I met Jim a long, long time ago. When he decided that a small Italian roadster was in his future we toured driving the most affordable examples. Typically without a 2nd gear synchro but very satisfying driving dynamics. When a clean, well developed car came available we tested and poked until satisfied that it was worth the extra expense. While a new Italian car owner always expects something to go wrong, destroying the engine wasn't expected. A small bolt that holds the timing gear in place came out and all the valves hit all the pistons. Needless to say it was while his wife was in the car for the first time. A winter rebuild of the wonderful twin cam with twin Dellortos was needed.
The best part? I got to tune and drive the car for a number of weeks. Glorious motoring indeed.
