Pinnin Fever
Yep, it's my fourth Pinninfarina hardtop. One was destroyed in the Great Flood, but I've still got parts of it on Kris's car. That makes three of them now in the barn and although I'm putting up with some concerns from Karen and Kris about having all these tops, I'm happy that I've got the top situation under control.
Yeah, I know, OK, I'm ill. Three restoration Spiders and only two Pinnin tops. One Plexiglass rear window and one glass. The plexiglass top would be perfect for the "Performance" car we're putting together with all the normal Fiat goodies, but the two tops are needed for the "Touring" cars that we drive. What is one to do.
Enter Andrew Hurt. While scanning the adds on Mirafiori one day, I come across Andrew's ad in "For Sale". He's in Huntsville, Alabama and has one for sale in "good" condition. After that last experience with shipping these tops, I'm a little nervous about purchasing one that isn't local. I might have thought about it maybe a second, and quickly shot Andrew a quick email offering him $550 for the top incuding shipping. He agreed, and that was that.
Andrew gets the highest rating of anyone for his wrapping expertise. He took the time and effort to make sure that the top survived it's ride in the bottom of a Greyhound bus. He bubble wrapped the glass, double wrapped the top with cardboard, and filled the voids with styrofoam blocks.
How was the top? I'm very satisfied. It's ready for some very minor vinyl repair that we can do here, and replacing the front latches (no problem, we have lots of them), and making up some side latches hardware to go with the reproduction turnbuckles that we had made. Andrew said that the weather seals on the sides were worn, and they are, but the rear window is excellent and the weather seal around it and the front are in pretty good condition. I would call the condition of the top "Very Good" and with just a little work, suitable for either of our "drivers".
A little history about me and Pinnin tops. My blue car made it though it's whole life (four years) with me with only its convertible top. When I got out of the army, I picked up Green used with only 5,000 miles. It came with Pinnin Top #1 The story that I got was that the car was sold in Italy as a "Hardtop" model. Top #3 came from Virginia and was in pretty good condition, but had a plexiglass rear window that was scratched (repairable). It cost $350 plus $50 shipping on a Greyhound bus.
More information about latches
and Pinnin top copies is available HERE |
