July 28, 1999
Sports car strikes chord with musician
By Garret Leiva
Herald editor
Violin concertos and cubic inch displacement may sound like discord on a grand scale, but Heather Ann Alpin hears perfect harmony.
Since early childhood, the Acme Township resident has been driven by her two true passions: music and automobiles. Today, the professional violinist and music teacher's long-time dream has not only been realized, it has its own parking spot in her parent's garage.
The ignition key to her heart's desire? A lavender pearl with abalonia flake Lamborghini Countach replica car.
Over the course of two years, she and her father, Ron Alpin built the replica car from the frame up. While the project took its share of blood, sweat and tears - luckily none spilled on the multiple layers of customized paint - the effort was well rewarded. Earlier this month the sports car garnered first-place in the 'replica car-all' class at the Cherry Festival Classic Car and Truck show held at the Grand Traverse Civic Center.
A veteran car show contestant, Heather Ann has won more than 30 awards with the other prized ride in her horsepower stable: a stock, low mileage 1977 Chevrolet El Camino. Despite her proven track record, Alpin still runs into the proverbial roadblocks of stereotypes and sexism.
"A lot of people feel that she plays violin and she's a girl and that she shouldn't have a car like this," said Ron Alpin.
Fortunately, Heather Ann has always driven over stereotypes.
"In junior high we had this reading period after lunch ... all my other girlfriends were reading "Seventeen" or magazines on the latest fashion trends. I was looking at Road and Track," said Alpin, now 22.
Preferring Matchbox and Hot Wheels over Barbie, her early passion for cars built as a she meticulously constructed model cars down to the finest detail. Often she would leave Barbie cooling her high heels as she took the doll's metallic gray Corvette for an imaginary spin. She even used glitter nail polish to custom paint the drab exterior.
"I didn't really care about Barbie, only what she was driving," said Alpin, who owns an extensive collection of Matchbox and scale model cars numbering in the thousands.
From these childhood dreams emerged the reality of Alpin's newest ride. The "Lambo," as it is affectionately referred to, is a fiberglass exotic car fitted to the steel framework of a 1987 Pontiac Fiero. The shell was purchased last July with money she saved from giving violin lessons and performing at private parties and weddings.
Assembling a Lamborghini Countach, however, requires more than a few bottles of Testors model glue. Instead, a great deal of time was spent sanding and filling imperfections in the car's gelcoat surface. The painting process alone consumed 9 hours, as unfavorable weather conditions slowed down the drying time. At every step, though, Heather Ann was right there tightening bolts or with her finger on the spray gun trigger.
"You wouldn't have even recognized her with the mask on her face and the bandanna around her head because she didn't want any lose hair to fall into the paint," noted Ann Marie Alpin, Heather Ann's mother.
While the iridescent violet and blues popping up in the paint scheme attract attention at an intersection or on the car show circuit, Heather Ann has also found an equally inquisitive audience in her music students.
"Many times they'll come to the lesson and the first thing they ask is: 'Can we see the car?,'" noted the part-time sheet music manager and string specialist at Marshall Music in Traverse City. "I've had brothers come because they want to hang out and see the "Lambo" and talk cars."