Page 43 - Oct 2022

It was a far cry from the car sold at John Tune
Import Motors and that was just on the surface. A
closer look revealed a completely rusted out floor
and a destroyed engine compartment with the
engine itself missing its head.

" Bill offered it to me for $1500, which I thought was
way too much in 1985. He told me that I could take
the car and restore it and asked that I pay him the
price before I finished the project, " Bill says,
recalling his first sports "car" purchase. "I was
astounded for a second. Then I realized that Bill
wanted the car saved. I paid him about half of the
purchase price within a year and then we traded out
the rest after I replaced the interior rusted metal
for him on a Moretti race car."T
he Italia's first trip with Bob, other than when it was
towed away from Bill Clark's side yard, was on a
trailer to see just how bad its condition really was.

Luckily for the Italia, while the condition was bad
enough it wasn't impossible, at least in Bob's
eyes. He was already in love not only with the
reality of the car but with the idea of the car. He
had been hit by what the Italians call Colpo di
fulmine ,literally a lightning strike, love at first sight,
or to put it another way, "Sei tutti per me." You're
everything to me.
Once in love commitment quickly followed. There
The Italia could have been politely described as a would never be another divorce for this Triumph.
basket case and accurately described as a wreck, In 2022 Bob and the Italia celebrated their 37th
but Bill Clark still placed a high value on it.
anniversary together. The relationship is rock solid.
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