FALL COLOURS
by Bernardo Pisarzewski
The fall of 2005 will be remembered as a
wet and soggy one, and according to meteorologists, our
region had three times the normal amount of precipitation.
This of course put a damper on some of our plans to view
the fall colours this season. However, the above-average
precipitation made it such, that our region experienced
a late fall, and the colours lasted well into late October.
And as luck would have it, it was in late
October that one of our members, Daniel Baragiotta, invited
the VEA to tour and view the fall colours in the Rigaud
region and to assist an impromptu seminar with master
panel beater Victor Ignacio. As most of you may know Daniel
(or Bara as he is known by his contemporaries) is currently
restoring (with the help of Mr. Ignacio) a 1957 Lancia
Aurelia B 20. So on a crisp (and dry) morning, about two
dozen hardcore gear heads assembled at the Baragiotta
Estate to witness this restoration in progress.
As the visitors were greeted by Mrs. Baragiotta,
and invited to warm up with some coffee and treats, Daniel
began going through the intricate differences between
repairing and restoring. Undoubtedly this Lancia suffered
the ravages of time, and succumbed to rust and neglect
and Daniel indicated that to properly reproduce the panels
that had rotted out, the welding and panel-beating techniques
of the era, had to be adopted, hence, the artisanat of
Mr. Ignacio. Before our eyes, a panel to be welded on
the Lancia, was crafted by Mr. Ignacio, using a strip
of sheet metal, a wooden block, and body panel hammer.
There is an expression that says: "you know you've
mastered your craft, when you make it look easy."
And this dogma applied to Mr. Ignacio. Even though the
discussions throughout the morning barely dealt with the
other elements of a restoration, such as drive train and
trimmings, most of us agreed, restoring a car is not for
the faint of heart.
As I was leaving, I asked Daniel how he
felt about this project, two phrases came up: "labour
of love" & "money pit".
Buona fortuna mon ami.
© VEA
