The Fidia was driven to my shop and the owner and I went over it, assessing the main points we had to tackle. The car looked very nice from ten feet, had good paint and nice contrasting interior and very nice brightwork. At closer inspection several rust bubbles showed up, it became clear the paint was very roughly applied (and cheap quality) and the interior had an “off” color throughout. In sunshine exposed places the leather was pumpkin color, in hidden areas it was red. The engine (very) obviously needed a rebuild and the engine compartment showed a (very) quick glossy black paint job over pretty much everything that did not need any paint. The car appeared very solid with the main rust in the corners of the doors and rear valance. We agreed that I start to dismantle it and see if I need to do a full restoration or can maybe get away with a partial one. I only offered that because the car looked really honest and it has a long known California history. The disassembly started the week after it got to my shop…
