I'd quit motorcycling shortly after that son had been born. We then lived in the city of Boston, a city with notoriously bad drivers (still 'officially' rated the 2nd worst in the nation), and with our son now off on his own she thought the Spider might be a good substitute for my possibly about to return Ducati passion.
Alas (for her) that was not to be -- but that car has been a big part of our lives ever since. And now in my 70s it IS the right substitute for that old Italian motorcycle passion.
When we first had the car while living in Boston having good mechanical help wasn't a problem. We had two mechanics, both originally from Rome Italy, who knew Fiats inside out. But our move to rural New Hampshire made that more problematical. And after about five years here the cars little niggling problems that were beyond my limited wrenching skills overwhelmed her, and for several years she sat unbefriended and alone in a shed some distance from our house.
All that changed when someone recommended to be that I visit AVA Restoration Services, a shop I had oggled but never actually visited -- thinking that all those true rarities -- various classic BMWs, Alfas, E-series Jags and the like -- parked out front put it out my little Spider's league, and (perhaps even more) the limits of my wallet.
But I did eventually visit and doing so was a pleasant eye opener, because despite all that glitters out front (and even more in the bays inside) Alex Vogel, the shop's proprietor, is more than happy to tangle with an occasionally temperamental Fiat. And mine has been thus running wonderfully ever since.
Thus this post. Equally one of appreciation, and, should it be helpful, a recommendation for fellow Spider nuts in rural southwest New Hampshire.
AVA is in Dublin NH. Here's their website: http://www.avarestoration.com/
And here's the type of company one's spider will be keeping when she's in there. (That's mine in the upper left)
-don
