"Muscle Car" Translates Very Well Overseas

By Diego Rosenberg - Feb 26, 2019

 

High Performance in KPH: Overseas Muscle Car Enthusiasts

 

While the American auto industry had a history of innovation, the rumpety-rump cars we enjoy were not quite state-of-the-art. No overhead cams, five-speeds, or four-wheel disc brakes like some from overseas. But you could always count on Detroit for style and power. That has been the Motor City’s biggest export to enthusiasts around the world. What is it about these vehicles that attracts those who live in places with narrow streets, expensive fuel, and Topolinos?

Domingo Cicirello lives in Lima, Peru, part of a family that has been in the fishing trade for generations. “As a kid, I’d visit the Detroit Diesel dealer with my dad to obtain parts for our shipping vessels,” he says. The dealership distributed AC-Delco calendars featuring classic GM vehicles. “I started collecting calendars and spent hours admiring those awesome cars.”

At an American car show in Italy, Alessandra Revrenna poses with the 1970 GTO she and husband Nicola restored thanks to help from the Internet, OPGI, and parts shopping during a U.S. holiday.

Domingo says American cars “were often seen in the street until the 1980s, with most being pre-1968 due to a military dictatorship that shut out imports through 1975, although some were brought by people with government connections. When I was 15, I wanted a 1957 Corvette, which was one of my favorites from the calendars, but some more realistic, non-GM cars caught my eye. With limited access to information in Peru, I was on my own, learning all I could by looking for cars and asking around. Older enthusiasts said a Mustang was the car to get. In fact, Mustangs were produced in Peru in the 1960s, and five Shelby G.T. 350Rs were raced in the Caminos del Inca, but I decided Camaros looked better.”

By age 16, Domingo had found several Shelby GTs, “but they needed too much work for a kid with limited mechanical knowledge. Then, while checking out another car, I noticed a vehicle that was unlike anything I had seen: a ratty 1971 Dodge Challenger owned by an old lady. It wasn’t a high-performance car, but there was something about it. I continued searching, but that Challenger kept lurking in the back of my mind. When a Blockbuster franchise arrived in Peru, I stumbled upon a movie that featured a Dodge Challenger on the cover. I watched it more than 20 times before returning it. I was hooked on Mopars for life! I then went back and bought that Challenger, which eventually became a 1970 Vanishing Point clone.”\

Nicola and Alessandra Revrenna’s 1970 GTO as bought.

The Internet has been indispensable in bringing his car back to life. “If it wasn’t for the Internet, I doubt I would have been able to create a Vanishing Point clone in Peru,” says Domingo. “I learned 95 percent of what I know from exchanging information with enthusiasts over the web.”

Thanks to the vibrant American import scene, finding parts was easier than what you’d assume. “I have found my fair share of parts and even rare cars locally just by scrounging and hunting them down. I acquired tons of Mopar N.O.S. locally though the years, which I have sold to Americans to fund my addiction. What’s been tougher was learning to do repairs properly myself.”

The imprint came to a different overseas muscle fan, Nicola Revrenna, another way. “The Caserma Ederle American military base is near my home in Vicenza, Italy, and I can recall the first time I heard a V-8 engine on the street. I believe it was a second-generation Camaro. It bewitched my 12-year-old self!”

Taking the GTO apart.

It was in 2014 that Nicola “decided it was time to have a V-8,” he says. “I found a Chevy Nova, but we could not agree on price. Then, in the classifieds, I found a 1970 Pontiac GTO 200 miles from home. I had no idea what it was, but from the photos it seemed beautiful.”

Like many of us have experienced, the Goat looked better in pictures than in person. “The GTO had to be completely restored, which made me angry because the seller hadn’t indicated anything over the phone. Yet the GTO spoke to me, and I began to understand that she had been waiting for me for so many years. I would have to return her to the splendor of her past.”

Nicola and Alessandra’s exterior decorations.

Nicola didn’t have the grace of being from a country warm towards American cars. He says, “For parts, I started looking on the Internet. There are shops that order from American suppliers and then increase the price, but I used them only in exceptional cases. For most parts, I entrusted OPGI thanks to their excellent online catalog for a non-expert and having an Italian shipper’s warehouse near their offices. We also spent a holiday in the U.S. looking on Craigslist and eBay. We found a radio in a junkyard near Joshua Tree National Park, and a tire jack in a store near Lake Tahoe.

“My wife Alessandra and I worked on the GTO Monday through Friday, after work until late at night, plus practically every weekend. A total of 1,400 hours aside of the engine, transmission, and paint,” Nicola says. “Restoring the GTO allowed us to really get to know the car, where all the parts belonged, and how they worked. When we started her for the first time, we were in heaven.”

Alessandra patiently waits for the 400/350 engine.

The GTO achieves a new milestone in its restoration.

Sierra Yellow was the sixth most popular GTO color in 1970.

Nicola and Alessandra’s Sierra Yellow 1970 GTO in the Italian countryside.

Nicola expresses his satisfaction of owning the American GTO.

SOURCE: MUSCLE CAR REVIEW

AUTHOR: Diego Rosenberg