There it is, hidden away for years in a barn in Rochester Minnesota, a 1967 Alfa Romeo Duetto with 56K on the odometer. Back in the ’70’s my brother drove it out from Boston where he purchased it for my father. My dad and I worked on it together on and off in the late 70’s, we pulled the head, rebuilt the Weber Carbs, cleaned up the wiring and charging system, applied new paint and upholstery, but alas, I moved off to college, and other priorities took over for my Dad. The brake calipers froze up and without the internet, my dad found getting parts was difficult and he lost interest.

One of my fathers favorite vehicles is a Bobcat, needless to say, it came in handy for removing the pile of bricks that stood in our way to move the car.

To take this shot I had to remove a sizable pile of wood and furniture that was stacked on the car over the years. Once the we inflated the never used 24 year old tires, it became obvious that the next challenge would be actually moving the car. With all the brake calipers frozen shut, the Bobcats use as a nimble towing rig became valuable, hosing the rotors with WD-40 helped a bit as well.

Looks can be deceiving, little did I know that the inside of the engine was far beyond outside condition.

It seems mice find combustion chambers make good toilets or compost piles, for in this car the two cylinders were the exhaust valves were open (if you call a few millimeters open) the pistons were welded to the cylinder walls by a nice slurry of urine and nut shells.

In the 70’s my dad went to town with a nice industrial grade rubber backed red carpet. Notice the nice nest in the glove box, in the center was a perfect skeleton curled up, must have been a hard winter. Needless to say, the car reeked of urine, so I hosed the hole thing with soap and water before rapping it up for hauling out to Bellingham Washington.