aroc east midlands section

AROC
EAST MIDLANDS
SECTION
Formerly Central & East Mids.
FOX RUN
The
Sunday 20 May
Scenic tour of Northants
100 miles on some great roads in beautiful
countryside, starting with a breakfast, a
coffee stop en route and finishing with a
carvery meal at a hotel, all at a very fair
price. Please see inside for more details.
At Spring Alfa Day 2010.
CLASSIC CAR MEET
Tuesday 15 May from 7pm at
Beedles Lake Golf Centre
We’ve been invited to the Leicestershire
Region of the Jaguar Enthusiast Club’s
annual Classic gathering at the smart
Beedles Lake centre at 170 Broome Lane
East Goscote, Leicester LE7 3WQ. All Alfas
are welcome, new and old and it’s a great
opportunity for those members with an
interesting ‘other’ classic too. (I have a
vision of a certain VW Camper now! John)
There’s no charge to join in and there is a
bar on site with food available.
Below - Cars at last year’s classic meet at Beedles Lake.
Sunday 29 April
Cotswold Wildlife Park, Burford
The Cotswold Section have kindly offered to host
this year’s national AROC Spring event that is
always well supported by our club members.
Being based at a wildlife park will be a new one
for our club that we hope will be attractive for
families in particular. There will be plenty for Alfa
enthusiasts to enjoy there too of course.
Parking will be arranged by Section, and each
area is due to have a theme. Our idea is “Teddy
Bears’ Picnic” - simple to do, please just bring bear
(or bears) and we’ll dress them up with some
‘Tricolore’ ribbon. We also are looking at ideas for
arranging the display of cars, and the Atkins’ VW
Camper, with its kitchen ensemble, will also be put
to good use. So please dig out those teddies!
We will also meet up early on for a convoy run
down to Burford but if you can’t make that all are
welcome to join us on site of course. Please let me
know if you plan to come as it will help with our
display area layout plans.
As well as many animal display areas at the park
there are areas to picnic, plus restaurant and snack
kiosks on site. Dogs on leads are allowed into
outdoor areas of the park.
CONVOY RUN MEETING POINT
Please gather at the BP Services on the A46
Warwick By Pass (southbound) approaching M40,
gathering at 8.30am or before. It is a small service
station, but there is an ’Autogrill’ if you fancy a
breakfast. We will depart at 8.45am sharp to then
saunter down the Fosse Way to the venue where
we’ll get ourselves tidily organised to form a greatlooking display. TICKETS: £9.50 per adult (kids
free) when pre-booked against £13 per adult on the
day. Booking forms were sent with the February
club magazine, and I can send you one if required.
This is a member benefit of course, so you’re
already saving £3.50 against your annual club
membership! Add in the 10 copies of Alfisti a year
(£25 plus postage) and I’m nearly convincing
myself!
Well, wasn’t the Coventry Transport Museum day
great? Sorry to those who couldn’t make it, but
hopefully the item inside will give you an idea of
what you missed. There are lots more photos on
our website too of course. It certainly made a
difference from parking up on grass, and it was also
fun seeing so many of the general public around
too, something we tend not to get at our usual
Italian car shows. So that was the parking up
anyway, but soon up is a great opportunity to enjoy
driving your Alfa on some great roads—which is
really what its all about. Please put you name down
for the Fox Run that’s on 20 May - there’s more
about that inside. Meantime though I need to see
where Hannah’s hidden her old
Teddy bears... Cheers!
John
Alfisti is the AROC East Midlands Section
newsletter, edited and produced by
Inside this edition:
John Griffiths
AROC East Midlands Section Secretary
Tel: 0774 8881317
e-mail: [email protected]
Section website, for latest news and more:
www.AROC--UK.COM/EASTMIDS
Coventry Alfa Display
Fox Run Info
March Meeting at the G&D
Geneva Show
Section Polo Shirts out now!
Our Alfas… and more.
Alfisti production sponsored by
ALFISTI / EASTMIDS
■ Alfisti Issue 142 ■ April 2012
£2.50 where sold
MARCH MEETING at
AROC EAST
MIDLANDS
SECTION
The George & Dragon
Our Winter evening
meetings at the George
& Dragon have been
really well attended, and
the one on 14 March
was particularly so. To
start with we had Carl
and the gang from our
local
AutoGlym
franchise along with their big van selling the full range of retail and trade
products at scarcely believable prices. I got in first (having bribed someone to
trip up Simon), stocking up on trade packs of ‘non acid; wheel cleaner and Aqua
Wax (I’ll swear my son David drinks the stuff othe than just using on his 147!!),
but was soon overrun by many others. Simon made a poor excuse that he was
buying for others, but still still took seven huge bags away having spent over
£100! The new Super Resin Polish went down particularly well, along with the
fantastic High Definition Wax.
After we got the rough the line it was back inside for the evenings highlight, a
Q&A session with our friendly vehicle dynamics guru Peter Cambridge, pictured
above. Peter was in charge of the team that developed the Brera S when he
worked at Prodrive; he did extensive work there over many years on a string of
cars from Subarus to Aston Martins, and latterly now freelance has been doing a
lot of work for Jaguar on many models, then for Mountune on the ‘hairy’ Ford RS
Focus, and latterly has been working with Lichfield on the even scarier Godzilla
Nissan GTR.
Peter’s informal session covered a terrific range of topics - most popular
being tyres! That was prompted by my very first question, what’s the quickest
and easiest way of improving the handling and general dynamic feel of an Alfa…
the simple answer, get some really good quality tyres. The debate raged over
this, but here are some key points from Peter:
1. Make sure you set the tyre pressure dead on the manufacturer spec., they
put the effort in to get it right. Buy a good quality pressure gauge and
check regularly!! It impacts handling, ride, fuel economy and of course
wear and braking performance.
2. Don’t always believe magazine tyre tests. There’s not always much to
choose between the top brands. Peter currently favours Michelins as,
though sometimes a tad dearer than other top brands they have a great
balance between grip and ride quality whilst offering a really good wear
rate. You recover that difference in initial outlay easily.
3. Make sure you keep to tyres of manufacturer spec. Do not change the size
and especially the load rating. (Many Alfas demand XL, don’t change that!)
4. Get your tracking done properly! (See later.)
We had lots of discussion then around springs and dampers. Our section
members had a great trip to Bilstein and Eibach HQs in Broughton Astley a
couple fo years back, and now Peter is do a lot more work for them again, He is
now an authorised reseller so if you want to uprate your car, or even just lower/
improve ride say, speak to him.
We asked Peter which cars gave him the most satisfaction to work on, and
genuinely he stated the Brera, particularly the interaction with then boss of Alfa
UK Nicholas Bernard, who gave him carte blanche in creating a great driver’s
car. His work on the RX-8 was also very rewarding, with Mazda Japan delighted
that it retained a great ride with true sports car handling.
Above - Queuing at the big AutoGlym van.
MERCHANDISE
High quality Polo shirts
with full colour
embroidered logo
NOW AVAILABLE.
All sizes -
JUST £15 !
Brian Smith has organised the production of
some high quality Polo shirts featuring a
full colour embroidered logo; example of
which pictured here on a dark base cotton.
Our group tried some of the sizes at the
March meeting and generally pronounced
that they are “average to a tad small”. So, if
you normally take an L maybe go XL.
TO ORDER simply send an email to Brian Smith at:
[email protected]
If collected in person, pay Brian directly £15 at an agreed
Section event, or postage can be arranged. Colour mid or
navy Blue. Fleeces coming soon!!
When asked if there was a car beyond hope, well that was tough one, but
he remembers some awful times trying to improve the ‘new’ 2008 Subaru
WRX and STI hatchbacks that would just bounce all over the place. (Even
the rally cars did—look at YouTube!)
What got him into it all? Well, buying a Tamiya VW remote control car
with adjustable suspension at the age of 11— then driving his Mini (off
road) only a couple of years later. After much study, he was offered two
jobs at Jaguar or Rover—he chose the latter as they then had a broader
range of suspension set-ups.
Well, I've only touched on a mere few things here, it was a case of ‘you
had to be there’ really! Anyway, peter will often be along to our meetings
and genuinely enjoys the chat with—as he describes— “our friendly and
enthusiastic bunch”.
NOW—if you want a touch of the Peter Cambridge dynamics magic, it can
be done remarkably simply and surprisingly cheaply at just a bit over £100
with peter personally setting your car up on camera alignment equipment
at ProTyre in Warwick. For more details, please just drop me a line.
So a big thank you to Peter for taking the time to chat to us again and to
all who came along to make it such a fun evening— the AutoGlym guys
included of course. They will return! John
Above - Fred and Carl pack up Simons bags
Right - Simon was in his element!
We are delighted to have a great relationship with our local AutoGlym franchise. The products
just keep getting better and are such fantastic value, especially in the Trade sizes, though they
stock the normal Retail packs too. The guys will be back again later in the year, and will have all
the range available at the Italian Car Concours at Stanford Hall on 3 June.
ALFISTI - APRIL 2012 - No. 142
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
AROC EAST MIDLANDS SECTION
The
Northamptonshire
FOX RUN
Northamptonshire
Sunday 20 May
PRE
PRE--BOOKING ESSENTIAL!
The Fox Run Returns!! This year it’s a drive of around 100 miles on
some great roads in beautiful countryside, starting with breakfast
and including a relaxing coffee stop, finishing with a Carvery meal
from around 2pm.
It all begins with breakfast at Jacks Hill Café on the A5 near Towcester. Gathering from 8.30am, breakfast is
first on the agenda with our front runners starting off at 9am. The route then takes a winding course across the
lanes to a mid-way coffee stop at a beautiful stately home, where you can spend 30 minutes or more relaxing
and taking in the gardens. Carrying on, passing through beautiful villages on highways and byways, the finish is
at the Rockingham Forest Hotel between Rockingham and Corby where we will enjoy a Carvery meal. (That’s
optional at extra cost, but must be pre-booked.)
Fox Run entry is £10 per car that will include a special rally plate that you can affix to your front bumper or
display in your windscreen, and a detailed route guide featuring simple ‘Tulip’ style instructions and some lighthearted quiz-style questions to complete en-route. The event will definitely suit bringing a navigator, but for
singletons we will have a convoy-style element too.
You must pre-book for this one, so please contact me ASAP to take part. Car runs of this sort are normally
limited to classics only and cost upwards of £65 plus meals, so ours is an absolute bargain! It’s open to all Alfa
Romeos of course, importantly, all at your own risk.
The last run was enjoyed by all, and we are sure this one will go down really well too. John
Detailing
Corner
ENTRY JUST
£10 PER CAR
Includes comprehensive
route guide and special
commemorative
FOX RUN RALLY PLATE
Please contact John
NOW to register!!
The full under
under--bonnet treatment - let AutoGlym make it simple!
Aer a horrendous experience with a ‘professional’ under-bonnet steam-clean on my Alfasud Ti in the mid-1980s that then
refused to start and the run properly for days, I’d always been extremely wary of cleaning the engine and under-bonnet on
any car. I used to $ppy-toe around with various li&le sprays, rags and cloths, grazing my knuckles along the way. Well, aer
trip to AutoGlym’s Letchworth HQ a couple of years ago that was all changed. With our MiTo and Grande Punto both in real
need of a clean up recently it was $me to prac$ce what I’d learned. I hope you enjoy the comic strip! John
1. What you need…
• Brush or brushes (wheel brush, or
paint brush) and hosepipe at the ready!
• AutoGlym Engine & Machine Cleaner
• AutoGlym Vinyl and Rubber Care
2. If there are any exposed electrical bits,
mask them off with Gaffer tape, (Not an
issue on MiTo!) Spray the Engine &
Machine Cleaner liberally on EVERYTHING.
It’s basically just super-strong detergent.
3. Agitate the cleaner with the brush—no
need to go too mad, just help loosen the
worst. You are not trying to remove
anything here, it’s just helping the strong
detergent gets
to work…
Don’t forget to
do the bonnet
underside too!
4. After say 5mins, it’s hose time!
Use a gentle shower-style spray. You can
be bold but don’t saturate things like
fuseboxes and alternators.
5. Remove any ponds of water with a
sponge, then still with everywhere wet just
blast EVERYTHING with Vinyl & Rubber
Care! No buffing or rags, just leave it!
6. THAT’S IT!!! It will dry off in around
an hour, but you can just shut bonnet and
forget. The result is stunning and just
ALFISTI - APRIL 2012 - No. 142
SO EASY!
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
AROC East Mids Alfa Display
Coventry Transport Museum, 25 March 2012
The last time the Coventry Transport Museum saw a lineup of Alfas outside in ‘Millennium Place’ was back in
October 2007 when our club had its AGM and Section
Secretaries Meeting inside. After our attempt to last year
had to be cancelled owing to the display area being dug
up by the to put in a giant TV screen we were determined
to put on a good show this year.
Our local man, Simon Addison co-ordinated with the venue team and I sent
out the invites to our neighbouring Section Secretaries too for them to swell
our ranks. We were certainly not to be disappointed with the event soon
being a sell-out.
The day dawned gloriously with bright sunshine, though the first caffeine
infusion from the museum’s café was most welcome after the clock
change!
Our helpers arrived early having negotiated the ever-perplexing Coventry
ring road. Anyway, our two new Section Sail flags were soon up and looking
great against the blue sky and we awaited the display cars. After our first
batch of East Midlanders, the Cotswold Section contingent cruised in led by
Mark Byatt in Sprint Green Cloverleaf, then the West Midlands brigade
followed led by John & Audrey Watt in their new Giulietta.
With three arcs of Alfas assembling we were creating bit of a stir as more
and more people gathered to admire them. They’d certainly all been shone
to a shilling, sparkling in the sunshine. My son David had been doing plenty
of that with is 147 on Saturday with four coatings of Autoglym! The five ages
of Spiders present of course drew attention under the blue skies and many
people chose to have a photo taken standing next to them.
At mid-morning we heard a rumbling a few streets away – Paul Jones had
brought over Chris Variava’s stunning 8C Competizione, but his sat nav had
led him the wrong way... Clare Addison jumped into the passenger seat to
direct but I’ll swear she deliberately took him the wrong way again just to
enjoy the experience! Soon Paul drove through the ranks of Alfas to a prime
spot where we forced him to blip the throttle – a lot – and what a noise!
I’d not seen some of the Classic cars present in some time. Peter Yaxley’s
black Giulietta ti looked resplendent, joined by the bigger and equally rare
1900 Super belonging to Quentin Butler. Peter King’s matt green AR51
Matta was a nice contrast to the super-shiny cars around it, and Chris Savill’s
Giulia Nuova also looked great next to Peter Farley’s Giulia Spider. Dave
Atkins decided to bring the Giulietta TurboDelta along rather than his
recently acquired Spider LE – and back on its original alloys and original
TRXs “the handling is entertaining”, he said.
The museum itself has clearly had a major overhaul in the last four or five
years, with terrific themed areas showing motoring through the ages. For us
Italian car fanatics, a Ferrari 275 GTB in Giallo Fly and a stunning 1972
Triumph Italia were definitely highlights. Probably the stars of the show
though are the mighty Thrust 2 and simply immense Thrust SSC complete
with simulator. It all really fully justifies going to the museum on its own.
Back outside, we were delighted to Terry Richardson from the Derbyshire
Section with his Montreal on the front row having had great fun getting in.
His son Adrian was soon alongside him in a delightful Bertone Coupe and
together the cars really added to the display of 46 cars, to the point where I
don’t think we had too many models missing – bar Alfa 33 and 75 as I
remember. Now they really are getting rare.
City shows like this make an interesting change from the usual park-up-and
-polish gatherings at stately homes, enjoyable as they are of course, not least
as us Alfisti can enjoy talking to the general public including in this case
Coventry’s eclectic bunch. Shame I don’t know much Lithuanian...
We’ll have this gathering again in Coventry for sure but meantime thanks
to everyone for coming along and making it so good this time. Oh, and for
the next one we’ll get some better signs made in to the site from the
marvellous ring-road. And I’d better own up – I got lost coming in too! John
ALFISTI - APRIL 2012 - No. 142
We made
his day...
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Quentin Chandler’s wonderful 1900 Super
Our helpers discuss tactics early on...
Nick Smith’s old 155 now owned by Mark Sweeney
Bryan tries the ‘Plastic Bag’ test on David’s 147’s Paint
Coupé corner...
Terry and Adrian Richardson
The girls liked the Giulietta ti and Sprint Green Cloverleaf
Giulietta Spider meets Giulia Nuova
Simon’s Brera with Dave’s Giulietta TurboDelta
Triumph Italia by Pininfarina
Thrust 2
Ferrari 275 GTB meets Peugeot 207 Rally car
It’s very hard to do justice to the Coventry Transport Museum here, suffice to say it would make a terrific day out on its own. I’ve deliberately not given away
all of its secrets here, the row of photos above is just a small taste. You can get more info at www.transport-museum.com. (And it’s FREE!!)
GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
March 2012
The Alfa Romeo stand at this year’s show was a
comparatively sorry affair with only the TwinAir
MiTo as a new model as such to show off. Even
the 4C concept stayed at home.
This didn’t stop Leigh, Martin and Simon having
a good time out there, blagging hospitality on the
Jaguar, Maserati and some other stands!
The Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera Disco
Volante concept car drew significant praise (a one
-off based on 8C Competizione underpinnings).
The new Fiat Panda is a nice update on the old
and the 500L a usefully sized car that is sure to
sell well, at least across Europe.
The new Maserati Grand Turismo Sport is a
stunning car, ditto the immense new Ferrari
F12Berlinetta.
Meantime we look forward to the Paris show for
(hopefully) a more ‘productionised’ 4C, and new
Alfa models otherwise seemingly two years off. . .
John
ALFISTI - APRIL 2012 - No. 142
Left: Awesome
Ferrari
F12Berlinetta in
matt silver.
Right; New MiTo
TwinAir in attractive
new purple shade
and on new style
alloys.
Below; Disco V..
Below right; Leigh
thinks of branching
into hairdressing.
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Jeepers! Something’s been living in the SZ!
I hasten to add that this Alfa ES30 SZ does not belong to a club member,
though the person is near to Dave Atkins. Left in a garage parked under a
sheet in an apple orchard for four years, the under bonnet obviously
became home to various wildlife…. mainly mice. Be warned!!
Are you as mad as I am?
Carrying on from the last edition.
The
Contributors remain nameless, but I’m one of them!
Do you ….
1. Own a special brush for getting the dust out
of your Alfa’s air vents?
2. Sometimes cancel the indicator by sharply moving the steering wheel?
3. Have to flash the numpties driving in fog with their lights off? (Always
silver or grey BMWs and Mercs - i.e. fog-coloured.)
4. Drive around all puddles at the side of country roads - to the point of
stopping if something’s coming the other way?
5. At a busy petrol station, wait until you can park with filler flap next to the
pump ? (Over-wary of scratches from a stretched hose!)
6. ….or avoid any pump with sand/oil on the floor so you don’t get in car?
If you have any more idiosyncrasies to add, please let me know... John
DOOM WATCH ALFA
The number of Alfa 155s left on UK roads is...?
NOT the actual SZ...
...Just 365. (As at end of Q3 2011)
To bring that into perspective, in 2006 there were 1,785. The
number is shrinking fast. It’s the car’s 20th Anniversary too!
ALFISTI - APRIL 2012 - No. 142
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
AROC East Midlands Section Events 2012
Date
Event
11 April ‘12
from 7pm
Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone. Note early
start time as clocks will have changed. Weather permitting we can
Stay outside and look around our Alfas early on.
29 April ‘12
Convoy at
8.30am
Spring Alfa Day at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, Burford. Will feature a special Section
parking area and display. We will have a Section convoy run to the event too. Meeting at
the BP Services on the A46 Warwick By Pass (southbound) approaching M40 SEE COVER
9 May ‘12
from 7pm
Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm.
Featuring a ‘Blag-a-Ride’ spectaculo…
15 May ‘12
from 7pm
Classic Car Meeting at Beedles Lake Golf Centre, Nr Leicester. Meeting up with the
Leicester Region of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club, and more. (170 Broome Lane East
Goscote, Leicester LE7 3WQ ) All Alfas welcome, plus all 'interesting others'!
FREE ADMISSION - SEE COVER
20 May ‘12
FOX RUN – A terrific drive across Northamptonshire. See cover and more details in the
article inside this edition.
3 June ‘12
Auto Italia Italian Car Concours - Stanford Hall near Lutterworth. Includes special Section
parking area and picnic. ADMISSION £12 PER ADULT
3-4 June ‘12
11am—4pm
AutoKarna Show at Wollaton Park, Nottingham. Opportunity for three classic Alfas to
be displayed on the Chris Variava display stand on each day plus Section parking together
in the public parking area on the Monday (4 June). Over 500 vintage, veteran and classic
cars, auto-jumble and family entertainment. General admission is free though there is a
small car park charge.
13 June ‘12
from 7pm
Fun Concours Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone. Our hugely popular event
returns, with hosts of prizes for a stack of categories. All Alfas automatically entered!
TBC June ‘12
from 6.30pm
KARTING NIGHT at Sutton Circuit, Broughton Astley. Fantastic outdoor track, £40 a head
- endurance style event.
24 June ‘12
Cotswold Alfa Day will again feature the Giro Panoramico finishing at Sudeley Castle,
Winchcombe. Moe details nearer the time.
11 July ‘12
From 7pm
Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone. More fun on a sunny summer
evening (we hope!)
29 Jul ‘12
AROC Racing at Mallory Park, near Earl Shilton, Leics. More details to come.
5 Aug ‘12
MITCAR 2012 - Midlands Italian Car Day. Elvaston Castle between Nottingham and
Derby. The 12th edition of our Section's flagship event and will be one not to miss.
ADMISSION JUST £5 PER ITALIAN CAR
8 Aug ‘12
from 7pm
Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm.
It’s SPIDER NIGHT! (But all Alfas welcome!)
12 Aug ‘12
National Alfa Day – Newby Hall, near Ripon, Yorkshire.
9 Sep ‘12
from 10.30am
Leicester Aeroclub Open Day - at Leicester Airport (aka Stoughton Aerodrome), including
air displays, special AROC display, model aircraft flying displays and potential free pleasure
flights too! Starts at 10.30am. The WW2 'War Birds' are expected again.
FREE ADMISSION
12 Sep ‘12
from 7pm
Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7pm.
The last remaining ‘light’ evening of the year will see our traditional Twilight Drive.
10 Oct ‘12
From 7.30pm
Section AGM & Alfa Quiz at The George & Dragon in Thringstone
14 Nov ‘12
from 7.30pm
Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone
16 –18 Nov
‘12
Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham, AROC stand featuring historic Alfa Romeos and
possibly something new. This year will see celebration of the magnificent 105 Series
Giulias in its 50th Anniversary year.
12 Dec ‘12
from 7.30pm
Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone
PLEASE ALWAYS CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR THE VERY LATEST ON EVENTS
Gazetta
News Snippets
SILVERSTONE CLASSIC July 20 to 22
Discount booking code for AROC
members is C12167. For more details see
www.silverstoneclassic.com and you can
book there or on 0871 2310849. There
will be a special infield parking area for
Alfas and some superb track action,
featuring HSCC Alfa Romeos of course.
RACE RETRO at Stoneleigh Park in
February saw promotion of the new AROC
race series,
with Ros
Shaw’s
Bertone
Coupe
displayed on
the CTCRC’s
stand.
Thanks go to
Andy
Wallington
from our
Section for
ferrying the
AROC promo
gear to and from site.
APRIL MEETING at the George & Dragon
will see us
gathering
from 7pm,
and as the
clocks have
changed we
will have a
bit of light
to enjoy
looking
round one another’s Alfas, assuming the
weather is good. If it is there may be an
opportunity for a bit of a ‘blag-a-ride’…
AUTOKARNA SHOW at Wollaton Park in
Nottingham has been added to our event
list in June as you’ll see on left. I am
looking for three special Classic Alfas for
display on the Chris Variava stand on the
Sunday and Monday. Though Sunday
clashes with the event at Stanford Hall
that we are organising, this may well
appear to members local to the site.
Basically, if you have an interesting
classic that you’d like to show on either
day, please get in touch. Thanks, John
“I’D RATHER WALK”
CHEVROLET SPARK
One of the new type of car that looks like
it’s already been in an accident. The rear
especially so as bits of silver feature
around its wonky lights. Cheap and
cheerless. Answer? Buy a used Fiat 500..
(Ugliness rating: 9.75)
The Small Print: ‘Alfisti’ is published primarily for the enjoyment of members of the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club East Midlands Section with its cost effectively included as part of their annual subscription
paid to the AROC. The club is very pleased that local dealer Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham also support the cost of Alfisti’s printed production.
Please note that the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club UK ltd cannot endorse or recommend services or products advertised in its publications. In particular, any opinions published in ‘Alfisti’ 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) .
156 Sportwagon 1.9 JTDm Veloce - Alan Lathwell
Our Alfas
All the latest on our local members’ cars...
Spider 2.2 JTS LE - Dave Atkins
As men$oned in the last
edi$on, Dave is delighted with his recent purchase and is taking every
opportunity to drive it.
A remap is now on the
cards too. We applaud
seeing his top down
here in February too!
Aer a year hard at it, Alan has now le Motorvogue Northampton and is
enjoying a 5 day week working for a recruitment consultancy with far more
sociable working hours! This means his Sportwagon is not being used
anything like as much as it was, but he s$ll really enjoys its mix of comfort and
prac$cality, fuel
economy and
performance.
It was certainly
looking great too
at out gathering
in Coventry where
it is pictured on
the end of a row.
Of course he’s
now thinking of
ge9ng ANOTHER
Alfa to go with it!
147 Ducati Corse - Mark Sangster
Mark is delighted to be back behind the wheel of an Alfa aer a year with my old Punto
Spor$ng, great car as that was! Mark had spo&ed this one for sale in Yorkshire and hotfooted it up there when he saw the bargain asking price and that it had just 17,000 miles
on! The car is in bright ‘Giulie&a Red’, (this limited edi$on could be had in Etna Black ,‘G’
Red or White) and is minus the op$onal Duca$ Corse side s$ckers that divide opinion.
Its unique 18” alloys look the business, though one needs a refurb he tells me. Other than
that there are a few minor car park dings and some stone chips on the rear arches—all
readily sortable, and all were points for price nego$a$on in the deal.
The Duca$ Corse is already becoming quite sort aer. They have a great high-spec with
full leather, Bose hi-fi, the aforemen$oned alloys, special Duca$ badges, and under the
bonnet the terrific 170bhp ‘ul$mate rendi$on’ of the trusty 1.9 JTDm 16v engine and—
even be&er - the mechanical Q2 slippery diff. All in all a great car, and Mark is jus$fiably
delighted with his buy. John
Giulietta 1.6 JTDm2 Lusso - Chris Atkins
Spider Twin Spark - Matt Dalby
Dave has been using his
wife Chris’s Giulie&a
alongside his Spider
(top) recently. On a
recent run from the
Centre of Birmingham
to centre of Milton
Keynes—taking
in
Aer lots of midweek evenings working we were delighted to see Ma& able
to get to our March
mee$ng, complete with
gleaming Spider. He’s
recently had the wheels
refurbished and, well,
they basically look like
new! Ma& is another
AutoGlymaholic
and
stocked up on gear as
many of us did at the
meet. Mind you, how he
can get it to shine
anymore I do not know!
gentle motorway running, he recorded
an astounding 61.5MPG—witnessed on
le. It proves it can be done!
147 Collezione - Alan Askey
It was great to see Alan back at our March mee$ng with his
deligh<ul Alfa 147. The car’s been behaving very well (touch
wood!) and s$ll looks the Biz with its superb Turbine alloys and
smart leather interior. Alfa always does a terrific job with its
limited edi$ons and the Colleziones are great examples.
- SCOOP! Unusual news from the world of motoring
Alfa Romeo announces the ARNA 2 - on sale from 1st April 2013
Announced just as we go to press, Alfa’s surprise new hatchback to be built in Italy and
North America, resurrects the
famous ARNA name.
The new ARNA reinstates the
relationship with Nissan,
seeing platform sharing with
the Japanese giant. Whereas
the1980 ARNA had a Nissan
body with Alfasud
mechanicals, this time the
ARNA has a bespoke Alfa body
shell sitting on Nissan Leaf
mechanicals, drivetrain being
the Nissan all-electric from
Nissan but with better 170 mile
range. The car will spearhead
a US launch in 2013 hitting UK
showrooms later in the year.
All
All--Electric
■
Alfisti’s production is kindly sponsored by Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham
■
Alfisti no.143 will be out in May