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The Starting Point

The car had been sitting for over a decade without having been driven or started. The body and interior was in good shape... I checked the oil and fuel levels, put in a new battery, and turned the key, but it didn't start. Time for some diagnosing... The engine turned over so it wasn't seized; that's good. I popped off the distributor cap and discovered the first problem. The wires from the pickup in the distributor were dry rotted; the insulation was brittle and had broken away, exposing the bare wires. Getting it started would take some work. Besides needing to get it running, I'm going to have to make sure everything is good... antifreeze, power steering, brake fluid, timing belt, etc. And there were other things that needed attention - both fuze box covers in the engine bay are cracked and need replacing, the tires are flat and probably leak air, the turn signal stalk is broken, to name a few. The car was housed nearly two hours from my home, making it hard ...
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The Backstory

Somewhere around 1980 while still in college, I first saw the Lancia Zagato at a new car dealership. I thought it was a really beautiful design with the removable targa top and half convertible rear section. The first decade : In 1983, I bought my Lancia from the original owner. I drove it on and off and loved the open air experience. I did a few mods to it - added yellow fog lights, replaced the 1/2" front anti-sway bar with a 3/4" one, had the power steering rack refurbished so it wouldn't leak fluid onto the exhaust, installed a new radio (AM / FM / cassette, of course, and an aux input for an external CD player) and power amp in the trunk. As years went by, I was driving it less and less, so… The second decade : I gave it to my Italian father-in-law for his birthday. He did some needed updates and repairs (repainted it because the paint had faded really bad in the sun, repaired the leather seats that had a few ripped seams). And he enjoyed droving it on and off fo...
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