alfa race day - mallory park

CENTRAL
& EAST
MIDLANDS
SECTION
NEWSLETTER
NATIONAL ALFA DAY
Basildon Park
Sunday 17 July
Classic Alfas
battle it out at
Mallory Park
ALFA RACE DAY - MALLORY PARK
SUNDAY 19 JUNE
We’ve wanted an Alfa Day based at a race track
for ages and now we have one slap bang in our
Region!
Mallory Park, near Kirkby Mallory in
Leicestershire is a superb track for spectators.
Situated in a natural bowl, it is a motor racing
amphitheatre with fantastic views available of the
action. You can also get really close to the track
for great photographic opportunities.
There will be two dedicated races for Alfa
Romeos dating from 1960s to ’90s and with
qualifying now moved to Sunday morning all of the
Alfa Romeo action now features on that day rather
than Saturday as well as originally advertised. The
race programme will feature other fascinating
races organised by the Classic Touring Car Racing
Club, an some classic bikes will also be racing.
There will be a special parking area for over
200 Alfas near the Paddock bridge, the Alfa
Hospitality unit will be available for use by
members and the Club Shop will also be in
attendance. A team from Chris Variava will have a
display of new cars for us to look at there too.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!
Importantly, we need your help as local
members for marshalling (in the car park, not
waving flags incidentally!) In return for some of
your time on Sunday you will receive free
admission. Please contact John urgently if you
wish to do this. (Thanks to those who have already
offered. Your names are down!!)
TRACK PARADE
At lunchtime there will be a circuit parade of 25
AROC members’ Alfas, essential all being
interesting machines from our Section. If you’d like
to be part of that please let me know and, space
permitting, I will arrange for you to have the
appropriate circuit pass and instructions on the
day. Format is three laps behind a pace car, with
commentary mention thrown in!
All in all this should be a superb event with a
feast of entertainment on and off track. I have no
idea of how many people will support it, but am
hopeful of a good Alfa presence.
To tell you the truth I’m not entirely sure how we
are packing so much in to June - two big national
events plus Cotswold Alfa Day, then two special
section ones. July will be a touch quieter, but still
with National Alfa Day down near Reading and our
Spider Night. Let’s not wish away the summer
though of course!
This edition goes to print literally JUST after Fun
Concours Night, which was great fun again. 26
Alfas along this year, but shame so many
‘regulars’ couldn’t make it. Still, we have plenty of
chances to gather together this summer. Some
strangers remarked to me on the night how much
they liked Alfas but never wanted to own one.
Touch of ignorance mixed with pre-conceptions
there of course. Seeing that superb variety of cars
old and new made me certain that there just isn’t
as varied and interesting brand out
there. Hope you are enjoying yours and if so do tell me! Cheers,
John
SPIDER NIGHT
Weds 13 July
SPIDER NIGHT returns for our July
meeting at The George & Dragon in
Thringstone (on the A512 Shepshed to
Ashby road). We hope to get as many of
our local members with these models to
attend
as
possible,
from
1950’s
Giuliettas to the latest Brera Spiders,
and hood-down of course. Whilst we’ll
have a special line for Spiders, ALL Alfas
are of course welcome as ever, and we
will have a Blag-a-ride too where you
can request a spin in another’s car.
Alfisti is edited and produced by
John Griffiths
Inside this edition:
This year’s National Alfa Day visits a new
venue for a traditional-style ‘park up ‘n
polish’ event.
Basildon Park (address; Lower Basildon,
Reading, Berkshire, RG8 9NR) is owned
by the National Trust and is a Grade I
listed building. The impressive Georgian
mansion,
surrounded
by
glorious
parkland, was built between 1776 and
1783 for Sir Francis Sykes and designed
by John Carr in the Palladian style.
The event will feature AROC’s National
Concours d’Elegance competition on the
elegant lawn fronting the mansion,
model register and Alfa Romeo main
dealer displays, plus trade and private
stands. After 550 Alfas attended Spring
Alfa Day in April the signs are that it will
be another well supported event.
AROC Central & East Midlands
Section Secretary
Tel: 0774 8881317
Fun Concours Night
Italian Car Concours, Stanford Hall
May Meeting Night
MITCAR plans
Our Alfas… and more.
e-mail: jg.alfa@tiscali.co.uk
Section website, for latest news and more:
www.AROC-UK.COM/CEMIDS
Production sponsored by
ALFISTI / C.E.MIDS
£0.00 Where Sold
■ Alfisti Issue 134 ■
June 2011
KEITH KROG - FASHION ICON
Keith dropped in to see Alan at Motorvogue in
Northampton recently and spotted this little beauty, the
new limited edition Fiat 500 ‘Pink’, but was he tempted we
ask? (We actually think he still looks better in his red SZ!)
Detailing Tip of the Month
RAPID DETAILER SPRAY
For those who like to keep their Alfa spic-and-span there’s
little more annoying than returning to your car just a day or
so after you’ve waxed it to see it covered in a layer of dust,
dried sandy spots after a summer rain shower, or a load of
fingerprints - especially when you don’t really want to have
to go through the whole washing process again. Well, fear
not, help is at hand!
In years gone by I would have reached for a damp
chamois leather or even a cloth and a plant mister, and
got some sort of a result - more recently something like a
glass cleaner spray. However, as detailing has become
more popular, the manufacturers have developed ‘rapid
sprays’ to do just this task. A clever mix of cleaner,
lubricant and wax, they mist on and loosen dirt particles
that can soon be whisked away with a microfibre cloth
leaving a streak-free, just-waxed finish. Guys in our
section first started using Meguiar's product, but a year or so back Autoglym brought
their Rapid Detailer to market and it’s become a firm favourite. It also acts as a ’clay
bar lubricant’ - clay being the stuff you use to remove hard surface contaminants like
tree sap, tar and other fall-out. Rapid Detailer (easily spotted with its pink label) has
also just won an Auto Express best buy award too. Why not buy it with the Autoglym
clay kit? Anyway, it is heartily “Recommended”! John
May Meeting at
The George & Dragon
For our first proper light evening meeting of
the year we were delighted by the attendance
of around 30 people in 20 very varied Alfas
plus other assorted models. Owing to a private
party inside the usual car park was full early on
so we assembled in the freshly mown paddock
area which was great.
Some of the new members who came along
are fetaured on the back page, but I should
also mention Rod Stege who brought along his
white Series 2 ‘rolling restoration’ Spider from
Mickelover. Rods not owned it for long but has
already done a lot of mechanical fettling. He’s
delighted by its bodywork though having only
had to deal with a minimal amount of surface
rust. One for us to watch further develop. (Sadly
in the evenings excitement I forgot to take a
photo of it!!)
Great to see George along now reunited with
his Alfasud Super (having sold it for a year, he
bought it back!) Also Keitha nd StJohn Krog in
the fantastic SZ—surely one of the lowest
mileage examples in the country, owned from
new and still with just 9,000 kilometres on the
clock! (It has probably got one of the highest
average speeds too!! ;-) )
Paul Atkins brought his superb 156 GTA,
which looked good next to Darren Turners 155
complete with racy black wheels and race
number backgrounds. (See back page.) It was
the first club outing for my red Giulietta too—
with just 1,000 miles on it was still in running-in
mode, but it certainly made me smile booting-it
a bit around the lanes giving ‘blag-a-rides’ to
some who all commented on its great torque
delivery. Both Keith, George and Dave Atkins in
his Turbo Delta 116 Giulietta also gave rides,
among others.
So what is that strange white camouflaged
car you ask? Well that belongs to Haydn Wyatt
our club’s resident Land Rover / Jaguar
employee who regularly has such new models
on pre-launch test, it being the new, racy,
‘baby’ Land Rover Evoque. Whilst Alfisti are not
renowned as being the biggest SUV fans, we all
had to admit it looked really good…
So, great to see so many along, by the time
you read this we will have had the annual Fun
Concours at the same venue - just hope the
weather stayed as good! John
Photos clockwise from top left. Bryan chats to
Steve Phillips by Steve’s red 916 Spider. George
Cole in his lovely red Sud Super. John’s shiny
new Giulietta. Darren’s 155 and Pauls 156. The
typically varied line up at dusk. Keith’s delightful
SZ. The ‘camo’ Range Rover Evoque.
Italian Car Concours
Stanford Hall
Auto Italia’s summer event at Stanford Hall was
great fun as ever with around 800 fantastic Italian
cars present, including around 350 Alfa Romeos
classic and modern.
Arriving very early as ever, me, Brian, Simon &
Clare plus Leigh and Mandy managed to assemble
both Danielle’s huge club shop and our Section
shelter without too much difficulty despite a rather
strong wind blowing, Cars were rolling in right from
8.30, but it didn’t really get busy until around
10.30.
It was great to have the massed ranks of Alfas
either side of the main drive again (confusingly just
behind a load of giant Abarth banners) , but it gave
us a great chance to see the hordes of exotic
machines arriving, from Enzo to Murcielago, ISO
Grifo to Delta S4.
The range of trade was limited as at all shows
nowadays thanks to ecommerce, but what was
there was interesting: Autoglym, Shop4Parts,
Italian Miniatures and a detailing company in
particular.
Up in the show ring, among the Alfas, Richard
Rees displayed his sparkling red Duetto, Dave
Atkins his most ‘originale’ Turbo Delta and Ian
Osborne his stunning black 164 - Ian now back in
action after 3 months off work following a rather
nasty ‘industrial accident’. Glad to see him looking
much better!
For lunch, Mandy and Clare had put on another
delightful Italian picnic and the dozen or so of us
partaking thoroughly enjoyed it – with Prosecco
too!
The Maserati club always hold their national
Concours event at Stanford hall and the this year
the number of cars present was just tremendous –
hordes of 3200s and 4200s in particular, plus
some absolute rarities from Mistral to Ghibli. Bryan
Alexander’s splendid blue CambioCorsa looked
terrific amongst them all.
In the Fiat field the number of new Abarths was
even greater than last year – enthusiasts really
taking to the 500 in particular. The Fiat Coupes
always impress too – and the ‘Torque Italia’
children’s club was there in its second year now
too.
As always astounds at the event, following the
prize giving by 3.30pm the fields had all but
emptied. Was it the threat of an impending shower
which never came again, or what? Quite bizarre.
Anyway, the early leavers missed a sensational
Abarth-sponsored stunt plane display (itself a tad
late), skimming the tree tops in an amazing
performance. Anyway, a most enjoyable day again
that was over all too quickly. Thankfully we have a
lot more to look forward to this summer. John
Photos clockwise from top left.
Lancia Delta S4 recreation. Very convincing!
Dave and Ian’s cars in the Concours
Variety of Classic Alfas parked together
Prize winning Iso Grifo - amazing
Home time - Murcielago in front
Leigh expertly directs the traffic. See how they follow...
Ferrari Enzo. Number plate is a bit of a giveaway
Hordes of Abarths present
Ferrari and Autoglym? Bit of a dream for some!
Above - Lamborghini Diablo and Espada? Wow!
Alfas lined the drive,
like the Good Old Days
FUN CONCOURS
NIGHT
Some things never surprise on the second Wednesday of
June, our regular date for the Fun Concourse event; firstly
that we never know what surprising Alfas will appear among
the 30 or so, and secondly that after weeks of dry weather,
it will either rain, shower, or there will be a threat of both.
Well, amazingly this time despite heavy showers around it
stayed dry for us!
Cars started appearing from 6.30, and using the grass
paddock area of the George & Dragon again with its
pleasant back-drop, we started to fill up fast. Great to see
Ed McDonough along again, this time in very recently
acquired red GTV6 - a real beauty - then Dave Roberts over
from the West Mids section in his attractive 146 Ti. Phil
Gotts from Suffolk was along too having been working in
lincs with his 916 Spider, then John Warren and his partner
who turned up on spec in his 166 that’s for sale. Great to
see Rebecca and partner Shayne over in her GTV too, then
Darrel Rhodes back in his black Brera 2.4. He’d waxed the
heck out of that with the (ludicrously) expensive Dodo Juice
products only for it to get rained on coming over! Graham
Hall had been dirtying his green GTV as ever (we don’t think
he owns a bucket), but was distraught to find we’d dropped
the Dirtiest Wheels prize category, as he is a past master at
that!
Aside from all those guys we had the load of usual
suspects in cars as wide-ranging as 50’s Giulietta to
Giulietta Turbo Delta to new Giulietta…
As per tradition, voting on the broad categories started at
7.45. There was much head-scratching as many cars were
very well presented, but by about 8.45 I’d collected in the
sheets and totted up the votes. So, by category:
1. Shiniest Paintwork. 12 cars of the 26 scored in this,
but winner by just one mark was Roger Smith with his
lovely 3.2 Spider.
2. Filthiest Paintwork. Well, two horse race between
Graham’s GTV and Andy’s veteran Banger-rally
competing 164, but the latter won out by, er, 19
marks!!
3. Cleanest Wheels. Marks spread between 7 cars, but
winner was Viv Stephens with his superb GTV Cup.
4. Dodgiest Tyres. Slightly worrying that 40% of the cars
picked up votes for this—but winner was El Presidente
himself, George Cole with his 146.
5. Cleanest Interior. Huge spread of voting, but won by
Dave Atkins Giulietta Turbo Delta with its spotless
and
very
red
seats
and
carpets.
Categories 1-5 all won appropriate Autoglym
products, sponsored by Dave French at engine
Services.
6. ‘Needs a bit of Work’. Winner was Andy’s 164 (again),
picking up an IntaServices discount voucher. (It’s how
he keeps it on the road I’ll swear!)
7. Special Award for Cleanest Engine. A £40 meal
voucher for two, sponsored by Dave French.
Incredibly close run thing between Matt Dalby’s
Spider and Roger’s again, but roger won by one!
8. ‘Real Effort’ award - person who’s clearly put a great
deal of time into preparing their car. Well spread
voting again across 12 cars, but winner by two was
Matt Dalby - and I gather he really had spent AGES
getting his Spider TS spic and span. It looked great!
Matt won a special Autoglym AquaWax set.
9. Car of the Night. The big one. Eight cars collected
marks, again showing the depth of competition.
Runner up (£25 IntaServices voucher and Autoglym
Mitt) was last year’s winner Peter Farley with his
delightful original Giulietta. Winner was a new one
though - Viv Stephens with his superb GTV Cup,
winning a £50 IntaServices voucher and an Aquawax
set.
10. President’s prize… Sponsored by El Presidenté
George Cole himself, awarded to the greatest
combined age of car and diver; won by Peter Farley
thanks to 50 year old Giulietta mainly!
So, lots of prizes, lots of fun. Shame that several of our
regulars missed it for various reasons (Kev, Martin, Dave &
Joy to name a few), but we are sure we’ll enjoy the
forthcoming summer meetings at the G&D. Thanks to the
generous prize donators and everyone who came along to
make it so enjoyable. John
Photos clockwise from top.
A great line up of Alfas in the paddock area
Andy’s award winning 164!
Bonnets up! Some lovely V6s on show.
Rarities; Dave’s Turbo Delta with Bryan’s Trofeo
Old meets new - or, how huge today’s cars are!
Matt’s Spider with Ed’s GTV6
Jaquic’s Giulietta Cloverleaf in foreground
Mark inspects Matt’s Spider. (Got to get close!)
Rebecca and Shayne with their GTV
Viv’s overall award winning GTV Cup. Superb.
Fun Concours pics… the People!
Above - Viv Stephens (left) with John G
accepting his Car of the Night Awards
George (left) with Peter Farley
accepting his President’s award
Local member
Richard Doyle
recently
purchased this wonderful 164 ‘Taxi’ from Steve McCAll – the most
famous taxi driver in Liverpool of course! Now, its in amazingly good ‘nick
for its age, resplendent in NYC Taxi livery, but it is about to be put to the
test by his young daughter Sam.
Sam intends to drive for 4 days and 2,500 miles around Europe in the
‘Screwball Rally’, raising money for Arthritis Research. Sam is looking for
sponsors to advertise on the car, and also for direct donations through
justgiving.com. Note – all money raised this way will go direct to the good
cause, not to finance the rally adventure. If you’d like to support Sam and
this very worthy cause, please log on to www.justgiving.com/
thetaxirankers You can also hire the taxi – all funds going to charity!
(Contact John first please if you fancy doing that.)
Alfa Taxi Charity Drive!
12 days, three countries, 1,242 miles,
31.12 mpg, 1/2 litre of oil - and quite a
lot of Belgian Beer.
Following a bit of planning, Clare & I left
home early on 8 May. Sadly, the romantic
notion of a top-down journey was thwarted by the
weather. Despite this we made good time to the
Eurotunnel, dirtying our previously pristine Spider enroute.
At Folkstone, we joined a queue of supercars
destined for a Monte Carlo or bust style "Rally". Our
little S4 got more than its fair share of attention,
regardless of the far more valuable machinery on offer.
A break in the weather saw us entering France topless.
(What sort of holiday was this?? John) This didn't last
long though, as torrential rain forced a quick stop to put the hood up. We got on our way,
destination Bruges. Other than Clare getting a foot shower (dodgy scuttle drain hoses), we
arrived safely and ready to explore.
We spent two very enjoyable days in Bruges before heading for Leuven (the home of
Stella Artois) via Brussels. This time we were fully hood down and the driving was a lot more
enjoyable. Leuven was lovely but Brussels was largely unremarkable.
We left Leuven on 11th May, destination Bastogne but via the Spa Francochamps GP
circuit. We parked at the foot of Eau Rouge, to me the finest corner in modern GP. We left
after a good walk around, making our way to Bastogne through the fabulous Ardennes
countryside.
Bestogne was a strategically significant town during WWII and the remnants of the
unpleasantness are all around. We visited several museums and memorials to pay
respects to the fallen.
We left Bastogne on my Birthday and headed to Maastricht. Yet more good weather
made for a great journey and Maastricht was a great place to spend some chill out time.
Whist there, we put a face to an on line name by meeting up with a fellow Alfa owner. All
good fun! From Maastricht we headed to Eindhoven for a two day relax and a bit of retail
therapy.
Next on our tour was Nijmegen & Arnhem, again for historical reasons. Despite knowing
a lot about Operation Market Garden, the museums and memorials really brought home the
enormity and sacrifice made by ordinary young men.
Our last but one stop was Amsterdam. This saw the return of the foul weather so we
made use of their excellent bus service for a day. Whilst there we enjoyed a canal cruise,
were moved by Anne Frank's house and somewhat amazed by the Red & Green light areas.
Our last overnight stop was in Ghent, a really lovely place, but populated by some really
miserable souls!
To finish off, we made a short top-up blast to the Eurotunnel before entering Blighty to
some great weather. We made record time home with the S4 behaving excellently, fully
laden at often three figure top-down speeds. Happy days… Cheers! Simon
Simon & Clare’s
Spider Euro-tour
The whole gang what a great looking bunch!
FLYING FINISH
Fiona’s Sky
Sky--Dive Raises
£2,000!!
Fiona Sangster (of Tornado Blue MiTo fame) successfully completed her tandem skydive at the end
of May at Langar Aerodrome, raising £2,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Fiona (who is also proprietor of the renown Markfield Cattery) is presently puppy walking her
second guide dog called Chip. Chip is not a sponsored puppy so the tandem skydive was designed to
help raise money to help him and the Guide Dogs cause in general.
Looking at the photos it looked absolutely terrifying, but let Fiona give you her perspective:
“Well, amazingly the day has now come and gone. It was a bit nerve racking to say the least and
I was awake at 5am with anticipation of the whole event. The day was kind to me and the wind,
rain and clouds all in my favour. I am sooooo proud to have done this venture for his Lordship.
(Chip that is, not Mark!)
To date I have raised almost £2000 - in fact I am now only £50 short of this goal. With still a
few venues to do and hopefully a few more online donation I should just about manage it. Anyone
who is interested can visit my website and see my You Tube video of the event. Hope it makes you
laugh! Take care, Fiona.”
If you’d like to help Fiona beat her target for this
excellent cause for certain, and to see more photos,
go to www.markfieldcatery.co.uk and follow the
links.
AROC Central & East Midlands Section Events 2011
Date
Event
14 Jun ‘11
Karting Night - Sutton Circuit, Broughton Astley from 6.30pm. Pub meal afterwards too!
19 Jun ‘11
AROC at Mallory Park - AROC gathering at our local circuit to watch two Alfa-only races
among a packed programme at the Classic festival. Special Alfa parade at lunch! See cover.
26 Jun ‘11
Cotswold Alfa Day - Buscot Park, Faringdon nr Swindon. SN7 8BU
13 Jul ‘11
‘Spider 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
‘Blag-a-Ride’ 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
TBC Sep/
Oct 11
AROC Track Day - venue and date TBC. Expected to be good value at a circuit near us.
Free expert driver tuition available too - ideal for the novices.
12 Oct ‘11
Section AGM and Alfa Quiz at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - from 7.30pm
End Oct ‘11
Tuscany Fly-Drive trip! Including visit to the superb Padova Classic Car Show. Section
‘lads’ trip, staying at and around Barga in Tuscany.
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 through the year
MITCAR
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
Stoneleigh Abbey near Kenilworth, CV8 2LF
It’s another new venue for our Section flagship event, Midlands
Italian Car Day, keeping up our tradition of a new one each year.
The area we have for MITCAR at the majestic Stoneleigh Park
(not far from Coventry and just off the A46) for 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. 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 as we started 11 years ago!
The house is also open to conducted tours and Bryan has provisionally agreed one on a 'just turn up'
basis at around noon for £5 per head. (Note - no children due to expensive treasures!!)
There will again be a competition for ‘Car of the Day’ (The Camshaft Trophy and Cup) and this year this
will involve a popular vote. Other awards will be made but with a change in format over previous years.
The competitive element is always light-hearted at MITCAR and sometimes the unusual and off-beat is
rewarded, which might not be the case in a conventional
Concours. It all adds to the fun! Prize giving will be at
MITCAR 2010
3pm and, as has become the custom, all those who filled
in voting papers will be entered in a prize draw.
Dealership displays are expected and some other trade
stands will be present. All in all though we think it will be
great. the space is very big and flexible, the price is right
and the facilities suitable too. Should be a cracker!
(More details can be found on the websites
www.mitcar.co.uk and www.stoneleighabbey.org ). Gates
officially open at 10.30am.
A REQUEST: If you can spare some time to assist with
parking on the day and can get there for 9.30am, please
let me know and we can get you in for free. Thanks! John
Gazetta
News Snippets
COTSWOLD ALFA DAY is on Sunday 26th
June is
hosted at
Buscot
Park, near
Swindon SN7 8BU . The traditional Giro
Panoramico (Scenic Drive) will start at
the Frog Mill Hotel, just off the A40 at
Shipton Oliffe, near Andoversford GL54
4HT. Application forms for both are
available on the Cotswold section
website. Entry prices for Buscot Park,
payable on the day at the venue; House
& Grounds £8.00 / Grounds only £5.00 /
Children half price / NT members Free.
JD POWER SUCCESS! Alfa Romeo did
not appear in the top 27 recorded
manufacturer places
in the 2010
Customer
Satisfaction
report due
to a small
sample
size, but
has steadily been working its way up the
rankings boosted by sales of the
outstanding MiTo and Giulietta to finish
in joint 10th position this year (along
with Toyota and VW) for overall Vehicle
Ownership Satisfaction Index, scoring
805 out of a max 1000pts, ahead of
industry average of 794. The JDP report
has four factors, and Alfa scored best in
the ‘Vehicle Appeal Index’, where it
secured an excellent 7th position, with
824 pts, just one point behind 6th place
Audi and ahead of Honda. Lexus (stop
yawning) topped overall with 857.
CONVOY RUNS have been popular over
the years but after an all too close
encounter with an unmarked camera
van en route to Spring Alfa Day, and two
of us getting ‘nicked by it, we are
reviewing them going forward. They
certainly will not take place in their old
form as they are a> too risky and b>
have too much of an onus on the lead
driver, and temptation/requirement for
people without directions to speed to
keep up. Happily we were both given
driver Awareness courses, mine being
good and eye-opening. John
OTHER MARQUES
LANCIA returns to UK later this year but branded here as Chrysler,
spearheaded by the trendy Ypsilon.
The big question remains - will it keep
the name or will it become a Chrysler
Sunbeam, Horizon, or Alpine??
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. We are very pleased that local dealer Chris Variava Alfa Romeo also support the cost of production.
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.
Our Alfas
All the latest on our local
members’ cars...
Our next monthly meeting at The George &
Dragon in Thringstone is on Wednesday
13th July from 7pm - it’s ’Spider night’ too,
but all Alfas welcome. See you there! John
155 2.0 TS - Darren Turner
Darren (from Bedworth)
brought his 155 along to our
May meeting complete with it’s
AROC Sprint Cup racing
number boards.
Darren
having been fettling the
150bhp machine for some
time will be entering the club’s
Sprinting series shortly, and
we look forward to reporting
on his progress in Alfisti.
Terrapin - George Cole
We are delighted to announce that Section
‘El Presidenté’ George will be campaigning
his A-series engined Terrapin single-seater
in the Sprint taking place on Saturday 18th
June at Mallory Park - the day before the
Alfa races there.
George,
pictured
here at Santa Pod in
pre-season
testing
effectively, has been
doing a load of work
on the car to get it
running well and is
hoping to set some
competitive times in
his class. Why not
come along, he’d love
to see you there!
Spider 2.0 Twin Spark - Matt Dalby
GTV 3.0 V6 - Mike Swinfen
Great to see new members Matt and Kate Dalby at our May meeting
bringing along their delightful silver Spider. There is no doubt that the 916
series Spiders and GTVs are becoming very popular in members hands
either as every day machines or fun weekend playthings. With their
tuneful
engines,
stylish Italian leather
interiors and great
handling
they
certainly make a very
pleasing car to own,
and great for blasts
around the back lanes
or long cruises too.
(Looking forward to
July’s Spider night
meeting when we
should see a good
number.
He just keeps finding them! Mike has a fantastic knack of finding tidy
Alfas to sell, and the V6 GTV he brought to our May Meeting was no
exception. The car in beautiful Sargassi Green with tan leather just
looked superb. The 6-speed model with full history and just 54,000
miles was up for sale at just £3,995 with a warranty? surely a snip?
Let john know if you are interested, it may just be still for sale!
Alfasud Sprint Trofeo - Bryan Alexander
From an email to John
I entrusted the Trofeo to BLS at Lincoln to fit new callipers and discs having decided that I am past that
sort of difficulty! Thinking about it, this is the very first time that the car has been worked on by anyone
but me! They had the car overnight - lent me a Micra -and I picked it up this afternoon. Fantastic! I
now have a handbrake and the anchors are better than they have ever been, despite not fully bedded
in. Whilst in the hands of experts I asked them to tune up the carbs - they had not been touched since
1997! - not that the car was running at all badly.
However, the mixture was a bit too lean and there is now a distinct improvement in low-rev pick up. In
fact It feels sharper all round really enjoyed the blast home! Cheers, Bry
GTV - Tiernan (and Alan) Daly
Alan and Tiernan have recently returned from a
fantastic trip following the route of the Mille Miglia,
taking in many car museums and sights en route
in Tiernan’s GTV. Alan has written a delightful
piece about that for the club magazine which
should appear fairly soon. They took l over 1,000
photos, some quite stunning - and there is one
here in Firenze (Florence) just to whet appetites.
- SCOOP! Unusual news from the world of motoring
New English Alfa Model Names to Come
With MiTo losing the beautiful Italian model names ‘Lusso’ and ‘Veloce’, replaced by
‘Progression’ and ‘Distinctive’, sources in Turin tell ‘Scoop!’ that a raft of replacement
English names are also due to appear later this year on other Alfa models.
Firstly, the entry-level Giulietta is expected to switch from ‘Turismo’ to
‘Rudimentary’. (You can see it now; “I’ve just bought a new Giulietta 1.4 Rudimentary”.)
Meanwhile the Giulietta Cloverleaf name will change too, spurred by a survey of Auto
Express readers who thought the badge was something
Irish, though they couldn’t remember the name of the
flower. That will become the Giulietta Malevolent.
Meanwhile, the 159 top model’s moniker will also be
replaced. Ti having been used on Alfas since the 1950s
of course, standing for the racing class ‘Turismo
Internazionale. However, in the same survey, 97% of
readers asked thought it stood for Turbo Injection, even
though actually that’s only been unintentionally true
since 2010. Anyway, the change coming in will see the
top model saloon become the 159 Vigorous Dynamic.
We just hope they don’t use an abbreviation...
Rudi
mentary
Rudimentary
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Alfisti’s production is kindly sponsored by Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham
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Alfisti no.135 will be out at end of July