May Meeting Night Classic Car Night AutoKarna Show

Alfa Romeo Owners Club UK
East Midlands
Section
Formerly Central & East Midlands
May Meeting Night
George & Dragon, Thringstone
Wednesday 13 May, 7pm
Including special Giulietta photo shoot line up
and a ‘Blag-a-Ride’. All Alfas are welcome of
course welcome, especially for the ‘blag-a-ride’
where you can request a passenger run in
another’s car. Be prepared to give people a spin
too of course! Should be great with the wide
variety we have in our group.
Hallaton Bottle Kicking
Cider Company Visit
Sunday 17 May, 11am.
Six red Alfa 4Cs at
AROC Spring Alfa Day. Superb!
PLACES MUST BE BOOKED!!!
A special tour of this charming micro-brewery in
the beautiful village of Hallaton in south east
Leicestershire. Includes a visit to the new
Hallaton museum to discover more about the
‘Bottle Kicking’ tradition, cider samples and
nibbles for just £5 a head. Spaces are limited,
please book with John.
Photo—Brian Austin
Classic Car Night
The next five months are packed full of activities
for us. We’ve got convoy drives, circuit driving,
some superb car shows large and small, plus a
glider show and even a brewery visit. Actually of
course, given our indoor activities in the autumn
and winter, things never really stop!
In April I received our latest full listing of paid up
members. Sadly a small number of now Alfa-less
people have not decided to renew their
membership, but we remain hopeful that they will
return to the fold. On the other hand, we’ve had
24 new people join since this time last year, 8 of
whom have been coming to our gatherings and
events too. If you’re one of the recent joiners but
haven’t come along to see us yet, you can be sure
of being made very welcome by our regular crew,
and it genuinely doesn’t matter what Alfa you
own— we love the lot as you’ll see here in ‘Alfisti’.
Wasn’t Spring Alfa Day great this year? You
struggle to beat the IWM Duxford as a venue, with
its expansive parking and indoor attractions, plus
impromptu air displays. For many the highlight
was seeing six 4C Coupes lined up - they simply
looked superb, well, as you can see above. They
were all red, some in glorious Alfa Rosso, some in
Rosso Competizione metallic. Among them was
our Section’s man Viv Stephens and stood by, coordinating things to do with the register, our own
Paul Jones too. They brought many a smile to
people’s faces, (the 4Cs that is!) - both Alfisti and
general public (must stop calling them Muggles)
at the venue for the day. You can see more inside
of course and tons of photos on our website. See
link bottom right.
Our Curborough Sprint experience day at the
end of April was terrific fun as always. You can’t
beat driving flat -out when you know there are no
speed cameras or people coming in the other
direction! Leading the convoy to Duxford at a
steady 70mph I cannot tell you how hard it was
not to floor it after being overtaken by a Ford
Fusion. Restraint was in order as I didn’t want 28
or more Alfas getting camera tickets!! We will
have the fun of another convoy run up to
Macclesfield on 21 June for National Alfa Day and
the planned route over the Peaks is far more
scenic than the A14/M11 I can assure you.
You can see what’s coming up in May in the
stack on the right hand side… static displays an
unusual off-Piste (on the Piste?) visit, and chance
of some driving thrown in. Don’t forget the 7 June
Glider Club day at Husbands Bosworth too (see
page 6). If that is anything like last year’s Leicester
Aero Club event it will be excellent too. That’s one
where I’d like to know if you are going please as I
need to ensure we have sufficient parking/display
space allocated - a quick email would be great
please, or text or call.
I look forward to seeing you.
Cheers!
AutoKarna Show
Wollaton Park, Nottingham
Sunday 31 May
Park in general parking (cheap!) - meet at Chris
Variava display at lunchtime. (Photo below.)
An interesting, varied classic car show.
Alfisti is edited and produced by
John Griffiths
Spring Alfa Day
AROC East Midlands Section Secretary
Tel: 0774 8881317
@AROCeastmids

April Meeting

Curborough Sprint Experience

Detailing Corner

Alfa Romeo Montreal

Our Cars . . . and more
ALFISTI / EASTMIDS
It’s FREE!!
Our friends from the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club
have invited us over again to their Classics
Night at Beedles Lake, 170 Broome Lane, East
Goscote, Leicester, LE7 3WQ. All Alfas welcome,
old or new, plus any interesting ‘others’. Bar
meals and drinks available in the club house.
John
Inside:

Beedles Lake Golf Centre
Tuesday 19 May, from 7pm
e-mail: john.jhgcs@gmail.com
See our website for latest news and more:
www.AROC-UK.com/EastMids
Beedles Lake Classic
Night. All Alfas welcome.
■ Alfisti Issue 175 ■ May 2015
Alfisti’s production sponsored by
April Meeting Night
At The George & Dragon, Thringstone.
For that past few years we’ve invited our friends from B&W
AutoCare, better known as our local Autoglym franchise,
along to one of our early season meetings and this year with
Spring Alfa Day around the corner I asked them to come to
our April meeting. Being the first evening meeting after the
clock change we were able to kick off early, from 7pm and to
enjoy an hour or so of daylight still. Carl and Fred duly
arrived with both of their vans stocked to the gunwales, and
it wasn’t long before people were stocking up on some great
spring bargains.
After a very sunny day things did cloud over but we were
still delighted that 31 cars came along, a record we thing for
an April evening. It was the usual eclectic mix, with a lot of
newer models present in particular including no less than 4
MiTo Cloverleaf & QV models and a great variety of
Giuliettas. Brian and Colin were along with their S4 Spiders,
and Phil and Peter Haynes in their Bertone Coupes though to
represent the classics.
Great to see new member Paul Mason with his ‘new’
Spider, Wes Harkom with his newly acquired Giulietta, a first
attendance from Neil Fairhurst with his MiTo QV and Rob
Gregory with his new similar car, and a first club outing for
Graeme Chessum’s GT Q2. Rob Galloway was over again all
the way from Peterborough—but he never needs an excuse to
drive his Giulietta TCT! Great to see El Presidenté, George
Cole, over from Grantham too in his 147 2.0, complete with
its ’new’ black wheels. (You can’t beat Wilko spray paint!)
We always welcome in Italian ‘non-Alfas’, and Dave Atkins
brought along his wife Chris’s cracking little Abarth 595’C’
Competizione. I was very pleased to have a spin up the road
in it—what a bundle of fun! The 4-outlet Monza exhaust and
BMC air filter mean it makes a hilarious noise, giving
memories of Mandy Nethercott’s similar car.
Boss Danny has installed some new car park lighting and
that meant we could stay outside for a good while after
sunset before retiring into the pub for more of a natter. We
certainly appreciate how much smarter the whole venue is,
and even the addition of Chicken run in the paddock area
hasn’t impinged on our space! We’re told it is not a ‘pick
your own’ arrangement, but expect some nice fresh eggs with
your gammon steak! John
PHOTOS: From top left: Flags to the fore. John G’s blue
Giulietta one of several present. Row below—The two
Autoglym vans; Viv Stephens’ superb GTV Cup near the new
chicken run!
Sunsets—
Alfa History - The Montreal
The Alfa Romeo Montreal was introduced as a concept car in 1967 at Expo 67, held in Montreal,
Canada. The concept cars were displayed without a name, but the public took to calling it The
Montreal. The show cars had a 1600 cc engine of the Giulia Ti and the chassis of the Giulia Sprint
GT, with a body designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone.
The production version was shown at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show and was quite different from
the original, using a 2593 cc 90° dry-sump lubricated V8 engine with SPICA fuel injection that
produced around 200 PS, coupled to a five-speed ZF ‘box and a limited-slip diff. This engine was
derived from the 2-litre V8 used in the Tipo 33 sports prototype racer; its redline was set at 7000
rpm, unheard of for a V8 at that time. The chassis and running gear were then taken from the Giulia
GTV coupé. Alfa Romeo kept the model name in production.
The car was more expensive to buy than the Jaguar E-Type or the Porsche 911 when launched in
the UK, so was a rarity from the off. Today there are 59 Montreals in the UK,36 registered and 23 on
SORN. Values for the best examples are rising significantly, with some recent sales being north of
£30,000. The Montreal is a highly characterful car, great to look at and to listen to.
ALFISTI - May 2015 - Issue 175
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Curborough Sprint
Experience
Our members who get their name down for this event ib time
always love it… For the uninitiated, our Section President,
(sorry, El Presidenté), George Cole, despite closing in on his
80th birthday, has been competing in Sprint and Hill Climb
competition for many years. Doing so, he’s a member of the
Shenstone & District Motor Club who own the wonderful
Curborough Circuit, not far from Fradley Park off the A38 near
Lichfield, which allows him to rent the circuit for a full day for a
maximum of 10 cars at £600. The number of drivers isn't
limited however and it is free for spectators, though
importantly it is strictly NOT for any timed contest, and only one
car is allowed on track at once (as per Sprint regulations),
aside from the sighting lap of course.
On this occasion the lucky runners included several who
hadn’t taken part before, namely, Martin Brackenbury (owner
of AFH1 Alfa Specialists in Mansfield) with his 147 GTA, Steve
Bestwick in his 147 GTA, recent joiners Darren Richards in his
147 GTA, Dave Heathcote in his GTV Cup, plus Alex Pope in his
MiTo Cloverleaf ’SBK’. Joining them were Curborough veterans
Keith Davies with GTV Twin Spark, Brian Smith with the 155
2.0 KW, Dave McFarland in his GTV 3.2 V6 and George with his
147 2.0. I went along too armed mainly with camera in the
afternoon but enjoyed a few spins with the guys too.
The track was a tad damp to start with but the sun appeared
late morning and the day stayed mercifully dry. As well as
shooting a load of photos I was able to drive the fabled 155
‘KW’ - a real hoot with its Powerflow exhaust, making all the
right noises. The standard suspension is a tad roly-poly and it
lacks a quick-rack, but it steers good and true and grips
terrifically on it 205 section tyres. George’s 147 2.0 may have
108K on the clock, but drives remarkably well too. I thoroughly
enjoyed the laps where he drove me too. He was very smooth,
and knows several tricks for a fast lap—born from experience!!
I enjoyed rides in several other Alfas too. I think Steve
Bestwick was probably the most ‘committed’ - he was FLYING
in his 147 GTA, though all of the V6 boys were more than just
‘fast’. Martin’s similar 147 GTA was also really shifting, for
example, but I didn’t get opportunity to passenger with him.
(Next time ;0) ) Darren Richards enjoyed many laps in his 147
GTA too. Dave Heathcote’s GTV Cup has some nice mods on itQuaiffe LSD for example, plus an ’AutoTune’ re-map and MIJ
exhaust. It looks, sounds and goes just great.
Alex Pope was having a great time in his MiTo too. The clever
Koni suspension (standard) works very well, and the car
changes directing incredibly well, even without exotic multi-link
rear suspension. It made me chuckle that his average MPG
was reading ‘10’ though by the afternoon!
Another surprise was just how much fun Keith Davies
standard GTV 2.0 is on track. The ‘DitchFinder’ tyres (99%
Silicone and un-wear-outable we reckon) mean plenty of noise,
but allow a lot of lift-off oversteer opportunities too in an ‘oldskool’ hot-hatch style. Loads of laughs. No wonder he’s always
grinning in it! On GTVs, Dave McFarland had a grand time in
his with its fresh new 32 Busso V6. He couldn’t go too mad as
it’s still done under 1.000 miles, but with new tubular manifold
sounds terrific, and has huge slugs of torque. He spent a lot of
time fettling shock adjustments and trying with and without
front top anti roll-bar. When he took me around it felt really
well ‘nailed down’, and he’d banished the earlier understeer.
Great to see Mark Gunston and Ian Jephcott along again—
this time spectating. All in all another absolutely terrific day,
and one we are keen to repeat hopefully later this year. Big
thanks as ever to El Presidenté. John
Photos, Clockwise from top. (All by John G,)
Steve Bestwick was flying on his 147 GTA.
Brian Smith in the 155 KW
Dave McFarland didn’t spend ALL ay under his GTV...
Darren Richards with his excellent 147 GTA
George Cole’s 147 2.0 TS
Keith Davis having a ball in his GTV 2.0TS
Dave Heathcote in his subtly upgraded GTV Cup
El Presidenté George by his current steed.
Martin Brackenbury in his silver rocketship
Dave got his GTV running just right… but will still fiddle with it! Ha!
Alex Pope pushing on in his MiTo Cloverleaf SBK
LOADS MORE ON OUR WEBSITE!
ALFISTI - May 2015 - Issue 175
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Spring Alfa Day
The Imperial War Museum
Duxford, Cambridgeshire
Over 950 people in more than 470
Alfas enjoyed a wonderful start to
the big car display season.
The first BIG gathering of Alfa Romeos in the UK this year fittingly
belonged to our Club, returning to an extremely popular venue among
members - the one we often simply call “Duxford”. The Ex-RAF airbase is
still an active runway, but with hangars and bespoke display halls
packed with fantastic aircraft from across the ages, right from the
beginning of manned flight to space missions and the latest fighter jets.
Even Concorde of course. There’s also an extensive indoor display of
wartime vehicles including some most impressive tanks. Another
favourite area is the hangars where aircraft are rebuilt and serviced,
Duxford being home to a wonderful number WW2 ‘Warbirds’, with many
Spitfires, Mustangs and the like. It’s terrific stuff.
This year the extensive American Hangar was closed for maintenance,
though you could just about see them through the front railings as the
huge hangar doors were off Now the slight let down of not being able
to get close to those planes was made up for by several impromptu air
displays, notably from Spitfire MkIX, three Havards and a fabulous late
afternoon jet performance by three Folland Gnats, the plane which was
used by The Red Arrows many years ago before the Hawk took over.
They brought back many happy memories.
On the ground in the Alfa area the main organisational responsibilities
fell primarily to the East Anglian Section. ‘EA’ Secretary Phil Gotts is well
known in our own Section of course with him joining in at various of our
gatherings for many years. Phil’s been involved with the club’s events
since the 1990s so is an ideal lynchpin for them. The guys from the
Section and other local supporting ones were kept very busy anyway as
the Alfas kept flooding in to lunch time. We believe just under 500 in
total with over 950 tickets sold. Really good given an imperfect weather
forecast.
Our Section’s day started at the breakfast meet-up point, the Rothwell
Services on the A14. Around 30 Alfas gathered there before we set off
on our gentle trundle along the main roads to deepest Cambridgeshire.
We picked up Martin Lindus in his GTV on route as planned, and by
sheer fluke, leading the line I joined the A1 right behind Ian Osborne
who was going direct from Grantham. We couldn’t have planned it
better! It’s always fun picking up other Alfas (which we did), and giving
a cheery wave.
Duncan had got there good and early to set up the MiTo Register
display (26 MiTos in total), and the 916 GTV and Spider register display
simply grew and grew too. 147s, 75s had nice areas together as well
and during the day some other models grouped together too, including
Alfasuds and Berlinas.
Aside from a lovely display of classic Giuliettas of various types, the
star was undoubtedly the row of six 4C Coupes, looked after by 4C
Registrar team of Paul Jones and Viv Stephens, both from our Section
of course. They looked (and sounded) superb!
Danielle and Clare at the club shop did record business with the new
range of clothing effectively selling out, and sell-outs included 20 new
club brollies, despite it staying dry, if rather grey. Well, until home-time
of course when wouldn’t the sun come out!
Main event Phil Gotts and erstwhile guru Jim Talbot selected 4 cars of
different vintages for awards - a gorgeous Bertone Coupé, immaculate
black 116 Series Giulietta, a ‘time-warp’ 145 and a 2007 159
Sportwagon which looked, well, brand new, even down to its spotless
disc brakes and callipers.
It was great to chat to so many friends at the show, and meet several
of our members who had travelled there directly. I apologise if I didn’t
get to talk to everyone as I was roped into various duties on the day,
including donning the famous hi-vis for a spot of parking - in echelon I
hasten to add!! (Bryan Alexander would have been proud!) It looked
great, though I heard that some were still trying to get out on Tuesday
afternoon…. :0)
Many people chose to stay good and late after the awards were given
anyway enjoying the late afternoon sun.
As I was helping to put away the club shop and events gear, I thought
we must come back here with the Club again, and quite soon. I trust
those who went enjoyed the day as much as I did. I’ve crammed in a
lot of photos here so apologise some are small but there are lots on our
website. Next stop, National Alfa Day! John
ALFISTI - May 2015 - Issue 175
Part of the extensive Alfa Romeo dirplay.
Top—Spitfire and Havard in close formation.
(Pic Brian Austin)
Viv Stephens’ 4C Launch
edition was much admired.
Some of the beautiful classic Alfa
Romeos present on display.
The 916 GTV and Spider were specially featured
with the model celebrating its 21st birthday.
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
ABOVE: Award-winning 159 Sportwagon
Andrew MacInerney’’s ‘mint’ Giulietta
ABOVE: Viv and Keith hard at work cleaning Viv’s 4C!
ABOVE: Matt gets in with his camera!
ABOVE: Competizione red 4C
Well, at least one pre-war Alfa appeared. What a beauty!
Cars lined up ready to go for our Convoy run
ABOVE: MiTo Register l– 26 lined up, a record we think!
Dave Atkins’ Giulia 1300Ti
Very rare Alfa 2600 Sprint
… where sadly average speed cameras stopped play.
Sublime Spitfire treated us to several display flights (Pic Brian Austin)
Alex Jupe’s stunning 75
Jon Dooley’s Giulietta Sprint Veloce
Keith’s SZ and Brian’s Spider
More cars ready for the off
The ‘American Hangar’ should be fixed soon we hope.
Rare Giulia Sprint Zagato.
SECTION GIULIETTA LINE-UP planned for
13 May Meeting at George & Dragon, Thringstone
If you have a ‘new’ Giulietta, please bring it over to our May meeting where we will be
making a special line of them in the paddock area for a photo ‘shoot’. This will
accompany a forthcoming article all about the model which is going in the club’s main
magazine in June. Watch out, John G will be doing some interviews about your
experience with them too!!
All other Alfas are of course welcome on the night where we’re also going to have a
‘blag-a-ride’ where you can request a passenger spin in another’s car. For example, if
you’ve not experienced what a TCT gearbox is like, or a Bertone Coupe, or a heard
howling Busso V6, this is your chance.
ALFISTI - May 2015 - Issue 175
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Quick Wax Plus...
Quick Detail sprays are terrific. A spray
and wipe with a microfibre and you can
shift dust, drying marks, you name it,
revitalising a shine underneath. I’ve
used Autoglym’s Rapid Detailer,
Angelwax QED and Meguiars Quick
Detailer over the years now by the
bucket. OK, 5Litre pack in Autoglym’s case! Now, what if you could
apply a good wax coat about as quickly? Well, I just might have hit
upon one . . . I’m a big fan of Poorboy’s World products which are
good value, give a great finish and are generally very fast to use.
Whilst scanning various ‘QD’ products I spotted their ‘Quick
Wax+’ (or QW+). Think of it like an extra-thick quick detailer spray.
Reading the blurb, it says it can be used as a QD spray but is really a
wax coat top up, quote, “supplying the benefit of additional Carnauba
Wax and UV block for extra protection. Regular use of Poorboys QW+
will extend the time between necessary waxes by
reinforcing the existing wax’s protective
qualities”. Well it all sounded good to me, so one
big bottle (nearly 500ml) was purchased on
eBay for £13 inc postage, which arrived without
trigger spray. I had a spare ,so decanted some of
the liquid. OK, wasn't a high quality spray bottle
but on use it spattered badly. Poorboys say you
can apply it with an applicator pad, which is what I
reverted to. You apply a
thin layer to one panel at a
time, and there’s no
messing waiting ages for it
to cure as it does so
almost instantly. Follow up
with a soft microfibre
towel and voila! A superb
shine in seconds. Even
better, it can even go on
glass and chrome with no
ill effects, but watch for
rubber/plastic. It’s now a
firm favourite in the
armoury. John
ALFISTI - May 2015 - Issue 175
Glider Centre Open Day, 7 June
Husbands Bosworth,
Leicestershire.
Inc. AROC East Midlands Alfa Display
The Leicester Aero Club have asked us along to
support the day, similar to the popular event
we attend at Leicester Airport, which takes
place this year again on 6 September.
It promises to be a fascinating day where there will
be opportunity to enjoy a pleasure flight in one of
the spectacular gliders for a small charitable
donation.
If you’d like to attend, please let John know asap so
we can organise the correct space. All Alfas are
welcome, we just ask that they are clean and
smartly presented as it is designed as a public
display.
Bottle Kicking Cider Co. Hallaton
We’ve still a few spaces left for our visit to this charming micro-brewery on Sunday
17 May. Starting from 11am we’ll be given an insight into production, a good look at
the newly opened Hallaton Museum plus samples and some nibbles for just £5 each.
Owing to the scale of things we’re had to limit it to 16 people. Please contact me
asap to book your place—we still have some left.
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
AROC East Midlands Section Events 2015
Date
Activity
Weds 13 May
from 7pm
Regular Meeting night at the George & Dragon, Thringstone.
We’re planning a ‘Blag-a-Ride’ night at this one where you can request
a passenger ride around the local lanes, PLUS a special line up of
Giuliettas for a photo shoot. All Alfas very welcome of course.
Sun 17 May,
from 11am.
Visit to The Bottle Kicking Cider Company, Hallaton. Starts 11am at the Cider
Makers’ property, followed by a tour round the new village museum. Cost for the Cider visit
to include nibbles, is £5 payable on day. Limited to 16 places, you MUST book via John.
Tues 19 May
from 7pm
Classic Car Meeting at Beedles Lake Golf Centre. Meeting up with the Leicester
Region of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club. 170 Broome Lane, East Goscote, Leicester, LE7
3WQ. All Alfas are welcome, classic or modern, plus any other Classic makes.
Sun 31 May
AutoKarna car show - Wollaton Park, Nottingham. Park in general parking area - head for
Chris Variava Alfa/Chrysler/Jeep at around 1pm where all members will be made welcome.
Sun 7 June
Glider Club Day - at Husbands Bosworth Glider Club. Similar (but different) to the
Leicester Aero Club day on 6 September, we will have a display area just for Alfas and
chance of glider flights for a charitable donation.
PLEASE CONTACT JOHN If you plan to attend this one, Admission is FREE.
Weds 10 June
from 7pm
Fun Concours Night at the George & Dragon, Thringstone, from 7pm. Our ever popular event where all Alfas present are automatically entered and everyone gets to vote!
Sunday 21
June
AROC National Alfa Day - Gawsworth Hall nr Macclesfield. Section convoy drive meets at
Donington Park Services departing at 8.30 am sharp for a scenic drive to the event.
Sunday 29
June
Summertime Classics. Auto Italia event at Stanford Hall near Lutterworth. This year ’s
event promises an extra special Concours contest too with some terrific cars displayed.
Weds 8 July
from 7pm
Summertime Spin at our monthly meeting night the George & Dragon, Thringstone.
(We will defer the Fun Concours night to this date in event of rain on the June night.)
Friday 31 July
Classic Car Night - Melton Mowbray. Around 50 Classic Cars gather in the town
centre from 5pm ‘til Dusk. Classic Alfa Romeos (over 25 years old or thereabouts) can
simply join in with the rest of us parking up nearby. We will converge on a pub afterwards!
Weds 12 Aug
from 7pm
Barbecue Night at the George & Dragon, Thringstone. Josh, Paul and the team will
be putting on a special BBQ for us at a very fair price. There’s a covered outdoor area too
in case of summer showers! More details in the summer.
Sunday 16
August
MITCAR (Midlands Italian Car Day). Our Section’s BIG event…
Deene Park, Northants, NN17 3EE. The 15th edition is at a new venue again! Admission
just £10 per car. See our website for more.
Sunday 23
August
Cotswold Alfa Day - including Carrera Panoramico Run. Event limited to 100 Cars, see
Cotswold Section Website for details and entry form
Sunday 6
September
Leicester Aero Club Open Day - at Leicester Airport, Gartree Road. Including special Alfa
Romeo parking, aircraft displays, chance for free pleasure flights. Free admission.
Weds 9 Sep
from 7pm
Twilight Drive at the George & Dragon, Thringstone. Our last outdoor evening of
the season will take in a scenic drive in convoy at dusk.
***NEW***
Sat 10 Oct
AROC Track Day at Blyton Park in Lincolnshire. Organised by Javelin Track Days,
our Club’s big track action day of the year promises a wide variety of Alfas on track and
expert instruction available. Cost is low at £129 for a full day of open pit lane action.
Weds 14 Oct
form 7.30pm
AGM & Alfa Quiz at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7.30pm
We will be electing our committee, reviewing the year’s events and looking forward to
2016, all followed by a fun multiple choice quiz with nice prizes.
TBC Oct
Karting Night - Details to be confirmed.
Weds 11 Nov
Meeting night at the George & Dragon, Thringstone from 7.30pm
13-15 Nov
Classic Motor Show - NEC Birmingham. AROC stand featuring historic Alfa Romeos and
something new. Our Section members will be helping on the stand as normal.
Weds 9 Dec
Meeting night at the George & Dragon, Thringstone from 7.30pm
Gazetta
News Snippets
AROC TRACK DAY ANNOUNCED
Saturday 10 October at Blyton Park,
Lincolnshire. This former airfield has been
professionally track-surfaced and is a great
challenge with a fine selection of straights
and fast and low corners. Cost is £129 (low
for a full day’s action.) More details on the
main club website. Spectators can go
along too at no charge.
MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS
Given the number of Alfa Romeos has been
on the decline for the past 3 years (just
over 100,000 left on UK roads) it’s
heartening that the number of AROC
members has continued on an increase
nationally, running at just over 3,000.
Locally as ratios of active members go (i.e.
ones who support our gatherings and
events) we’re extremely well supported but
we’d always love more to come along. If
you’ve paid up your subscription why not
come and join in?
NEW ALFA ENGINES
In April Alfa Romeo management confirmed
that their new range of performance
engines will really take it to the opposition.
The Termoli pant in Italy has bene
completely revamped, to date has been
building the venerable FIRE engine, but is
switching to the latest technology now. We
are promised new diesel units in 4 and 6
cylinder capacities, and on the petrol front
a new 2.0 turbo unit with over 285bhp, and
a re-worked Maserati/Ferrari 3.0 V6 Twin
Turbo with ‘at least’ 480bhp…. Now that
will be a very serious unit, it’s excellent in
Maserati Ghibli guise. Not confirmed, but
use of MultiAir technology is expected.
New tech
Tyre Pressure Monitor on new Giulietta
works! I was a tad suspicious when it
came on, but sure enough I’d picked up a
nail. It works by monitoring wheel rotation,
giving early enough warning to take safe
action. I was most impressed! John
More to be added during the coming months.
The Small Print: Alfisti is published primarily for the enjoyment of members of the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club East Midlands Section.
Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham supports the cost of Alfisti’s printed production carried out at cost rate by a Section Member’s company.
Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club UK ltd cannot endorse or recommend services or products advertised in its publications. Any opinions published in
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Please contact John Griffiths if you have any queries about the Club or our active local Area Section. See cover for contact details.
ALFISTI - May 2015 - Issue 175
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Bertone Coupe 1750 - Phil Levell
147 2.0 TS
George Cole
George was
along to our April meeting night in
his 147 which he is very much
enjoying. His alloy wheels had been
looking a little worse for wear so he
gave them some TLC recently, a
good rub down and some coats of
Satin Black paint courtesy of Wilko.
Can’t go wrong!
From an email to John: I've recently converted to electronic ignition as the
old points/condenser had been playing up. I'd been thinking about it for a
while but after 3 weeks realise it drives much better & also easier to start. A
bit of a cheat but
if this modified
products exist
may as well take
advantage of
technological
improvements.
Also not needed
to call the AA out
after approx 200
miles driving so
should be safe
again! Phil
Giulietta Multiair Lusso - Wes Harkom
MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde - Rob Gregory
Ducati—but with Alfa paint! Shona McDonald
Spider 2.2 JTS LE - Paul Mason
Wes (from Thringstone!) has swapped his GT for this Giulietta in metallic Alfa
Red. He spotted it for sale as a car with only 10,000 miles on the clock at nearly
5 years old—quite
a rarity! Typical of
an early edition fo
a new Alfa model,
for some reason
the car is lacking
it’s rear reversing
sensors which
were standard
fitment of Lusso
models, but he’s
not too worried
about that given
the cars great
general condition.
Shona loves her colours— many wil know her stunning GT in Atlantico Blue as a
good example. Well, bikes are a big hobby too, and as part of the refurbishment
on her prized
Ducati, a pro
repaint in Alfa 8C
Red just had to
happen too.
Once tank was
painted some
fresh gold Ducati
lettering as applied
and the result
looks tremendous.
Hopefully we will
get to see it at one
of our gatherings.
Rob has just taken delivery of this super Anthracite grey MiTo having traded
in his 11 Plate MiTo at Chris Variava. The car looks terrific with its perfectly
matching
headlight,
taillight,
grille, door
handles and
mirror caps.
Factory
‘Colour
Coding’ of
course! He
certainly
enjoys the
great way it
drives too!
Recent joiner Paul joined us at the G&D for the April meeting in his
beautifully presented Spider with its 19” LE wheels. These cars are
becoming ever
more popular in
members’ hands.
Paul has a very
nice number
plate for it too:
M60 ACE — well
put! We look
forward to seeing
Paul and his Alfa
at lots of future
events.
- SCOOP! -
GT Junior (Historic Rally Car) - John Vincent
From an email to John G: Been busy over the last 3 months stripping paint off
the GT Junior in readiness for this years rallies. Will be in the paint shop shortly
once all the new and repair panels have been fitted. I am doing the Three
Castles Rally with the car starting 3rd June in Llandudno. My Nephew will be
driving and I
will be on the
maps/clocks
hoping for a
follow up win
to our win on
the
Beaujolais
rally last year
(Classic Car
Tours
website).
Hope to be
along for the
Fun Concours
night with it
too. Cheers,
John
Unusual news from the world of motoring
Mafia Staff Car spotted on route to Spring
Alfa Day
Scoop photographer
Mark Gunston
captured this dodgy
1970 Giulia
travelling on the
M11. The 3 broadset occupants
looking very much
like they were fresh
over from Sicily…
(Dave Atkins may
have a few secrets!)
Alfisti’s production is kindly sponsored by Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham
Alfisti no.176 will be out in June