1978 1600 Coupe

[GerardJPC]

It may be that most people here also look at the Betaboyz forum, but here's a link to the thread there about my 1978 1600 Coupe, which had an interesting previous owner.

http://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4294.0

[GerardJPC]

Hey ho: an unwelcome visitor over New Year.   Probably just some random grumpy drunko.  I have obtained a replacement window from Betaboyz.

[SanRemo78]

Nothing stolen? At least it was just a window and not keyed. Hopefully you managed to get the car under cover so the interior hasn't suffered water damage.
Guy

[neil-yaj396]

Fortunately a rare occurrence with older cars. Was it vandalism rather than an attempted theft?

[GerardJPC]

Vandalism.  Nothing stolen and no attempt to steal the car, as far as I can tell.  I drove the car to its usual dry storage place to await a new window.  Not a big deal, really.

I have found that theft of or from and serious vandalism of old cars is rare, although I've had some key damage, and someone sliced the hood of my 1977 Alfa Spider back in the day.

[GerardJPC]

Check out the interior of the driver's door of a forty five year old Beta (my brother is fitting the new window glass).  The paint is believed to be original, or mostly original.  "That's Life", The Daily Mirror, Jeremy Clarkson, and the bloke in the pub might be surprised.  The steel is not evidently thin/rubbish or stamped "CCCP", and the door is not rusty. 

The door on the other side of the car is not in quite such good condition, but it's not too bad, and there's a spare door in the shed just in case. 
By the way, in the background is a spare 1600 Lampredi.

[Kevinlincs]

"not stamped CCCP!" 
glad you still have a sense of humour about it all 

[GerardJPC]

I am fluttering some of the bloke in pub types on FB about Russian steel - many insist on the myth, because, because.  

Off topic:  Does anyone here know how to contact the Admin of the Beta Forum?

My login there appears to be in Limbo.  I have done the usual password change thing, but am not receiving the usual email (I have checked the spam tin).

Thanks!

[peteracs]

Hi Gerard

I admin the site and saw you had sent another registration which I approved, so not sure why you have issues. I will PM you so to take it off this thread.

Peter

[frankxhv773t]

There was very good article somewhere about a year ago (sadly I didn't save it) explaining how in terms of Italian government policy and international trade rules it was completely impossible for Fiat/Lancia to import steel from Russia.

[GerardJPC]

But despite that, bloke in pub will swear blind that Italy had a Communist Government (it didn't, obvs), and that the deal was done.

[frankxhv773t]

Reminds self "you can't argue with a man in the pub".

[Jai Sharma]

It would not surprise me if the “man in pub” thought that the window itself had rusted, based on his incontrovertible knowledge of Lancia and rust…..

[GerardJPC]

Tesco-a-rama!   

It took a while to get the broken window replaced.

Last week, the fuel line from the filter to the carb came off while I was driving.  Yikes!  Luckily the petrol poured down underneath the car and not across the top of the engine.  I was able to make a repair by the roadside using the 1970s toolkit.