Cars rebuilt and restored

I owned two rare Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciales which I bought in 1980 and 1989. Each took six years to restore, with much help from family, friends and especially the generosity of Alfa Romeo Club of South Africa members. 

I became so interested in the designer of these aerodynamic cars, Franco Scaglione (1917-1993), that I spent years researching his biography, from 1980. I published a few magazine biographies of him in 1986 and 1988, but I had not completed the research. The final biography was published in November 1994 in 'Automobile Quarterly' (Vol. 33, No. 3). In 1995, my wife and I travelled to Suvereto, Italy, and met his wife and daughter. His wife died a few years ago and I am still in contact with his daughter. 

The red one I sold in 1997, the blue one in 2000. The red one is in the car museum in Franschhoek, South Africa, and the blue one is in Oregon, USA.

1937 Chevrolet Coupe with 1958 Plymouth 318 V8 engine

I bought this car as a bare shell in 1964. Mainly with capable input from my father, brother, Danny Lombard, Hilton Woodhead and friends, I installed a 1958 Plymouth 5.2-litre V8 engine, a Chrysler Valiant manual gearbox, Dodge Fargo rear axle and wheels and built it into a comfortable, quiet and fast road-going car. I selected the paint colours, designed the new dashboard and shaped the mudguards. I sold this car in 1966 to my brother Mike. He improved it further before selling in 1967, to start on building his six US V8-engined streetrod cars over the next ten years.

1937 Chevrolet Coupe with 1958 Plymouth 318 V8 engine

These three cars formed a large part of my design career. The old Chevrolet mudguards, dashboard and colour scheme were my own modifications/designs, while the Scaglione Alfa Romeo Speciale work enhanced my design sense. Each of Scaglione's fifty car designs I drew for my published magazine articles and for his biography.