I guess I don't consider myself a "collector" per se - back in 1974 I bought a Bottecchia, the old Special model. I really liked that bike and rode it for many years until I got hit by a tow-truck in the mid-90's. I wanted another Bott to replace it but there was no eBay back then and Bott's were no longer being imported and I didn't have any money anyway so I rode an old Peugeot I picked up at the Salvation Army for a few years. Then a couple of years ago I was on eBay and found a nice old 72 Bottecchia Giro d'Italia so I picked it up and "restored" it by putting some of the original parts back on that had been replaced over the years. I also have a 74 Peugeot UO-8 that I picked up for my then girlfreind in the early 90's (now my wife) and so I plan on restoring that one. Maybe I can even get her to ride it again although it'll probably be me since she's tall and we can ride the same size frame more or less. Then I picked up a slightly off-topic Panasonic touring bike that I strictly use for commuting. I don't really consider it to be "classic or vintage". Probably the last bikes I'm looking for (for now anyway) are a late 60's-early 70's Bottecchia Special to replace my old one and a KOF late 80's to early 90's Bottecchia similar to the one Ray Dobbins has pictured on his site (all the panographing not required :-) ). That's what I wanted back then to replace the old Special at the time so maybe I can finally get it.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/