 truck he uses to carry stuff for his business:

The HEMI is a trademark of Chrysler (or DC, nowdays). It really did not introduce anything that was not seen before - Alfa Romeo used Hemispherical head design decacdes before Chrysler put them to use. While the design has it's advantages - emission controls in the modern world have basically made it obsolete. FWIW - Today's HEMI engines offered by Chrysler and it's sub-divisions do not use a real hemispherical design - for exactly this reason. The greatest American engine was and still is, to my opinion - the Chevy small block.

They made 253 copies. Price guide for a #2 car (very good condition) is 280K - 380K USD.

Yes. BMW bought the original design from an Italian company. Also, in the UK - another company bought the rights from BMW and offered a version with only 3 wheels instead of the 4 (with the smaller track in the back) that BMW offered - because the 3 wheeled version was considered a motorcycle and as such had less tax associated with it. More details: http://www.whirlingpool.com/isetta/history/history.htm

In the late 80s I saw a Triumph TR250 (TR5 for most purposes) at a small used car dealership on the road that goes from the north into Tel-Aviv (Namir?) - I belive it was green.

The crossfire is a new body on the previous generation Mercedes SLK (not the new one). They look OK - but they are heavy and not too sporty). Not exactly my cup of tea - but they are nice looking.

The Brits usually refer to it as a good example to why they no longer have a real independent car industry. However - if you like it - that's all that matters, no?

The BX was actually a nice car. But I was looking for a sport/sporty car and wanted a bit more performance. What I did was wait about an extra year until I had a bit more money and bought an Alfa Romeo Spider instead. The Abarth was a cute little car - but I still think the Alfa was more fun

I will agree with that. I was looking for a sporty car in the early 90s and went to test drive one. It was a fun little thing but it was not faster than my parent's Citroen BX - so I passed. They are still cute little cars that are fun to drive.

I guess I can see it. I imagine Ettore's inspiration for it was a Picasso...

Even the T32?

I would agree - it makes no sense to buy the car and let it stand for 9 more years. By the time you are ready to enjoy it reviving it would be a lot more expensive. If it is not worth it at the moment to bring it back to regular use - it is probably not worth waiting for it. I could understand if this was a grade A investment car - but an Autobianchi Abarth, as cute as they are - is probably not the going to ever be worth enough for that. Just my $0.02 FWIW - Please do not take it as something against these cars - I think they are great - and back in the early 90s when I was looking for my first sport car one was very high on my wish list. I would still love to own one today.

The S14 is a bit of a hybrid - the block is based on the M10 design but the head is a shorter version of the S38 head (minus two cylinders).

When you are right, you are right. We did not get the 1502 in the US - so I assumed it had the same nomeculture as the 1600-2. Apparently I was wrong. Thanks for the update. However - according to http://www.motorbase.com/vehicle/by-id/443/ - there was a 1500cc engine offered in this body style. Not sure how accurate it is.

The BMW 1500-2, 1600-2, 1802 and 2002 had the number 2 at the end because they had 2 doors. I agree - the car for sale is not an '02 (E10 in BMW's internal code) - but a Neue Klasse - if it is a 1800cc - this is a BMW 1800 as was said - even if the license calls it 1802. Look at the post-war history section of the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW

At least one more...

This is a nice Mercedes. The nice thing about the US is that there are a lot of nice cars, especially on the west coast (almost no snow, no salt on the roads = little rust). However - like every other place - there are good people to buy cars from and there are bad people to buy cars from. Nothing new here. As usual - just be careful and look around. Sooner or later you will find the right car. When I was looking for a BMW 2002 roundie - it took me 2 years until I found a really nice one that was not priced crazy. Enjoy your new car. PM me if you need connections to people that know old Mercedes cars. I do not know much about them myself - but have a friend in Portland that collects them.