2006-03-01 22:47:22 | Richard Boulais writes:

I purchased this car from Robinson's Sports Cars in San Antonio, TX on May 16, 1970 for $2,995. It had 46,000 miles and the interior showed a bit of neglect, but it drove like new. It had an Abarth exhaust with four large exhaust pipes which not only gave it a bit more power, but looked great and sounded incredible. This car could (and did!) cruise the West Texas highways very comfortably and reliably for sustained distances at 125 mph. It received significant hail damage in Del Rio, TX in early 1971 while I was away on temporary duty. It looked like someone had taken a ball-peen hammer to the entire topside. I had it repaired by Morris Robertson & Sons in Big Spring, TX. They stripped the car to bare metal and used "old world" techniques to take the dents out -- no filler or putty. When finished, the body was perfect. It almost seemed a shame to paint it because it was so stunning in natural metal. The original color was an off-white, but I had it painted pure white. Morris mixed a bit of blue with the white to give it a cool brilliance. It was factory equipped with a Blaupunkt AM/FM/SW, and I briefly had an 8-track installed under the right-side dash. With a baby on the way, I had no choice but to sell the car in late 1971 to buy something more family friendly. It was very difficult to part with this car, and I still miss it (a condition only somewhat tempered by the purchase of 1E12331 in 1988). I sold it to Fred Abbot, who was one of my T-38 student pilots at Webb AFB in Big Spring, TX.