John 30 April - Alfa Romeo Owners Club

Alfa Romeo Owners Club
East Midlands
Section
Formerly Central & East Midlands
Sunday 6 April 2014
A great chance to enjoy driving your Alfa on
some wonderful roads, through villages and
beauty spots. Starts at Wistow Country Centre
at 9.30am (LE8 0QF), with first cars leaving at
around 9.45am. The route is 70 miles taking
around 2 1/2 hours, ending at The Ice Bar Café
in Market Harborough for a buffet lunch and
Italian Ice Cream. Cost is just £4 a head for the
buffet and £2 for the route guide. (Drinks at
the Ice Bar Café are extra.) Please breakfast
before you come to the event, but toilets and
take out drinks are available at start. The event
really suits having a navigator. IMPORTANT:
Please let John know asap if you’d like to go.
Wednesday 9 April 2014, 7pm
After the clocks change it’s our first opportunity
to start the evening outside by our cars.
Hopefully it will stay dry too! It’s a perfect
opportunity for people to come along who
haven’t been before. The ‘G&D’ is on the A512
between Ashby and Shepshed. Starts at 7pm.
TBC in April (or May!) 2014
The date will be confirmed as soon as CV’s
Brand Manager, Paul Jones, has details of the
arrival of the amazing new machine. Three cars
are due, we just don’t know exactly when yet,
only it’s soon! All AROC members will be
welcome, please keep an eye on our website.
The Curborough Circuit, near Lichfield, is a short,
tight but sweeping Sprint circuit, affectionately
known as the Curburgring. El Presidenté, George
Cole, Sprinting campaigner of many years, has again
booked a Sprint Experience for us. The last two
years’ events have been quite superb - above you
can see Brian Smith at the helm of his Brera,
pushing hard, and loving every minute! Sadly, all of
the limited car spaces ‘sold out’ when first announced back in December, however, coming to watch is
free and you can get free passenger rides too. If you
want to ‘blag-a-drive’ then you can of course, but will
need to pay as the bill is split by driver, working out
at around £55 each - brilliant value!
The best bit is it is only us there - so track access
is excellent! It is strictly restricted to one car on
track at a time for a 3 lap stint. There’s no official
timing, but that doesn’t mean you cannot click a
stopwatch yourself. But that’s not really the point,
it’s about enjoying driving your Alfa quickly and
safely and how wide your smile is, not how many
tenths you’ve shaved off your best time.
Sadly George has now sold his single-seater so we
won’t have opportunity to drive that, but it’s still one
of the most cost-effective circuit experiences going.
Remember there are no food facilities so pack a
lunch, and do wrap up warm!
Now - as it’s proved so popular, a second date is
being arranged for later this year, with spaces going
to car drivers who missed out this time one. If you
want to do that, please let me know asap.
30 April
As you will see in our feature inside, we’re getting
very excited about National Alfa Weekend on 10 and
11 May. Saturday sees a traditional Show & Shine
at the beautiful Boughton House near Kettering ,
including the splendid National Club Concours
followed by an evening meal in a huge marquee,
then Sunday is a track action day, focussed at
Bruntingthorpe in darkest Leicestershire—a simply
brilliant venue if you’ve never been. There’s a full-on
track day at a bargain rate per car, a special parade
that anyone can tale part in, including the amazing
nearly 2 mile, 60 metre wide, runway, plus superb
twin-engine karting you can pay for on the day for
just £15 for a 20 minute race! All that plus special
display cars too... Can’t be missed! Importantly we
REALLY need marshals for both days. If you are
willing to donate an hour or two to help make the
days the great success they deserve please let me
know ASAP. We will particularly need help early in
the day at Bruntingthorpe so you could help even if
you plan to take part in the main track day itself. It
would be greatly appreciated of course.
What about the 4C Spider then? A beautiful
accompaniment to the coupé. Word from Geneva
show is it could be mid-2015 before sale however.
Meantime RHD coupé production is
underway. Can’t wait to see them…
Cheers!
John
Alfisti is edited and produced by
Inside this edition:
John Griffiths

AROC East Midlands Section Secretary
Tel: 0774 8881317


e-mail: [email protected]

See our website for latest news and more:

www.AROC-UK.COM/EASTMIDS
Alfisti production sponsored by
Stunning 4C Spider Preview debuted at Geneva
■ Alfisti Issue 163 ■ April 2014
Rolls Royce Tours
DynoNight
National Alfa Weekend
March Meeting
166 GTA Q4
. . . and more
@AROCeastmids
ALFISTI / EASTMIDS
Free to club members
National Alfa Weekend - it’s gonna be big!
10 & 11 May 2014
Finally announced! Saturday 10 May is the Show and Shine Special, at Boughton
House near Kettering. A beautiful stately home, scene of National Alfa Days from
2004 to 2006. The event will feature parking by model, the National Concours
competition, and special displays featuring wonderful cars. There will also be an
evening meal in the main house itself, subsidised for all club members.
Sunday 11 May is the big track action day at Bruntingthorpe, the fantastic airfield
venue south of Leicester. If you’ve never been you will probably recognise it from
various motoring programmes, and definitely from the pages of Auto Italia
magazine as it’s scene of many a photo shoot.
The day will have a very cheap general admission, a full-on track day at a bargain
price of £95 per car for the full day, and sessions from just £25. Then, karting on
a superb outdoor track in fast twin-engined karts, at a real bargain rate too, PLUS,
everyone present can take part in a parade tour around the full circuit including a
run along the amazing close to 2 mile runway. Bruntingthorpe once was a base
for American jet bombers in the 1950s and 60s, and was a potential emergency
landing site for the space
Alfas at Boughton House in 2005
shuttles! There will be
special display cars too.
Fantastic Bruntingthorpe
Our Section members will asked to help with
parking and other duties on the day, (both
actually!) - Once again these things honestly
cannot take place without your support—so
please let me know if you can spend some
time on either or both days. There will be
some reward too.
This big weekend event will form a fitting
celebration of the clubs 50th Anniversary.
Please don’t miss it! John
March Meeting Night
Curry Night
At the George & Dragon, Thringstone.
28 February
It’s always fun seeing who will come along to our evening meets, and
the March one saw a terrific attendance, with several new cars in the
car park, not to mention two GIANT vans piloted by Carl and Fred form
our local AutoGlym team.
On the Alfa front - Salvatore Vitale was along in his superb Alfa Red
159 ti 2.4 (mapped, as you’d expect!) Then Chris Childs in his
fantastic new GT 3.2 V6, it looks MINT in cark grey with full beige
leather. And was a complete STEAL. John Vincent also has a recently
acquired GT—a 1.9 in the rare Dijon Blue. Very smart too!
Alan’s Giulietta was going in to Chris Variava’s for tyres, so Paul Jones
had brought over a brand new MiTo 1.3 JTDm2 Sprint to swap. Alan
dropped me a text when he got home: “Forgotten how good the MiTo
1.3 is. Fab little thing, drives beautifully, very pointy and well screwed together. Looking forward to
driving it to work on the twisty roads.” Praise indeed.
Also out, Graham Traxson from Willington in his very shiny black 156, one I’d not seen before as I’d
missed the Feb meet! One car not there however belongs to Roger Smith - his silver 159 3.2 Q4. When
driving home from the Curry Night (opposite) he was run into by a lady driving a 307 who’d crossed the
centre of the road! The impact crumpled his off side wing and goodness knows what else behind. Roger
rang the police, and one breath test later proved she was well over the limit. Roger brought his red 3.2
Spider along in its place, not the Merc E250CDI “Taxi” supplied by his insurers! (It’s all getting sorted.)
It was particularly nice when I drove over to get behind a certain
gentleman driving a red ’78 Alfasud Super, belonging to George, We
were all delighted to see El Presidenté after his recent hospital
aggro.
So, after much AutoGlym was purchased (honest guys I was not on
commission!) we had some great ’natters as usual, and I was very
chuffed to sign a load of people up for The Fox Run too.
And April should be a much lighter evening giving us more time to
look at the fab Alfas collected. Bring a brolly in case - Cheers! John
AutoGlym Queue
‘Out of India’ on the A512 near Shepshed came
very well recommended and we were not at all
disappointed. 19 of us gathered together on a
rather cold evening on the last day in February and
on arrival seeing the big car park pretty full was a
good sign.
As we all know it’s hard to go wrong with a curry
house in Leicestershire of course - the most tricky
thing was choosing from the immense menu!
It’s certainly a venue we’d use again anyway,
good food, good service, plenty of Cobra beer on
tap and friendly and efficient service - fully recommened for party bookings. John
Mark Wood with
‘Tactical’ curry shirt.
(Shows no marks!)
Chris’s GT
Dunk’s MiTo has
developed red lights
ALFISTI - April 2014 - Issue 163
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Rolls-Royce Heritage Centre Tour, Derby
Brian Smith suggested this visit to the Rolls-Royce
heritage Centre on Osmaston Road in Derby back in
October, and we were all delighted by how great it
was on the day. The day include the morning tour,
then lunch, then a very special visit to the modern
Aero Engine service and repair department a short
distance away.
Starting at the Heritage Centre at the site of the
old Rolls-Royce Light Alloy Foundry, now much
demolished, the 21 of us present were split into two
groups with ex-Rolls-Royce staff as guides. Both Ian
and Peter were extremely knowledgeable. I
managed to scribble down a few facts on our tour,
but I apologise now for inaccuracies! (The guys were
so full of knowledge, born by experience, it was
incredible!)
The Derby centre focuses on the Rolls-Royce
company and its founders. The collection is
phenomenally expansive, containing a wide
selection of original paintings, memorabilia, aviation
artefacts, cars and aero engines, from the formation
of the company to the present day, including famous
RR aero engines including Eagle, Hawk, Kestrel,
Merlin, Griffon, Welland and Derwent through to the
RB211 and the Trent. The comprehensive collection
provided some surprises in the quantity and variety
of the display including a sectioned Blue Steel
nuclear stand-off bomb, as dropped from Vulcan
bombers;- the original ’stand off’ nuclear weapon
and cruise missile of the day.
We asked early on, why all the manufacturing in
Derby? The answer, much as why Toyota are here
today - the Council did a deal! Derby has been an
engineering centre for years of course - 1833 saw
the Midland Railway Works - and now Bombardier
today, who make trains, and more.
The centre is a working place with experts
refurbishing aero engines, Merlins in particular - we
were delighted to see and hear one being run. Not
as rare as you think given 168,000 were made
(including the USA version licensed to Packard). A
number of beautiful Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars
featured too and we were delighted to speak to an
old expert who told us about the recreation of a oneoff Bentley Corniche from the 1930s, currently
having its aluminium on wood body painstakingly
manufactured in France. Also the collection houses
an early Rolls that belonged to Baden-Powell,
founder of the Boy Scouts, complete with matching
caravan!
The Aero Engine museum was incredible - with
models from many other manufacturers too,
including a monster WW1 Fiat, and an engine
licensed to Alfa Romeo! The company Spitfire was
glorious, and in a nice original matt camouflage
finish - so often they are restored to a very shiny
state that was totally unoriginal.
During our tour we were amazed to hear the
sound of a Merlin engine starting up and running an low and behold outside a team of engineers were
running one on a wheeled (chocked!) stand,
complete with a temporary prop. Despite nonoriginal exhausts it sounded fabulous. Back indoors
the collection of jet engines was no less
impressive—seeing an engine with vector thrust
nozzles from a Hawker Harrier was fascinating in
particular, and then an early Trent engine with its
clever ‘reverse thrust’ technology. It seemed big, but
the very latest Trent is 50% bigger again!
It was amazing to think that the Royce family
started in Mills - moving to electrical generators, the
cars, to aero engines, then was among the early jet
engine pioneers and now building the world-leading
Trent. The two hour tour seemed to take a few
minutes, we could all have stayed much longer—but
lunch beckoned, followed by a very special visit (not
normally open to any public) at the modern engine
works. . .
Many thanks to Jayne Rogers our host at the
Heritage Centre and Mark Davis at the Engine
works, plus all of their respective teams.
John
Merlin being tested
A perspective on the Afternoon Jet Engine service
and repair plant visit, from Bob Human:
After a very good cost and time effective lunch we
went on to a very privileged tour of the Rolls-Royce
service and maintenance department. Here we were
guided round the facility and told about the
procedures in place when an aero engine is in for
service or repair. We were talked through every
stage from the engine entering the door. It is firstly
assessed for level of service / repair, then split into
modules. The modules then go to different
departments where they are stripped and rebuilt
with any new parts required. They are then taken to
the assembly area and reassembled into a 'like
new' jet engine. All this sounds simple but takes
around 65 days. This was all obviously of great
interest to those of us with engineering
backgrounds, but the guide was very informative at
all levels - even to explaining how an aircraft engine
starts while we are sitting on the plane waiting for
our holiday. He even answered questions with his
thoughts on the Malaysian 777 disappearance.
We saw various engines including the awesome
Trent 1000 with its 10 feet wide induction fan and
even the engine of the future - the Trent XWB.
This was a brilliant afternoon following on from
the morning historical tour and we all left feeling
proud that this world leading company is British.
Bob
Photos L-R, top to bottome
Very early Royce generator.
Baden Powell’s Rolls-Royce
Blue Streak stand-off nuke
Roger Smith by Alfa aero engine
The amazing Mk1X Spitfire
Bob Human by massive WW1 Fiat
Diesel engines, sold by RR to
Perkins
Early Trent engine
Huge tank and train engines.
ALFISTI - April 2014 - Issue 163
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
DynoNight!
At FutureMotorsports, Syston
A visit to a rolling road Dynamometer was
suggested last year by both Mark Wood and Richard
Shaw; Richard who’d used one after re-mapping his
159 and Mark who regularly uses them in the
course of his business of motor engineering.
Anyway, Mark’s suggestion of FutureMotorsports in
Syston, Leicester, was the one we went for in March
as the owner, Bejal, or B for short, offered us a
healthy group discount at £30 a car for 3 runs with
power and torque print outs.
So, on the evening 18 of us gathered early on with
Mark leading the way with a demo power-run in wife
Jacqui’s nearly new Giulietta Cloverleaf! (How
understanding Jacqui is!) It took a while to get it tied
down, but longer to try and switch off the traction
control, the clever system not liking the fact its front
wheels were moving but rears not—in the end the
ABS fuse was pulled and all was well!
So what’s the method? Well, to start with the cars
need a good check over to ensure all levels are
topped up, and the cars need to be warmed up to
operating temperature. The car rolls its powered
wheels on the roller and then the car is securely
strapped down, with just the right amount of
pressure to ensure the wheels don’t ride up the
drum and give false readings. Happily the
FutureMotorsports guys are expert at this - their
Rolling Road capable of handling 2,500hp! The car
is then hooked up via OBD connection to the
computer and away we go.
‘B’ did the driving, giving them a gentle run, then
through to third gear (normally) and up to max revs,
held for just a few seconds. Then its charge over to
Top to bottom - Matt Yousuf’s MiTo QV, Steve Reid’s 155 and
Leigh Nethercot’s M3. Great Varety
ALFISTI - April 2014 - Issue 163
the screen to see the results! BHP and torque at the
wheels is accurately recorded than an algorithm
calculates the ‘flywheel’ power - the figure quoted by
manufacturers.
We had a wonderful array of cars as you’ll see. We
were heartened with Mark’s G QV run as its readings
were about bang on the manufacturer’s. Among us
we had two mildly modified GTV 3.0 V6s, a 155 1.8
16v, a 145 1.6 Boxer, a Giulietta JTDm2/170 TCT, a
159 2.4 JTDm, a MiTo QV, 156 SPW 2.0 JTS and
Brera 2.2 - plus a Panda 100HP with LPG gear (!),
And Leigh’s bonkers BMW M3 V8.
So how did they get on? Owen’s 18-year-old, 180K
145 was still giving 100bhp (solid!), Rich’s 159 gave
a massive 250bhp and 429 lbs/ft (!), Mark’s Panda
104bhp on petrol and 92bhp on LPG (expected),
Matt’s MiTo QV with induction kit and 99 octane
gave 194bhp (nice), Leigh’s M3 a solid 414bhp and
an insane 8,400rpm. Impressively, Keith’s diesel G
gave a monster 200bhp out of the box! Steve’s 155
1.8 16v also gave 149bhp (big exhaust and
induction kit). Christian’s 156 2.0 JTS gave 150bhp,
so down 10%, but was desperately in need of a
service, and it has got 180K on the clock! Brian’s
Brera was a tad down on power (needs service too?)
but with its re-map ran out to 7,200rpm, sounding
superb with a lovely smooth power curve. Dave
McFarland’s GTV 3.0 gave an impressive 240bhp,
Martin’s a little behind it but both Busso V6s
sounded fantastic! A great deal of fun anyway and
something we’ll do again. Many thanks to Mark, B
and all at FutureMotorsports - an excellent evening
for Petrolheads - and Dieselistas too!) John
Top to bottom - Brian Smith’s Brera, Owen French with 145, Mark
Sangster with Panda 100HP. (Should be 104HP on V-Power!)
Top to bottom - Keith Krog’s Giulietta giving 200bhp as stock!!
B lines up Jacqui’s Giulietta QV
Strapping down to remove risk of movement and get accuracy
Strong fans provide breathing for the cars
Spinning up those wheels - 3rd gear through to max revs, then
it’s time for the read outs...
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Mark Wood’s GTV
Fancy Zandvoort?
Is still under development, as
those at the Dyno Night could see.
Here Mark in the grey jacket
explains to Mark Sangster exactly
where the turbocharger fits into
the equation on his 2.0JTS. Well it
was one of them but now with
Twin Spark head on board. It’s a
great bit of work with special
pulleys, hoses and bespoke
pipework. Will be a
heck of a machine
when complete. At
present when
assembled its blowing
the oil filter off! Soon to
be fixed though and its
likely to have well over
300bhp at the
wheels…. We can’t
wait to see it in action.
John
Jorge Lorenzo - face of the Alfa Romeo
brand.
For 2014,
several times
champion Jorge
Lorenzo will be
the face of the
Alfa Romeo
brand. A winning
combination of
one of the most
well-known and
appreciated
racers at an
international
level and the brand with a century of history that superbly
expresses Italian style and motoring experience together with a
unique, winning spirit made of challenges and competition. In
particular, the exceptional 'Alfa Romeo Fan' will sport the Alfa
Romeo logo both on the racing suit and the helmet used in the
2014 MotoGP World Championship, where he will compete with his
official Yamaha YZR-M1 in the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team.
Nick Clancy from the West Midlands Section
is the organiser of AROC trips to Europe and
Ireland. A big one planned this year is on
23-24 August for the big Alfa gathering,
‘Spettacolo Sportivo’ at the famous
Zandvoort seaside circuit in Holland , not far
from Amsterdam. It’s based on a 4 night trip
to Holland (fewer or greater number of
nights also possible).
The AROC accommodation will be at a newly
opened hotel on the outskirts of Amsterdam, with good public
transport connections into the city taking just 10mins. Expect to
pay around €100 / night for a double room in Holland (breakfast
and parking may cost extra). Fewer or more nights are available.
Preceding the main event this year, SCARB (local Alfa Club) are
also organising an optional 2-day scenic trip for foreign visitors,
travelling from the Dutch (eastern / southern…) border to
Zandvoort on 21/22 August, passing through many of
the typical Dutch landscapes and attractions.
Channel crossings seem to have increased in price considerably
recently and are now available from around. £45 each way (for car
+ up to 4 passengers) at time of writing (DFDS Seaways). Early
booking is recommended. Our man DAVE ATKINS is coordinating
interested parties from our Section. Please drop him a line at
[email protected]
AROC East Mids. links up with Jesolo in Italy
Duncan Langford has been chatting on Facebook to various Alfa MiTo Clubs in Italy
and has arranged an informal twinning with MiTo Club Jesolo. Though the name
suggests they are only fans of Alfa's hatchback, they are indeed a club similar to ours,
with a variety of Alfas driven, but with most members owning a MiTo. Jesolo is located
a stone's throw away from Venice on the Adriatic Coast and is surrounded by beautiful
mountains and some stunning driving roads. Duncan has already been invited to visit
and has offered a place to stay for some of their members if they ever visit the sunny
climes of Leicestershire.
An Alfa that never was…
166 GTA Q4
During the development of the Alfa
Romeo 166 facelift (2003), a team of
engineers were working on an ultimate
flagship model on top of the 3.2 V6.
The Alfa Romeo 166 GTA Q4 was
supposed to be the sportiest model of
the 166 line-up.
It was planned to make use of fourwheel drive system like its predecessor,
the 164 Q4. The main problem was the
engine; the Alfa Romeo Busso 3.2 V6
delivered a maximum power output of around 250bhp and would already serve duty in
the regular facelift of the Alfa Romeo 166. To differentiate he GTA version the
engineers first tried to fit the legendary Busso V6 with a turbo, but quickly realized this
would cause reliability problems. Eventually the M138 4.2 V8 engine developed by
Ferrari producing 390bhp was chosen. This engine was also to be used in the then new
Maserati 4200 GT and Quattroporte. But the project turned out to be too expensive as
a lot of changes needed to be made to the 166 and Alfa Romeo would only be able to
produce a limited amount of them. Another reason for why this sporty 166 didn’t make
it is that Luca di Montezemolo, boss of the high performance Fiat Group brands,
thought the 166 Q4 would become a major competitor for the new Maserati
Quattroporte itself!
The photos here, sourced via an Italian website, show a 166 GTA development vehicle.
You can see its body kit, with big cooling apertures in the nose and deep skirts and rear
valance - it’s quite a handsome beast. Wouldn’t it look superb in black? John
ALFISTI - April 2014 - Issue 163
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Used car stock highlights
£12,995
Chris Variava Alfa Romeo
www.nottinghamalfaromeo.co.uk
431-461 Nottingham Road
Basford, Nottingham NG6 0FB
Phone: 0115 855 3040
Sales: Ask for Brand Manager Paul Jones,
Richard Chadwick or Joe Parmenter
£15,990
£10,895
£17,495
£14,695
Waterless cleaning? What’s all that
about?
Duncan Langford (Detailing fanatic extraordinaire) gives us a recommendation this
month…
Aquanil (see what they did there?) is a waterless
cleaning system from Croftgate USA and I have to
admit I was very dubious about their claims that: A.
it would clean the car, and B. it would do it without
scratching soft modern paint.
How you use it: Aquanil is applied to one of their
supplied microfibre cloths and then to the surface of
the car. It lifts the dirt off of the surface trapping it in
the liquid and then you just wipe over with the cloth.
Best to do this one panel at time. I was pleasantly
surprised to find that it really works and leaves no
scratches or marks. Croftgate’s Quick ‘n Slick is
good to apply as a sealant/shine enhancer
afterwards.
Anyway, after extensive use I highly recommended
them! See http://www.croftgateusa.co.uk Dunk
… And a quick guide to application of spray
products like these. Obviously Microfibre towels are
a must. These are readily available in
Supermarkets nowadays usually in pack of 4 or 5
for about £4 or less. They re-wash great, just make
sure you do not use fabric conditioner as it breaks
them down! (Been there—done that!)
Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde LE
Special Launch Edition due later this year
Now all QVs get 4C alloy engine and TCT.
Alfa Romeo announced a special Launch Edition for its new
Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde that will feature the 4C’s 240bhp
all-aluminium 1750cc turbo engine with the TCT
transmission. 500 will be built for sale in all markets,
available in a new Matt Magnesio Grey (which looks great),
also traditional Alfa Red and 8C Red. Standard kit includes
the 5-hole alloys in dark Titanium, and what looks like the full
body kit, including the rear diffuser. Press release states
available to order from May, but that’s likely to be Europe,
with UK the usual 3 months later - then there’s the wait for
the car itself. How many Les will come to UK is anyone’s
guess, given only around 100 standard Cloverleafs were sold
here in 2013. (Around 700 sold in UK in total since launch—
it’s so underrated.)
On a positive
note, it
‘looks’ and
will certainly
shift: 062mph in
6.6 seconds
& 150mph+
top speed.
John
HOW TO APPLY:




Fold a clean, dry microfibre cloth twice, giving you 8 sides to use.
Mist the towel with a couple of sprays of product. Do not over apply.
Treat the surface by rubbing gently.
Continue applying an area at a time, until vehicle is done.
You can use this technique with quick detailer sprays and windscreen cleaner sprays
too. You end up making your stocks of cleaner last much longer into the bargain. John
CROFTGATE DISCOUNT CODE FOR AROC: Use AROC10 at checkout = 10% off!!!
ALFISTI - April 2014 - Issue 163
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
AROC East Midlands Section Events 2014
Date
Event
Sun 6 April
The Fox Run - Breakfast meet up for scenic drive in South/East
Leicestershire, finishing for a buffet lunch and Italian Ice Cream at
The Ice Bar Café in Market Harborough. Buffet is just £4 a head - then just £2 a car for
the route guide pack, all payable on the day. PLEASE BOOK ASAP WITH JOHN!
Weds 9 April
Regular Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - from 7pm. First
light evening meeting of the year, but bring a brolly!
Weds 30 April
Curborough Circuit Experience – Thanks to El Presidenté, George Cole, 10 cars from
our Section take on the challenges of this tight and twisting circuit – the Nurburgring of the
Midlands! Price @£55. Contact John Griffiths. (NB all car places taken.)
TBC April / May
2014
Alfa 4C launch open day at Chris Variava Nottingham. Date will
be announced as soon as available. Please keep an eye on our website!
John will also email out to all local members as soon as it is known.
Sat 10 May
AROC 50th Anniversary Weekend - National Alfa Weekend. ‘Show & Shine’
BOUGHTON HOUSE near Kettering, including model parking and National
Concours d’Elegance.
Sun 11 May
AROC 50th Anniversary Weekend - National Alfa Weekend. ‘Track Action Day’
BRUNTINGTHORPE south Leicestershire. Track Day, displays, parades, karting.
For the low-cost admission charge you can take part in a ’fast parade’ including a run on
the 2-mile runway—and track day slots start as low as £25 in advance. Great Value!!
Weds 14 May
Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - from 7pm
We’re going to make this one a ‘blag-a-ride’ night so we can give people spins in our cars,
both classic and modern.
Tue 20 May
Classic Car Night at Beedles Lake Golf Centre. Meeting with the Leicester Region
of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club. (170 Broome Lane, East Goscote, Leicester LE7 3WQ)
see www.beedleslake.co.uk - All Alfas welcome, classic or modern, plus any 'interesting
others'! Bar meals available - always a good evening. Starts at 7pm.
Weds 11 June
Fun Concours Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm.
All Alfa Romeos automatically entered and all present do the voting! Stacks of categories
from Shiniest Paint to dirtiest wheels. One not to miss...
Sun 29 June
Summertime Classics – with Auto Italia, at Stanford Hall near Lutterworth,
Leicestershire. Incorporates the Italian Car Concours. Great display of Alfas expected.
Weds 9 July
Summertime Spin at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm.
Summer meet up, with a convoy drown around local lanes thrown in.
Weds 13 Aug
Spider Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - from 7pm. All Alfas welcome
of course, and we’ll be having a ‘Blag-a-Ride’ too...
Sun 17 Aug
MITCAR 2014 - Midlands Italian Car Day, Rockingham Castle near Corby, LE16 8TH.
The 14th edition of our Section's flagship event will be one not to miss! See feature item
inside. Admission to show, gardens and house for all occupants, just £10 per car!
Sun 7 Sept
Leicester Aero Club Open Day - at Leicester Airport (aka Stoughton Aerodrome),
including air displays, special Alfa display and potential free pleasure flights too!
TBC Sept
Karting Challenge - Will be at an outdoor circuit; more details later in the year.
Wes 8 Oct
Section AGM and Alfa Quiz - at the George & Dragon, Thringstone, from 7.30pm
TBC Oct/Nov
Triumph Motorcycles Tour, Hinckley - Details will be confirmed as soon as new visitors
centre is open.
TBC Nov
Classic Motor Show - NEC Birmingham. AROC stand will again feature some superb
classic Alfa Romeos and possibly something new.
More events will be added during the year. Please watch our website for latest news.
AROC East Midlands Section Merchandise
Polo shirts with full colour embroidered logo, in mid or dark blue.
All sizes - Just £15 each.
Fleeces from £25 and Soft-Shell waterproof jackets from £30
Gazetta
News Snippets
CURBOROUGH EXPERIENCE IS FULL . . .
READY FOR TAKE 2?
Our Sprint Experience day at Curborough
circuit sold out in minutes for cars, though
space remains for additional drivers. We
have three people with cars currently on the
reserves list, but we may advertise another
date later in the year giving preference to
those who’ve not been before. If you’re
interested in being either an additional
driver on 30 April OR taking part in another
event later in the year, please let John
know. It’s a wonderful day and a bargain!
BEWARE ATTRACTIVE MAGAZINE
SUBSCRIPTION GIFTS
I was delighted to get a deal on a
subscription to CAR magazine in December,
particularly as the free gift was a pack of
the excellent AutoGlym HD Wax. The Feb
edition landed, but no gift. Emails were
exchanged and promises made, but come 1
March they admitted no HD Wax available
and offered a screwdriver set. Great. So,
please be wary of offers that appear to be
too good to be true. (Subscription offer was
via ‘Great Magazines’ ) BEWARE! John
GET KARTING AT BRUNTINGTHORPE!
The karting will be terrific fun at National
Alfa Weekend. They have twin-engined karts
capable of 60mph and a really twisty,
challenging track. It’s only likely to be £15
for a 20 minute race too, 6 at a time. Let
John know if interested and we can look to
get a race together. (Over 18s only.)
The general track day is very much biased
towards novices too - a single slot costing
£25 and a full day just £95. Superb value.
OTHER MARQUES
LEXUS styling inspiration revealed
Next model must be being called Predator
All items are genuine high quality and an absolute steal at the price.
TO ORDER contact our man Brian Smith at [email protected]
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
‘Alfisti’ or its sister website are personal ones. Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club Ltd registered Number 01106134. Please contact John Griffiths if you
have any queries about the club or our active local Area Section. See cover for contact details.
ALFISTI - April 2014 - Issue 163
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
MiTo 1.4 ‘155’ Veloce - Rachael Atkins
GTV 2.0 TS - Keith Davies
Yes, another Alfa in the Atkins Family! All three offspring of Dave and Chris
Atkins now have Alfas, with daughter Rachael collecting this delightful white
MiTo from Paul Jones at Chris Variava in March. (She’s owned two FIATs
before this Alfa.)
Rachael’s future
husband is also
a bit besotted by
a new Giulietta
too - a far better
vehicle than his
1-Series BMW of
course!!
Quoting Dave:
“Chris says I am
brain washing
all the kids,
don't know what
she is on about do you?”
From an email to John: I got bitten by the urge to
buy another Alfa when a work colleague’s GTV
failed its MOT and I thought I might be able to buy
(steal) it as a future classic. Alas, I couldn’t close
the deal. But by this time, I’d been infected by the
bug. I had to have a 916 GTV. After a little
searching on the interwebbythingy, I picked up my
Proteo Red ‘P’ plate 2 litre TS for a song. A bit of a
gamble as there was very little history with it. She
needed a bit of TLC which I lavished on her over her first winter with me. The
first thing was a new cambelt and water pump. Then a complete strip-down and
rebuild of the suspension. Shot-blasting, repainting, poly-bushing and
replacement of parts too far gone. Soon after, a new battery, 2 sections of
exhaust and more recently, four new tyres have completed the current ‘to do’
list. Next, discs and pads. A couple of years ago there was a call on the club
forum from 5th Gear, requesting a Pininfarina-designed car to appear in their
next series. I offered mine up, they played with it for a day down at Castle
Coombe, the piece was shown in the next series and now I own a GTV that’s
been featured on 5th Gear. She's famous! The GTV is not my everyday
workhorse thanks to my 156,
she’s locked in the garage most
of the time. But three and a half
years after the purchase, I can
honestly say I haven’t had
anywhere near as much fun in
any other car I’ve owned.
Hmmmm, I’ve just been offered a
3 litre GTV . . . time to sell the
Twinny? Keith
From and email to John: I've finally got the lights fixed on the Bertone –
there were fixed a few months ago but kept on blowing a fuse after 3 or 4
uses. So far so good
but fingers crossed they
don't go again soon.
Now that the days are
beginning to get lighter
this shouldn't be so
much of an issue but I
also had a leaking
radiator – that's also
been fixed so after over
3 weeks of being off the
road it's great to have
the car back. Phil
Giulietta 2.0 JTDm2 TCT Veloce - Alan Lathwell
Alfa Romeo 2500 6C Evocazione - Andy Wallington
Just had the 42K service carried out at Chris Variava Alfa Romeo. Some going
with the car only just over 2! Clean bill of health, and 2 new Bridgestone
Potenzas on the front, the last pair of fronts covered 18,000 miles which I'm not
unhappy with. Driver’s seat base pad replaced as the last one had lost shape.
(Cue the jokes!) Sadly it’s picking up a few
stone chips due to the mileage I'm doing,
including a nasty one of the grille - will
need to be replaced. Currently considering
an aftermarket DAB tuner. It integrates
with the existing unit and steering wheel
controls, giving you hundreds more
stations to choose from. My car’s going to
be given its first full clean of the year soon
and I've started buying the products. Very
much looking forward to this season’s
events and will do my best to make sure
my car looks its best. :) Alan
Bertone Coupe 1750 - Phil Levell
Our back page isn’t the same with Andy’s Alfa inspired ’special’.
He’s not quite
settled on a name
for it, but there’s
many options. It
has a proper Alfa
2.5 10v V6, a body
shape reminiscent
of the wonderful
Alfa 158/9 ‘Alfetta’
too. Now with its
wonderful red
bodywork on,
Andy’s working
away on completion. Looking good!
GT 3.2 V6 - Chris Childs
From an email to John; Well I was wondering whether or not to keep the GTV but
it started driving me crackers Alfa style! Wheel bearing went interior light that
came on when you shut the door? Electric ariel that stopped was replaced and
stopped again. Throttle body changed then the intake split then the thermostat
went replaced that then the sender died to that replaced that... bla bla bla. Then
I turned 40.... (phew and breathe.) I was actually looking for a diesel GT but
moon rocks trapped in most tyres put me off... and potential cambelt/
waterpumps/EGR....etc (I think he means expense – JG ;0) )
Spotted this in Peterborough of all places and deal done... eeek. It's not quite full
specification but has BOSE. The
leather is anthracite grey / with
splashes of fake tan (previous
owner last 7 years a lady/Barbie).
Only 17s on it but full s/h by
Rusper and 99k on the clock and
plenty to do. All new badges
arrived today and front plinth all
original parts £40 the lot!
Full stainless medium range
sprint exhaust fitted recently
sounds amazzzzzzz-ing!! It goes
like stink!!! It stops on a button And smiles..... priceless. Chris
- SCOOP! Unusual news from the world of motoring
Alfa to reopen WTCC attack next year!!
Alfa Romeo is to join the World Touring Car Championship in 2015
with the Giulietta, after an 8 year absence, sporting the classic
Martini livery too.
Gabriele Tarquini has signed as team leader, Giorgio Pianta as team
boss at a newly reformed Alfa Corse
operation based out of
Arese. Brit James
Thompson is
expected to sign as
second driver, with
Nicola Larini a
possible return
alongside them.
Interviewing Tarquini
he said “. . . What’s
that alarm sound?”
■ Alfisti’s production is kindly sponsored by Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham
■ Alfisti no.164 will be out in May