In a message dated 6/23/03 3:03:06 PM, Tom Nyzio writes:
>>If the last Gran Crits were built around 1989, what years were the 3V's
made in the U.S.? It's my understanding that after the initial import of
Alberto-made Volumetricas, the 3V was made in California, while the TEAM 3V (which
had an aluminum fork and, at some point after initial production, a fastback
seatstay) was said by catalogs to be imported from Italy.<<
The so-called "Russian Masi" 3V, a special edition of 100, was built in
California around 90-91 and the Diamond Jubilee special edition 3V sometime after
that I think. And there was another special edition 3V that I saw recently
that I forgot the name of. These, as well as regular 3V's were built in
California, but for how long I don't know. Years later, in the 96 Torelli catalog,
The Volumetrica and Team 3V are both listed but no mention is made one way or
another where they were built, (though they do specifically mention the Cran
Criterium, Nuovo Strada and Gran Corsa as all being imports by that time). So if
the Gran Criterium stopped being built around '89 (Jim Allen's recollection,
but he said he wasn't sure... he said Joe Starck would know so I wrote him
this morning), there apparently were at least a few years more activity at San
Marcos building the 3V.
> Yeah, I know that the tail end of production falls outside the timeline...
True, it does... but Dale might cut us some slack since we're talking about some fine lugged steel here, and the demise of a major marque. If he does object (Yo, Dale? Holler if we're bein' bad, 'K?), anyone with solid info on the "last days" of Masi can contact me off-list. And if you're interested in receiving the collected info, contact me as well and I'll forward all the comments your way after everyone weighs in. (But don't all holler at me yet... this is just if Dale says this thread's a no-no).
We've had a lot of discussion here about Masi's early days, both in the US and in Italy. There's a big gap of info (say from 90-96 maybe?) between the heyday of San Marcos and the reappearance of Masi as the fingernails-on-the-blackboard fat-tubed Asian import . I'd love to have some of that history filled in, so if anybody out there knows, please sing out!
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA