18 FEB: ALFISTI .v. TIFOSI!

CENTRAL
& EAST
MIDLANDS
SECTION
NEWSLETTER
2011 EVENTS
PACKED
PROGRAMME
INSIDE!!
An icy day at
Bruntingthorp
e for AutoItalia
photo-shoot.
See inside.
18 FEB:
ALFISTI .v. TIFOSI!
It’s back! A few weeks away yet, but on 18
February (a new date) battle recommences on
the long alley skittles arena as we fight to win
back the coveted Broken Piston Trophy from our
rivals with their prancing horses. In this epic
series it is honours even at six-all. Honestly, in
the pride stakes this contest dwarfs the Ashes…
It will all take place as per tradition at the
Griffin Inn in Swithland, starting from 7.30pm.
We’ll have a traditional supper too - taking a
breather from the heat of competition during the
evening. Cost is £10 a head to cover the meal
and room hire and a great evening is guaranteed.
Please put this in your diary now… and drop a line
to John to reserve a place. Full advance payment
will be required as we cannot have any refunds
for non-attendance - venue’s rules.
So, how has your Alfa been behaving in this
weather? (Don’t forget, we are not allowed to
take the Michael out of Global Warming, this is
just ‘Seasonal Variation’. Yeah, right.) My GT
stayed in the garage during the snow, having
racked up a years worth of mileage in a bit over 6
months with my commute, I have been using our
Punto Sporting which has for the most part been
great. Glad we changed its clutch, brakes and
tyres recently. Maria’s MiTo has been fab - a real
bundle of fun, and remarkably capable with its
‘All Weather’ mode and fast warming-up engine.
We’re looking forward to the running in phase
finishing though still with just 1,000 miles on the
clock.
Inside this edition:
2010 Event Review
Full 2011 Event Calendar
Section AGM & Quiz Night
AutoItalia V6 Photo
Photo--shoot
MITCAR 2011!
Our Alfas… and more.
It’s been great fun to look back at the hundreds
of photos taken at events in 2010 while compiling
the event review piece inside It only seems a
short time ago that we were looking forward to all
the Alfa Centenary events, and particularly the
expedition to Milan. Phil Gotts’ article in the
December club magazine was a very well balanced
view if the organised chaos, but even with the
latter, I’d certainly do it all again tomorrow as I
think many of our number would.
I was trying to think of the most memorable
thing - actually, not too difficult for me, it was the
flat-out ride around the steep, cobbled streets of
Barga in an ’Ape’, a 125cc Scooter powered,
ahem, ‘People Carrier’ - six up - driven by the total
legend that is Leonardo Giuliani - one of our
Central & East Midlands Section members in
Tuscany. It was just unbelievable. Never has so
much fun been had on three wheels and
sometimes two… maybe one! Well, that and the
incredible passenger ride he gave me in his Series
4 Spider, tyres squealing at every turn up the
tightest hairpinned, steepest road imaginable up
into the town, then foot-flat 90mph down the main
street. At midnight. Not something you get to do
much in the UK, well, without getting locked up!!
“Tis OK, the Polizia ‘ave all gone to bed”, said
Leonardo. Only in Italy…
Talking of legends, how fantastic is it to have
Gabriele Tarquini as the new club President?
Can’t WAIT to see him next year as he has
promised to come over especially. I’m working on
a brief biographical piece on him for the next club
mag now so another excuse to dig out the old
photos!
Thanks to everyone who’s sent in pics and
reports about their cars; our local members are
always interested in what’s going on so do keep
‘em coming please. Oh, and we’ve gone A4 now numerous reasons I will not bore you with, and
there will soon be an online version too! Hope you
still like it and find plenty to read.
Anyway, here’s to a terrific 2011.
Cheers!
Our list of activities is already HUGE
and can be seen in full inside. We hope
it will offer something for everyone,
from indoor ‘socials’ to lots of driving
activity, ‘Park up and Polish’ events and
visits to exciting places too.
A few highlights include:
MITCAR 2011 - now confirmed at
Stoneleigh Abbey near Coventry on
Sunday 14 August. Entry still just £5
per car! More inside.
A visit to COSWORTH ENGINEERING
- being organised for a Saturday after
Easter, all thanks to our ‘inside man’ at
Bilstein, Pete Brailsford. Cosworth now
develops tuned UK Subarus and F1
engines of course.
Trip to Padova Classic Car Show in
October. A ‘FlyDrive’ long weekend is
planned with our group staying in and
around Barga in Tuscany.
Leicester Aeroclub Open Day – 4
September, which will feature our
display of Alfas and this year the WWII
‘War Birds’ including Spitfires, will
return.
We will be keeping The George &
Dragon in Thringstone as our regular
monthly meeting venue for 2011 and
have some good ideas for themed
nights there, including the obligatory
Fun Concours Night, a ‘Blag-a-Ride’
plus a new Ladies Night and Barbecue
are also in the offing.
We will be supporting all of the National
AROC events starting with Spring Alfa
Day in April, and the Auto Italia Events
too, including a new trip to Brooklands
in March.
Fantastic stuff!
Alfisti is edited and produced by
John Griffiths
AROC Central & East Midlands
Section Secretary
Tel: 0774 8881317
e-mail: jg.alfa@tiscali.co.uk
Section website, for latest news and more:
www.AROC-UK.COM/CEMIDS
John
■ Alfisti Issue 130 ■ January 2011
AROC Central & East Midlands Section Events 2011
Date
Event
7 Jan 2011
New Year Meal - La Torre, High Street, Coalville
**NOTE**
Please note there is no regular meeting at the George and Dragon in January owing to the
New year Meal
9 Feb ‘11
Regular Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7.30pm
18 Feb ‘11
Annual Skittles Challenge - Alfisti v Tifosi! - The Griffin Inn, Swithland. From 7.30pm
25 - 27 Feb
Race Retro - Stoneleigh Park, Coventry. No official AROC presence this year, but it is still an
interesting event to attend early in the year.
9 Mar ‘11
Regular Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7.30pm
TBC Mar ‘11
Coventry Transport Museum - including special parking for our Alfas in Millennium Place
13 Apr ‘11
Regular Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm
17 Apr ‘11
Spring Alfa Day - Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambs, CB22 4QR
Includes Section Convoy Run to start.
30 Apr ‘11
Auto Italia - Brooklands. Includes Section Convoy Run to start.
TBC April/
May ‘11
Visit to Cosworth Engineering, Northants. Saturday p.m. tour (approx 3 hours). More
details in a later edition. Limited numbers, priority given to regular event attendees.
11 May ‘11
Regular Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm
5 Jun ‘11
Italian Car Concours - Stanford Hall near Lutterworth, Leicestershire
8 Jun ‘11
Section Fun Concours Night, at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm
26 Jun ‘11
Cotswold Alfa Day - Buscot Park, Faringdon nr Swindon.
13 Jul ‘11
‘Blag-a-Ride’ Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm
17 Jul ‘11
National Alfa Day, Basildon Park, Lower Basildon, Reading, Berks RG8 9NR
10 Aug ‘11
Spider Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm
14 Aug ‘11
MITCAR - Midlands Italian Car Day at Stoneleigh Abbey, near Coventry. (See below)
4 Sep ‘11
Leicester Aeroclub Open Day - Leicester Airport, from 10.30am
11 Sep ‘11
Autumn Italian Car Day - Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwicks.
14 Sep ‘11
Twilight Drive at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm
12 Oct ‘11
Section AGM and Alfa Quiz at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - from 7.30pm
TBC Oct ‘11
Tuscany Fly-Drive trip! Including visit to the superb Padova Classic Car Show. Section
‘lads’ trip, staying at and around Barga in
9 Nov ‘11
Regular Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7.30pm
11 - 13 Nov
Classic Motor Show - NEC Birmingham
14 Dec ‘11
Regular Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7.30pm
Lots more events to be added as time progresses
MITCAR 2011 Stoneleigh Abbey
near Coventry
Sunday 14 August
Following John’s suggestion, Bryan Alexander has pulled off
another coup securing another new venue for Midlands Italian Car
Day, keeping up our tradition of a new one each year.
The area we have for MITCAR is known as 'Home Park', which is
a big area of parkland in front of the cricket pitch which is just in
front of the Abbey itself. It is easily accessed from main drive through a gate and is fenced on that side. The
Abbey has been recently re furbished, with the upper floors converted to apartments and the ground floor
open to conducted tours. They are now trying to encourage events such as ours, so the timing is ideal. Entry is
just £5 a car and the MITCAR programme will give free entrance to the gardens and terrace at the side of the
house, which overlooks the River Avon and also has a café. Barbecues are OK and dogs will be allowed on a
leash (there are sheep about!).
We think that the venue will work irrespective of whether we get huge numbers like Chatsworth 2010, or
whether we find that we are back to 200!
The house is also open to conducted tours and Bryan has provisionally agreed two on a 'just turn up' basis
at 11.30 and 1.30 for £5 per head. (Note - no children due to expensive treasures!!)
The event area is relatively high and pretty flat when mown, NOT by the river but does not drain particularly
well. There will be a fall back of parking on various hard standing if we get a monsoon!
All in all though we think it will be great .The south west of the region is due a visit, the space is very big and
flexible, the price is right and the facilities suitable too. Should be a cracker!
Gazetta
News Snippets
SECTION DRIVE TO TUSCANY is being
organised for mid July. We have already
had some
takers, but
the books
are being
closed
from 1
February.
The
intention is
to travel
down through France staying over for
one night at a hotel en route, then
basing ourselves in the magnificent
Garfagniana Region in northern
Tuscany, centring on the wonderful
town of Barga. There is lots to do in the
area, including the beautiful coastal
town of Via Reggio and Modena and the
Ferrari Museum just a few hours drive
away too. If you wish to go please
contact Dave Atkins on 02476 396169
for more details.
CAR OF THE YEAR - Sadly the Giulietta
was beaten by
just 7 points
into second
place in
November by
the Electric
Nissan Leaf.
So it was the
first proper
car anyway...
NEW GIULIA impression was printed in
the Auto
Express in
December,
and very
smart it
looks. The
headlamps
look to be
mounted
very high and its flanks VERY Audi-esque.
Will it actually look like this, or will its
underpinnings really be Audi? We’ll see!
SECTION CALENDAR - Dave Atkins’
Brother in law
Chris has kindly
produced some
superb calendars
again this year
featuring some
excellent shots of
local members’
Alfas. John has a
few still available at £6 each (inc
postage) with all monies going to charity.
Drop John a line if you’d like one.
OTHER MARQUES
So, here it is, the Nissan Leaf - the European
Car of the Year. Thrilling isn’t it? Imagine
charging up its toxic batteries for the
maximum range of 100 miles, its energy
produced by coal-fired power stations
belching
toxic
emmisions
into the
atmosphere.
Nice and
green all
that.
Section AGM and Quiz Night
15 of us braved the weather and the ice-rink car park for
our AGM and quiz night in December at the George &
Dragon. Chairman Bryan introduced proceedings with a
quick review of the year, and our committee was then reelected unanimously.
I gave a quick update on finances and publications,
including our intention to do an online ‘PDF’ version of
Alfisti, then ran through the long listing of 2010s activities.
All present discussed these and we also made some
outline plans for things in 2011. Bryan was also able to
report back on the plans for MITCAR in August (see item
inside), which we are already looking forward too.
All this was followed by a very entertaining quiz, set as
per tradition by the winner of last year’s edition, so it was
Bryan this time. He kept to a multiple-choice
format with nice accompanying pictures, but
thought four options per question far too easy, so
we had six!! Actually it was a fascinating mix of
Alfa and general Italy-based questions, and after
the usual cries of ‘what’s that?’ and ‘who on
earth?!’ from our group, the winner emerged Brian Smith who pipped me by a point. (Well, how
was I to know that Bruce Springsteen had Italian
parents??! )
Brian was very pleased to win a bottle of Vino
Rosso, and now he has the honour of compiling
next year’s edition that will return to the more
usual October date.
Anyway, a nice way to end the year’s meetings at
the George & Dragon and we look forward to
reconvening there on February 9th. John
The car park at the George & Dragon on a much
warmer day!
Karting at Chesterfield
Five of us braved the first snows of Winter (that’s
November then!) to meet up with the gang from Derbyshire
for some indoor karting at Chesterfield, all
kindly
organised by Richard Kelly.
I travelled up with Keith Krog and his son StJohn in his
200bhp 1750 turbo 159Ti (great engine) – arriving in the
snowfields to meet Kev Bunney with son George and also
Alan and Yvonne Bullock who’d ‘chanced it’ on the day.
The course was a typical indoor affair; tyre barriers, no
heating and a track with limited overtaking opportunities—
plus the inclusion of an over-tight hairpin where you could
readily be taken out by a driver who’d run out of talent...
The ice-cold concrete floor meant grip from the singleengined karts, which were of a particularly broad range of
performance was at a premium. The young staff were sadly
disinterested too and gabbled through the “safety”
instructions – dangerously so as it nearly proved.
Anyway, our team cracked on very well in the ‘Grand Prix’
style qualifying and heats, occupying 4 of the 7 spots
ultimately in the ‘A’ final - grid slots 1, 2, 3 and 5 in fact.
Sadly the A and B final races were ruined by a
succession of red flag incidents, among which I was given
whiplash by Alan who forgot to stop on a red light (the
instructions??) - and several karts were allowed to run out
of petrol! Not very good that.
Anyway, despite the challenges, we were delighted that
George Bunney came first overall and 16 year old StJohn
did great too coming third.
Thanks to Rich for going to the trouble of organising it,
and we look forward to some exciting outdoor karting in
twin-engined machines in the new year. John
What is going on at FIAT?
If you’ve visited the AROC Forum recently you’ll have
probably spotted the big thread titled “The Future is
VAG”, I started a few weeks ago. The items posted by
people there have caused quite a stir and go on at some
length. I’ll attempt a summary here.
What’s it all about? Well, two things really. FIAT Group
boss Sergio Marchionne (in charge of FIAT, Alfa Romeo,
Lancia, Maserati and Ferrari), is a very clever man. He
has, through various measures, turned the Italian car
group into a profit maker, and in 2008 at the depths of
the conglomerate’s despair, bought a healthy 20% chunk
of Chrysler corp. Having now set up production of the Fiat
500 in North America, he can now buy in another 15% of
the giant at an attractive price… but that is a lot of
dollars.
He’s made no secret of his disappointment in the sales
performance (globally) of Alfa Romeo and said a while
back that if Alfa couldn’t be sufficiently reincarnated (yet
again), he’d close it - effectively selling the brand. Well,
since then, things have turned around to an extent, with
the successful MiTo and sexy Giulietta leading the cause,
but it is not ‘there’ yet in his eyes.
As part of cost cutting measures he’s shut the FIAT
plant in Sicily, closed Alfa Centro Stile too, but is
George on the top step with trophy, with a smiling StJohn on the right.
The unit’s open doors added to the general Arctic
ambience. It was fun to slide the karts around
though...
promising to up production in Turin by building
Chrysler Jeeps there plus Alfa’s new saloon (Giulia)
and a Dodge equivalent, plus (gulp) Alfa-badged
SUVs… However, some local labour disquiet has
seen him to threaten to turn production to USA and
other countries if it is not quelled.
Now the other angle; VW Group Chairman
Ferdinand Piech is making it pretty clear that if Fiat
decides to sell Alfa Romeo, he wants it for his empire
alongside Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, SEAT, Skoda
and Bentley. He really wants Ferrari and Maserati
too of course….
When this was originally stated in the summer
Marchionne quoted a ludicrous price of $100Bn for
Alfa. He’s recently revised that to $20Bn - with the
company actually worth around $4.5Bn. To gain
perspective, the cash-rich VW giant is said to have
about $25Bn in its war-chest.
So, FIAT needs cash to buy more of Chrysler and
get at the huge US market, and a buyer is there for
its ‘disappointing’ brand. However, it may want o
keep the prestige Alfa name for its profitable large/
premium cars — though the face-lifted Chrysler 300C
is set to be badged a Lancia in some markets.
Will he sell then? That’s the $64,000 question.
(OK, a bit more than that actually!)
And what would Alfa Romeo be like under the VW
Group? Would it become like Skoda — with well built,
robust cars but
lacking a bit of
pizzazz
in
essentially reb o d i e d
Volkswagens.
O r ,
a n
alternate view
is that the
many Italians
Sergio Marchionne. Boss of
in VW AG
FIAT Auto Group - boss of Alfa
could
come Romeo. (Accountant.)
into their own,
with Designer Walter da Silva (of 156 fame) in
particular - with SEAT becoming being the
junior ‘feeder’ brand into Alfa who would build
sharp-suited saloons and coupes to really take
on BMW. Perhaps the plant in Milan would be
re-opened with the best bits of Audi and VW
then being used to make strong, ultra-reliable
Alfas but with true Italian flair. The alternative
seems to be SUVs and shared American
components; Alfas badged as Dodges and
Jeeps badged as Alfas.
Well, just after
Christmas this has gone quiet - it would seem
Fiat’s recent flotation and backing from the
Italian government has postponed any sale
talk. We’ll see. What develops. John
The Small Print: ‘Alfisti’ is published primarily for the enjoyment of members of the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club Central & East Midlands Section with its cost effectively included as part of their
annual subscription paid to the AROC. A number of copies are also distributed to Alfa Romeo dealerships and specialist service providers within the Section’s region.
Please note that the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club UK ltd cannot endorse or recommend services or products advertised in its publications. Any opinions published in ‘Alfisti’ are personal ones.
Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club Ltd is Registered in Ipswich. Registered Number 01106134, Registered Office Address: 48 High Street, Ipswich, IP1 3QJ. VAT Registration Number 31801433.
2010 Event Review
Our early season trips were really good fun. Thanks to
Peter Brailsford a party of us got a fantastic behind the
scenes look at both Eibach and Bilstein’s UK
development operations in Broughton Astley, including
a fascinating talk by the Bilstein MD and ‘Shock’
demonstrations in their lab too. An excellent lunch was
incorporated too at the Red Admiral.
This was followed in March by an enjoyable Sunday
lunch and afternoon visit to the Jaguar Daimler
Heritage Trust museum at Browns Lane, Coventry, coordinated by Simon Addison.
Race Retro from 12—14 March was AROC’s first big
event of the Centenary Year. Held at Stoneleigh Park
near Coventry, Alfa Romeo was the headline act, and
the foyer display and two stands of fantastic historic
racers just blew people away. Pre War leviathans of
racing complimented by superb 60s and 70s racers
and an ‘80s F1 machine. The free lunch for club members was terrific, and our dedicated indoor parking for
AROC members added almost another display in itself.
There will be no formal AROC presence at 2011’s
show, but it is a good place to go especially the outdoor
rally stage.
Spring Alfa Day couldn’t have worked better at
Burghley House back on 18th April. The weather was
excellent with bright sunshine all day, and the layout of
the grounds - a natural bowl - allowed for parking by
model too which worked very well. The event was really
organised by our Section of course being so close to
home, and our ‘expert parkers’ did a cracking job to
ensure a superb display. There was only a degree of
disappointment that despite the paltry £5 per car entry
fee we only got around 370 cars in attendance - a late
printed club magazine part to blame. The club hopes to
attract more to SpAD at Duxford on 17 April 2011.
On 20 April we enjoyed another classic car evening
meeting up with the Leicester region of the Jaguar
Enthusiasts' Club at Beedles Lake Golf Centre just
north of Leicester. Sadly the freezing temperatures
kept numbers down a little, but we had fun as ever
anyway.
Our Karting night at the superb 1,000 metre track at
PF International on 25 May saw our teams take on the
same JEC crew, and what a great time we had. The
circuit is just superb with a top speed achievable of
60mph in the twin-engined machines. Watch out for a
repeat later this year.
The club’s first ever city centre display took place in
York on 2 May. Though the day stayed largely dry it
was absolutely freezing, but the array of around 100
Alfa Romeos parked in model groups on the streets
was just superb. Local dealers Piccadilly had great
arrangement of new models, including a stunning black
8C Competizione. Lots of our local members had their
cars there among the display too. With Italian singers
and Italian market too it certainly brought a real Latin
flavour to this Roman city of old. The response from
the general public was tremendous too.
The Auto Italia Italian Car Concours at the beginning of
June at Stanford Hall escaped a Monsoon this year
and our Section members certainly attended in force.
Our dedicated line-up of Alfas looked tremendous
adjacent to our Section Shelter where Mandy and
Clare’s Italian picnic went down a storm again at
lunchtime.
The variety of Italian cars was as tremendous as ever,
and the Abarth stunt plane that arrived around noon
was a stunning surprise too. The event is repeated on
Sunday 5 June 2011 and will be another not to miss.
2010 was a superb year for AROC members with a host of events to support Alfa Romeo’s
Centenary. Here’s a brief annual review of the key highlights with just a few photos.
You can see a lot more on photos on our local website of course - address on front cover.
Our various Section Expeditions to Alfa Romeo’s
Centenario celebrations in MILAN at the end of June
were just fantastic. The thousands of Alfas focussed on
the impressive Fiera di Rho on Saturday where we were
all able to meet up for lunch. Sunday saw a huge
convoy drive around Milan’s orbital Autostrada arriving
at the Fiera di Negro where there was a fantastic
indoor display of all things Alfa with many machines
present from the museum. Though organisation was
at times a tad lacking, the whole ambience was just
amazing - just an unforgettable experience.
Our Fun Concours Night had to be postponed from its
familiar night in June owing to rain. Our friends from
Autoglym brought their van along though so we could
all stock up ready for the rearranged night. So,
repeating in July we just got away with it, with
thunderclouds threatening the public vote managed to
take place - just - and the winner this year of Car of the
Night was Peter Farley with is delightful Giulietta Spider
(pictured right). The fun awards were well spread as
ever too among the 30 Alfas present. Thanks to
IntaServices, Engine Services and Chris Variava Alfa for
the very generous prizes.
Paul Jones and our friends at Chris Variava Alfa Romeo
invited us along for a special driving day on 7 August at
their showrooms in Nottingham, with the new Giulietta
being the focus of attention. We all enjoyed trying the
1.6 diesel complete with ’stop/start’ system, and also
the sheer power of the 1750 turbo Cloverleaf.
Our Coupe/Spider night on 11 August turned into more
of a general ‘blag-a-ride’ night, with people giving passenger trips in the many and varied Alfas around the
lanes near Thringstone. We’ll repeat this with the title
of Blag-a-ride next summer.
MITCAR reached its tenth anniversary on 8th August,
and this year was its biggest ever by far. Bryan pulled
off a real coup this year with the superb Chatsworth
House in Derbyshire, securing a prime spot on the front
lawns and with an entry charge kept at a tiny £5 per
car. The people came in their droves with over 460
Italian cars attending. Notable was the display of
Boxer-engined Alfas and Minari ‘kit cars’, plus a row of
superb Fiat Dinos, and a host of exotics, including
three Lamborghinis, a dozen Maseratis and twenty
Ferraris, including the brand new and simply stunning
458 Italia. Car of the Day was the superb F40 however.
August was a tremendously busy month as you’ll see,
with National Alfa Weekend centring on Shelsley Walsh
Hillclimb course on 21/22 August. Several of our
members cars featured in on and off track displays,
and El Presidenté George Cole also winning a prize in a
competitive class too at the wheel of his 145. Our
Section Picnic went down great again using our Shelter
as a base in the parking area.
Auto Italia’s annual gathering at Gaydon moved
forwards to 28 August. The bank holiday weekend date
didn’t help the attendance, but it was enjoyable
nonetheless.
The Leicester Aeroclub Open Day on 12 September
was lacking the traditional WW2 ‘War Birds’ this year
owing to the cancellation of a nearby display, however
the flypasts by Spitfire, Dakota and the sensational
Vulcan certainly made up for this. The planes are
promised for a return in September 2011 however,
along with the free pleasure flights.
The Classic Motor Show at the NEC 12-14 November
saw a tremendous club stand featuring four of our
members cars. The 1935 8c and 2007 8C Competizione were many people’s favourites of course. A terrific
way to close AROC’s celebration of Alfas Centenary.
And a few we’ve missed off… Sadly we don’t have space for pictures from everything we did in ‘10. It started with the New
Year Meal at La Torre in Coalville, then the annual Skittles contest where we just lost to the Ferrari Owners Club. Our
regular monthly meetings were very well attended at the George & Dragon in Thringstone. Anyway, we’ve got even more
planned for 2011 as you’ll get a taste for by looking at the long events list on page 7.
Bruntingthorpe V6
Photo Shoot
As readers will know, from time to time I get
asked to arrange Alfas to appear in magazine
photo shoots – Auto Italia being a popular one.
Alfasuds, Spiders, GTs, GTVs, 164s, 156s, you
name it have all appeared in recent years. N ow
back in October I was asked to track down three
generations of V6 Coupes – and not red ones.
Leigh’s blue Brera Q4 leapt immediately to mind as
it is such a stunning colour (Misano Blue), then
Martin Lindus’s silver 916 GTV with its
performance upgrades. A GTV6 was a tad more
tricky (we have some listed as owned by members
in our Section but we NEVER see them), so Andrew
Brown’s ‘minter’ it was to be (club magazine
editor.)
The first date in mid-November had to be
cancelled owing to the impact of Global Warming,
so 17 December was the rearranged date. Sadly
Martin couldn’t make that, so Dave McFarland’s
similar Silver Machine was called in to play.
Of course the snows had far from gone come
December, but the sun was shining bright and the
salt was doing its job on the roads in to the location
– Bruntingthorpe Proving Grounds. I arrived at
around lunchtime (having ‘borrowed’ Maria keys!!)
when it was –1 degree to find everyone out with
the buckets of hot soapy water washing the cars
down. Two Lancias were there as well for another
feature; an immaculate Fulvia and a very last of
line ‘Dealer Edition’ Evo Integrale. Sadly an
Alternator failure had sidelined Andrew’s GTV6, so
the remaining Alfas were to be a head to head
feature.
Auto Italia editor Phil Ward was there along with
son and Michael, the accomplished photographer,
plus allotted Journalist Guy Baker, who has worked
in the industry for years.
On to the circuit for the pictures.
Bruntingthorpe has a huge two-mile runway, (the
RAF wartime Wellington bomber runway extended
in the 1950s for ‘Cold War’ American B47
Stratojets, not B52s as often wrongly recorded.),
with taxiways creating a long circuit. Lots of
historic planes are dotted around, plus a Boeing
747 that’s was used for various testing purposes.
All make interesting back drops.
After a freak flat tyre was temporarily cured by
addition of air, Leigh and Dave’s cars were out on
track for the ‘tracking shots’. Phil wards 156
Sportwagon was sidelined as it rear door struts
were not strong enough to keep the tailgate open
necessary to allow Michael to hang out the back –
so a SAAB was brought in instead. I sat in the
passenger seat (a heater!), and took various snaps
too as the two Alfas were called in to various
formations.
Guy then took both cars around for a good test
drive so he could build his written feature. He
genuinely liked both – similar yet different in many
ways. Leigh’s Brera benefits from an Autodelta
engine remap, smoothing out response, liberating
a few more horses on top of the standard 260, and
it made a great noise as it passed us too, with Guy
enjoying the fast response of the auto-box from its
paddle-shifters.
Now, Dave’s GTV is a very modified beast and
Guy loved it too. The main modifications are Koni/
Eibach suspension (with alignment fettled by Peter
Cambridge, as per Leigh’s as well), GTA cams, a
single plate clutch, Brembo/GTA 330mm brakes,
full Alfaholics exhaust with ‘sports cat’ plus the
terrific Q2 diff. Basically it flies. Dave reckons a
remap to make the most of the cams and ‘pipe will
see nicely over 250bhp from its 3 litres, up from
220bhp standard.
I had to leave before all the static shots were
finished, but it had been fun even just to watch.
Now then, I never know when or what Alfas will
be requested for these type of shoots – so all
should watch out for similar requests via me in the
future! Cheers John
Very cold for cleaning...
Flat..
Michael gets down low...
Guy and Dave get
ready to take out the GTV
Ready for tracking shots...
More ‘OUR CARS’
GTV 2.0 TS - Ben Rutter
From an email to John:
Hi John, I thought I would run through my Alfa
year. Working in Coventry for 6 months ruined a few
parts with all the "craters". The radiator was the
original from 13 years ago and couldn’t take the
"bangs" from the potholes, so one day blew out.
The whole bottom 1/3 disintegrated! The AA man
got me to IntaServices who replaced it pretty
sharply!
147 - Jim Domleo
From an email to John:
Dear John,
Having obtained discounted tickets through the
club for Shelsley Walsh, a friend and I set forth from
Derby early on the Saturday looking forward to a
great day out.
At the last minute, because of heavy rain I
decided not to use my 1750 GTV and took my 147
instead. Big mistake!
As we came onto the island leading from the slip
road from the M5 there was a loud bang and clatter
the car came to a stop, luckily by the kerb. I thought
at first that the exhaust had fallen off. On getting out
I saw a lot of oil and steaming water deposited on
the road.
On closer examination I could clearly see that the
damage was terminal. Part of number one con rod
was visible through a hole in the side of the block!
GT BlackLine Q2 - John Griffiths
My early Christmas present arrived it the start of
December - the new ‘Vanity Plate’ I’ve been
dreaming about getting for YEARS. I’d thought
about initials, but thought Alfa-specific would be
much more fun. I looked first at what the DVLA had
to buy off the shelf, and cogitated about various
AROs and RO MEOs etc, then thought around
4LFA.. The obvious ones had all gone, particularly
using my ‘J’ initial. Then, when I learnt Mark
Sangster had got his superb V63.2 GTA plate
through auction after checking with the DVLA as to
if they’d issued it, a huge range of possibilities
opened upI But what to go for? Then, one
morning when typing my email address it hit me.
JG.ALFA. Or, J6 4LFA - of course!
An email to the DVLA was responed to quite
quickly “yes it is available, and can be put up for
auction”I I then had to wait for about 4 monthsI
Not long after, whilst travelling down the M1, I
thought the car next to me was really loud. Turned
out to be my exhaust falling off. Again,
IntaServices managed to weld it back together,
saving me a few £££'s as I didn’t need to buy a
whole new one! Now I'm saving up for a stainless
one, so any recommendations are welcome.
My next major problem came when the water
went off in the flat, so I nipped to the local shop for
emergency supplies. On returning to the car in the
car park, it would not start and keep running. So
again, another trip to IntaServices (A difficult trip as
I had to keep the revs high enough not to cut out the smell of burning clutch wasn't good either)
diagnosed the problem to a clogged up sensor. A
good clean later and I was back on the
road - Good job as it was to be MOT'd 2
days later.
Five hours of cleaning the day before the
MOT really helped make her look well
looked after. Even the MOT tester said she
was a lovely looking and she passed with
flying colours.
This year I also visited Peter Cambridge
for wheel geometry. My wheels were well
out of line. He made them as good as he
could though unfortunately the lack of
camber adjustments on the GTV means I
can go around UK roundabouts much
quicker than those on the continent! £117
well spent though.
Finally I did 1,500 miles to the Highlands,
driving around Scotland and returning back to
Leicester all in 7 days. She never skipped a beat,
even after "Green Laning" trying to find our remote
cottage. It wasn't all great though - My Tweeter
cover dropped off, my door handle spring broke
leaving me having to wind the window down to
open the door with the outside handle and the boot
sensor is playing up; making my car think the boot
is open. All trivial faults, and hopefully sorted pretty
easily. The GTV is a dream to drive and felt
special all the way around. Even the eight-hour
drive there was pleasant. The leather seats comfy
and the rear seats providing the extra boot space
required. It’s been a busy old year but loved it all!
Take care, Ben
After a few minutes head scratching, the RAC
was called and they subsequently they delivered
us with 147 to my home.
Whist waiting for the RAC several Alfisti kindly
stopped to offer assistance including a couple in a
red 155 en route to Shelsley Walsh. My thanks to
them all. I could no doubt have sold our
tickets several times over if I had not been so
concerned about my car!
The 147 had only 37,000 on the clock and had
recently had a new cam belt and variator, and
after contacting several Alfa specialists, no one
has been able to explain the engine failure.
Having previously owned a 146ti and a 156
2.0 with its lovely smooth engine I decided to
replace the broken 1.6 engine with a 2 litre unit.
I then accepted an offer from 'Alfa
Specialists' of Haslingden, Lancs., who advertise
regularly in the magazine. Neil Catlow, the
proprietor who is wheelchair bound from a motor
cycle accident, runs the business with his father.
They offered a 2.0 engine with 41,000 miles in
very good condition at a not unreasonable price.
His father delivered it the next day as promised.
Neil obviously knows his Alfas and gave much
advice re installation. Although the engine is
slightly taller than the 1.6, everything fits and
works perfectly, including the electrics,1.6
gearbox and1.6 clutch which has a slightly smaller
diameter. The 2.0 clutch has different splines.
Otherwise both gearboxes are identical including
the gear ratios. The 1.6 intake manifold and
injectors etc are all interchangeable. The exhaust
manifold and downpipes all fit too. The 2.0 engine
supplied was from a GTV and had the variable
intake manifold which I discarded as it is not
specified for the 2.0 147. The 1.6 and 2.0 147s
both share the same brakes and suspension
plus the starter motor, alternator and
compressor. After fitting a new timing belt,
balance belt plus the variator from the broken
engine, no problems were encountered. The
engine started up first time and runs perfectly
and all I have had to do is replace the
thermostat.
The gearing feels just right for this engine and
it drives very well. It has been a steep learning
curve but, on balance, well worth it despite
advice to the contrary from some Alfa 'experts'.
Incidentally both my 1750GTV and the 147
sailed through their MOTs recently so I can now
hopefully look forward to a year’s trouble free
motoring! Cheers - Jim (Derby )
(Jim is pictured below with his 1750 GTV)
then ‘bang’ emailed again and Auction is on!!
Feverishly checking their website I saw the
opening price was certainly affordable, even when
adding in all the taxes, and after waiting for the
days to tick by it was brilliant to find I was the only
bidder so had got it at rock-bottom price!
More time passed waiting for documents, but
then order placed online with FancyPlates.com,
all legal with a subtle ’charcoal’ border, small Alfa
logo and ‘Cuore Sportivo’ as sub-text. Perfecto!!
Just what I wanted. Thanks Santa! John
Our Alfas
All the latest on our local
members’ cars...
Spider S4 - Simon Addison
Giulietta Turbo Delta - Dave Atkins
Our next monthly meeting at The George &
Dragon in Thringstone on Wednesday 9th
February from 7.30pm.
See you there! John
GTV - Rebecca Lee
Dave’s Giulietta was a star turn in the Christmas
Special edition of Auto Express magazine where
it featured with an older sister (Giulietta Ti) and
a brand new Giulietta Cloverleaf. The report
read well, though some of the interior shots
made Dave’s red interior look a tad like a Tart’s
boudoir! A bit too red in their images!
From an email to John:
Picked our gorgeous Spider up from Dave this
afternoon. (Simon pictured above on left in the
handover from Dave Atkins—left.) Drove her all the
way home "topless" and froze my bits off! Best drive
in ages though, even went on the A5 & M69.
Can't wait for Leigh & I to get her fully fettled over the
next few months and ready for Dave's trip to Italy in
July. Major thanks to Dave for the deal and to Leigh
& Mandy for storing her until we move to somewhere
with more parking early in 2011. Despite the timing
being wrong, it all feels so right. Simon
Bit of a double take here - answering our call for
photos fro the Section Calendar (See Gazetta),
Rebecca responded with a
series of shots
featuring two identical cars - her own Proteo red
one and an identical one belonging to a
colleague. They look great together against the
rich green grass as well Rebecca’s email address
of ‘IlovemyAlfa’ says it all too...
Terrapin Mk1a/6 - George Cole
Spider 2.0 JTS - Dave Atkins
George has been out testing his single-seater in the snow! If you didn’t spot it in the last
‘Alfisti’, the Terrapin is a 1973 machine powered
by a 1048cc over-bored A series Mini Cooper
engine.
We are not entirely sure of the
compound used on his tyres, we suspect they
were not slicks though!
156 1.9 JTD 16v - Andy Markwell
Brera V6 (model) - Leigh Nethercot
From an email to John;
Despite the cold my 156 has been behaving well.
Only glitch so far was when I discovered it was
leaking a small amount of coolant a few weeks back.
I put some Holts Radweld in the top up tank, not
thinking for one minute it could work, but it has totally
sealed it, so fixed for £3.99!!
Thanks for all the enjoyable newsletters this year.
Regards, Andy
Spider 3.2 V6 - Roger Smith
Yes, he’s got another one! Reading the first item
about the S4 you may have been forgiven for
thinking Dave was shrinking his Alfa fleet - but no.
His trusty Series 4 has been replaced by this
black beauty, one of the rare final series 916
Spiders in solid black with deep tan leather trim.
Dave is very happy with it, loving its 165bhp
performance and practical nature - he intends to
use it a lot, even as an alterative daily driver to his
159. Pictured here at IntaServices Dave was
getting the car checked out by the experts, and
happily all seems ’straight’. A great looking car
that should offer a lot of top-down fun.
Leigh was
delighted to
receive the
first Special
Edition
B r e r a
model - as
we can see
here!
(There’s
more
on
‘Your Alfas’
inside...)
- SCOOP! -
Unusual news from the world of motoring
Alfa Model Launched Based on Local Member’s Car
Who said people don’t buy Spiders in the Winter?
Here’s another one! Roger has tracked down this
incredibly rare 916 Spider V6, one of the last
produced with the mighty 240bhp ‘Busso’ V6, the
larger grille and smart twin-spoke alloys. In classic
Alfa Rosso it certainly looks the biz, though it is
tucked away out of the weather at the moment!
Alfa Romeo has just launched a range of Special Edition 1/43rd scale models
based on the actual cars belonging to enthusiasts of the marque. Local man Leigh
Nethercot was delighted that his
Brera was chosen to be the first of
the range.
“It’s a fantastic model”, says Leigh,
proprietor of Leigh’s Estate Agents
of Burbage. “It’s exact almost to the
smallest detail including all the
signage—the magnetic door cards as
well. They even include one of our
For Sale boards - I’m delighted!”
■
Alfisti no.131 will be out at the end of Feb.