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 for about a decade. He moved it to his summer home about 2 hours away so that it could be stored in a garage.

The third decade: My father-in-law was driving it less and less. I had a few chances to drive it when I visited the summer home, but it was two hours away and so it sat mostly unused.

The fourth decade: My father-in-law was wanting to clear out his garage and was ready to get rid of the car. But with my own retirement, I had more time on my hands, and really wanted to get it back up and running again, not the least of which so that my sons could experience the car for themselves.

And so this story begins.