Our Alfa Romeo’s bright-red paint was photogenic but a mess in person, holding back the condition grade for the whole car. Though the paint was applied relatively well, it bore the hallmarks of bad preparation: wavy sheet metal, scratches from poor sandpaper selection, and painted trim obviously left in place during the respray.
Repainting the car would help, but we couldn’t justify the five-figure expense–this was a driver, after all, not a concours winner. After our repairs, maybe we could call its condition No. 3-, meaning not quite No.3 but significantly better than our No. 4 starting point.
So we invited–okay, begged–Tim McNair, perennial Pebble Beach and Amelia Island Concours winner, to take a look at our car. Could he make it look good from, say, 5 feet away? And what if he detailed the engine and undercarriage? Could he make our Alfa a solid No. 3 car?
He could. Here’s how he did it.
