ARN2012_6 web version2.pub

AROC
EAST MIDLANDS
SECTION
Formerly Central & East Mids.
COTSWOLD
ALFA DAY
Sunday 24 June
SUDELEY CASTLE (plus run)
Cotswold Alfa Day and its accompanying Giro
Panoramico car run will be starting from The
Village Inn, Twyning Green, Near
Tewkesbury (GL20 6DF).
(www.villageinntwyning.co.uk)
Run participants should aim to arrive
between 9:30 and 10:30am. After
refreshments, you will receive a route plan
for a drive of around 60 miles through the
Vale of Evesham and into the Cotswolds.
The route will finish at Sudeley Castle,
Winchcombe (GL54 5JD) where we have
exclusive parking on the Falcon Lawn. Your
entry fee to Sudeley Castle includes all
exhibitions including the special South Hall
Exhibition. You can go direct too.
Costs for the day are:
£11.50 for “Giro Panoramico & Sudeley
Castle” which includes tea or coffee and a
bacon roll at the Village Inn Twyning, a route
plan, a Giro Panoramico sticker and access to
all the special exhibitions at Sudeley Castle.
£7.50 for a child.
£8.00 for “Sudeley Castle only” which
includes access to all the special exhibitions
at Sudeley Castle. £5.00 for a child.
Entry to Sudeley Castle without a pre-paid
ticket on the day is £10.00 per adult or
£5.00 for a child.
For advance ticket purchase, please go to the
Cotswold Section website:
www.aroc-uk.com/cotswolds
Below - A delightful scene from Cotswold Alfa Day 2011
Last year’s Car of the Night
winner - Viv Stephens’ GTV Cup
FUN CONCOURS NIGHT
Weds 13 June from 7pm
The George & Dragon, Thringstone
It’s time again for our most popular monthly
gathering of the year. ALL Alfas present on the
night will be automatically entered in our lighthearted Concorso d’Eleganza contest and
everyone will get to play judge!
We’ll have a
variety of categories as ever, ranging from
shiniest wheels to ‘dodgiest’ tyres, and lots of
terrific prizes too including a customary prize draw
courtesy of our supporters Engine Services and
IntaServices. Basically everyone stands a chance
of winning and we always ensure that the prizes
are well spread out.
We’ve been delighted by the great support our
Section has received at its monthly Wednesday
night meetings despite some pretty horrible
weather for each one - we must be due one
decent evening soon surely! Anyway, please keep
an eye on our website for the latest on any event,
and IF the weather is awful for the Concorso I will
post on there, but please assume it will be on by
default though. The weather was rotten on 15
May for the Classic Car Night at Beedles Lake, but
amazingly we missed the rain there. If we do
postpone it for heavy rain (dogs, cats, locusts etc),
the fall back date will be the 8 August meeting at
the G&D as I am planning to be away in July, as
will others be I am sure. Anyway, let’s stay
positive for the June date!
Alfisti is the AROC East Midlands Section
newsletter, edited and produced by
I’d like to ask for your help in contents for Alfisti
- photos, articles like Bryan’s inside, comment, you
name it. , anything and everything is welcome,
much as I enjoy droning on in print myself! We’ve
certainly got a stack of things on this summer and
a great deal to look forward to, we can just hope
for some decent weather—which has of course
been all over the place. Our next Alfisti will cover
the two front page events here plus Stanford Hall
Auto Italia, the AutoKarna Show at Wollaton Park
too.
Owing to this general ‘busyness’ we’ve moved
the planned karting back to September. I’m
certainly looking forward to that again, it was just
brilliant fun last year with our friends from the
Jaguar Enthusiasts Club (great evening at Beedles
Lake again with them as you’ll see inside) and
Jaguar/Land Rover/Volvo/Alfa teams from
Sturgess.
So, first up in June is the Italian car Concourse
at Stanford Hall near Lutterworth, as covered front
page in the last edition. I hope a lot of you guys
can join us there - I suggest bringing wellies, flipflops, umbrellas and sun tan lotion - just in case!
Now another thing - if you are reading this and
count yourself as an Alfista but are not a club
member, why not join us? Just look at what we do
locally alone. . .
Salute!
John
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
Alfisti production sponsored by
Fun Concours Night 2011
■ Alfisti Issue 144 ■ June 2012
Fox Run
Classic Car Meet
May Meeting at the G&D
Giugiaro Shoot
Shoot--out!
Get it Straight. . .
ALFISTI / EASTMIDS
Price? IT’S FREE!!
MAY MEETING at
The George & Dragon
These two photos kind of sum it up again—teeming down
with rain outside! Blag-a-ride was scrapped as we sought the
comforts of Peter and team’s indoor hospitality. (Good beer
and bar food helps too!)
Despite the continued Spring weather, yet again we had 20 people along, and there was much
to discuss. We’ve a packed calendar to start with, and there were many queries about the Fox
Run in particular. We were delighted to see Peter and Eileen Crichton again who have just
returned from 4 months in South America, this time piloting down through Patagonia to as close
to Cape Horn as they could get! The LHD V8 Land Rover Discovery, ‘Rabia’, is now 20 years old,
and has a mere 30,000kms on the clock - all from various adventures around the globe. Peter
has made many running repairs but key components still original. He says the main issues have
been gluing the plastic interior - there’s more glue than plastic! You may have caught an
interview with Peter on East Midlands news, I didn’t catch it but hope their 1750GTV got a
mention.
We were also please to see Richard Rees
along, longstanding member nowadays from Rugby,
and who’s very participative with the Cotswold
Section. Alfa-wise, his GT BlackLine is still
performing well. His Duetto has recently been sold,
but he still has an even rarer classic—the ‘mint’
Arna 1.5 Ti and he has something else up his
sleeve too.
Also on the discussion agenda was Fun Concours
night - let’s hope the Vatican receive our Good
Weather request letter in time. John
CLASSIC CAR NIGHT at
Beedles Lake Golf Centre
George’s tow car
Chris Childs 159 sporting gold stripe
ALFISTI - June 2012 - No. 144
We were delighted to be invited along to the Jaguar Enthusiast Club’s annual Classic Car
night again, courtesy of Section member Mike Swinfen. With the meeting moving back a
month from its normal April date we all hoped to enjoy a warmer, lighter evening. Well, we
were correct on the latter, and happily it didn’t rain ‘til we’d retired to the bar, but boy did
it then! Our regular guys left their Spiders at home in the main so it was hard-tops to the
fore. For added interest George Cole (El Presidenté) towed his Classic single seater
‘Terrapin’ Sprint & Hillclimb machine over for us to enjoy, including sitting in. JEC
organiser Roger was first to cram in , all 6’4” of him, and later did other including Brian
Smith and I (no, not athe same time!) We must all be getting older and more sensible as
we resisted the temptation to blast it around the golf club’s huge car park! There were
some very nice Jags - notably E-Types - and Daimlers there as ever, plus original Beetle
Karmann cabrio, Mini Cooper and Triumph Dolomite along too, making an enjoyable
evening again at a very nice venue. John (Lots more photos on our Website.)
George with Brian in the seat
Bruce Peers zooms off
Very tidy Classics
Delightful Jaguars
Nice light at sunset
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
SHOOT OUT!
On the recommendation of
our club Honourary chairman,
James Wheeler, I was asked
by the editor of Classic &
Sports Car if they could use
my ‘Trofeo’ for a comparison
with the Volkswagen
Scirocco.
Well, who could
resist such a challenge!
The common ground is
obvious – two classic
Giorgetto Giugiaro designed
coupés dating from the 70’s,
both well regarded and well
matched in spec and price.
To add spice, two rare limited
editions, the MkI Scirocco
‘Storm’ of 1981 and the
Sprint Veloce ‘Trofeo’ of
1982
An ‘urban’ photoshoot was
arranged in Northampton for
4 April, which turned out to
be a thoroughly wet day.
Driving sleet on the M1
meant that the ‘Sud was
looking far from her best when I arrived at the
rendezvous with the journalist, Simon
Charlesworth but by this time there was a
temporary lull in the rain and we soon developed
Detailing
Corner
Quick product tips - ready for
the summer; two items that have
been commented on in the past.
Firstly, for tackling
the
inevitable dead bugs that
accumulate especially after
spirited cross-country driving
CarPlan ’Bug Blitz. Really easy to
use and cheap too (available for
around £2 in Supermarkets). It is kind to paintwork
especially when used with a soft microfibre towel.
Spray on, leave for a few mins, wipe the beggars off.
Can use in conjunction with car washing routine of
course,
Secondly - dust removal. Summery days often
bring dust - you can whisk it away, saving the need
to wash or use a Quick Detailer spray, with a
California Duster. You can spot these at real
bargain prices on eBay, c. £10 delivered. The soft
cotton is impregnated with
Paraffin that attracts dirt
and lifts it away without
scratching, Amazingly, the
dirtier it gets the better it
cleans! (There’s a joke in
there somewhere but
don’t tell Maria.) Cheers!
John
ALFISTI - June 2012 - No. 144
a lively rapport. The photographer, Tony Baker
arrived shortly in the ‘Rocco, which was on loan
from the heritage fleet of VW UK. (aside : Alfa with
its rich heritage should be doing this more too!)
I have worked with Tony on two previous
occasions, with my Ferrari 328 in 2002 and with
the ‘Trofeo’ at Curborough as far back as 1998. It
was on that occasion that I first met George Cole
and his Super and it was as a result of a chat over
coffee, whilst vainly waiting for the fog to lift, that
George was persuaded to give our Section a try!
The rest you know - but I digress.
Now, when it comes to snapping motors, Tony is
most definitely in the top drawer – he has even
written a book on the subject. However, I was a bit
phased when he led the way to our first location –
the top floors of a city centre multi-storey car
park !! We needed to move some cones to
gain access to the top open area, so it was
empty but very, very wet.
Completely
unphased, Tony unloaded his lighting gear and
went about his business - all Simon and I had
to do was shuffle the cars around to suit and,
later, drive round in circles for some action
shots.
This took most of the morning and we were
all relieved that we had not been stopped by
some council ‘jobsworth’ who had seen our
activity on the security
cameras!
After lunch at a local pub
we
left
for
the
Northampton outskirts for
Simon to do his driving
tests and for Tony to take
yet more action shots.
Altogether a fascinating
day – I can’t imagine what
the photos will be like
although I understand
from Tony that his camera
is able to combine shots
with different lighting to
achieve an optimum
picture. I am promised a
CD so we shall see!
The article is due out in
the July edition which goes
on sale in July. I have
never known this to
happen before, but on this
occasion, Simon has sent
me a draft of the article to
check for any obvious
inaccuracies but on the strict understanding
that I keep it confidential, so Mum’s the word.
. . Doubtless, you will all be having some
shrewd guesses at the findings!
Cheers, Bryan
GET IT STRAIGHT
Peter Cambridge’s alignment settings are
becoming a tad legendary. In early May I had
things adjusted by him at ProTyre in Warwick on
my Giulietta along with son David having his 147
done following its Eibach spring fitment.
The 147 had a fair degree of toe out at the front
typical of the model, and a very ‘wonky’ rear set
up. After correction at rear and a touch of toe-in
on the front, magic was worked. Much sharper
and linear steering and a ‘tied-down’ rear end, all
helped by the lower ride height and subsequent
roll reduction. I think the word is ‘sorted’!
My Giulietta was well within its manufacturer
tolerances at the front, which are notably much
tighter on MiTos and Giuliettas than earlier cars,
and against the old Alfa trend had a slight front
toe-in.
Rear was a different story - camber was quite
aggressive and actually just out of tolerances.
Happily G’s have adjustable rear camber, so a
degree less was applied (one degree versus two)
along with a tiny touch of toe in. Result?
Definitely better cornering that was really
noticeable after a series of scientific roundabout
tests (officer) and less understeer - something
some magazines noted of the model in extremis.
Duncan Langford has also had Peter’s tweaks
applied on his G Multiair - he says: “It definitely
makes my G feel more 'pointy'. Even though the
handling was good I could always tell when the
front end wanted to understeer when I was
pushing hard, but it feels absolutely planted
now.” Another happy customer!
If you want the alignment magic working on your
Alfa of any age or model, contact Peter at
[email protected], or contact me.
Cheers John
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
The FOX RUN returns! This year thanks to some inspiration from Dave
Atkins who had done a similar route in 2011, our run comprises a really
enjoyable tour of Northamptonshire. We assembled at Jack’s Hill Café near
Towcester at around 8.30am. Breakfast was suitably, er, Transporty, but
fine. The weather was thankfully dry if with very low cloud. A smash on the A5
had sadly delayed some, notably Mark and Jacqui Wood, but they made it!
By just after 9, Dave and I started to set people off, with them armed with
(rather super if I say it myself) foamex Rally Plates as per the illustration
above, and route guides—tulip style but with detailed turning guides,
signpost, places of interest and satnav references. Only Bob Woodward and
Mike Swinfen were sans navigators, so it was just two Alfas following a
leader, in this case Mark Sangster’s 147 Ducati Corse with Andy Wallington
in the navigator seat.
So, Dave as official timekeeper set the Alfas - plus one MX-5 piloted by
Leigh ‘call me Vidal’ Nethercot (MX-5, almost an Alfa now!!) —off at 90second
intervals, and they started their winding route across country to the half-way
point, the delightful Kelmarsh Hall. With last car away (Jacqui and Mark in
Giulietta Cloverleaf—with Ralf the Airedale in the back!), Dave and Chris in
their Brera Spider, ood down and heated seats set to ’simmer’ followed me
on a shortcut to the hall through Northampton.
At the Hall we put up the Section sail flags by the entrance and waited.
Alan Lathwell with Danielle Kisby navigating arrived first in his gleaming,
freshly ‘SRP’d’ 156 Sportwagon. Mark was not far behind with what
appeared to be an Alfa Train behind him—see photo on right.
At the Hall the team there had set up the tea rooms especially for us, and
put parking signs up too, so our cars were able to park smartly together. The
Mercedes 123 club were due later, so sadly we couldn’t park in front of the
Hall—though as it happens we left before they arrived! Keith Krog joined us
at Kelmarsh in his superb SZ too adding to the convoy in style.
The second half of the run took in some really great sights including
Boughton House scene of many National Alfa Days past, Fotheringay Castle
with magnificent church and mound where Mary Queen of Scots was
executed; the emotive USAAF 8th Air force memorial at Grafton Underwood
and the amazing Victorian railway viaduct at Seaton - the longest brick-built
structure in England. Several parties chose to stop en route, notably Dave
and Joy McFarland in their GTV V6 who tried to find the station at Seaton,
sadly to no avail! Meantime I had a minor logistical muck-up. After
collecting the flags in at Kelmarsh I cut across to Boughton House to get a
good vantage point for tracking photos… sadly after 15minuytes waiting I
rang Alan only to find I’d missed everybody - just! So on to the finish...
The Rockingham Forest Hotel near Corby was the final meet point. Brian
and Sue Smith arrived first, Brian clearly not having spared the horses . The
rest cruised in over the period of about 45 minutes—with nobody having got
lost! We all thoroughly enjoyed the three course carvery meal—incredible
value and remarkable quality too at just £10 a head! Certainly it was a
fitting end to a most satisfying day Thanks to everyone who took part and
made it so enjoyable - we are already having some ideas about what route to
take next year… I hope you can join us. John
Above, Steve Sembay lines up at the start ramp at Jack’s Hill Café.
Above, Mark Sangster leads the train into Kelmarsh Hall
Above, Keith Krog joined us with his SZ at Kelmarsh Hall
Above, Peter and Linda Farley, wrapped up in the Giulietta Spider
ALFISTI - June 2012 - No. 144
Above, parked up at Kelmarsh Hall
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
50+ years of Giuliettas...
Alan ready to go...
Le Mans Start" sort of
Dave’s Spider - hood soon down!
Strange Japanese interloper
Chris Childs at the flag
Dave McFarland’s fab GTV
Kelmarsh Hall team very accommodating
Brian Smith turns in at Kelmarsh
Scenic parking
Keith leads queue outside Kelmarsh Hall
Peter and Linda
Magnificent Fotherighay church
Great vantage point at Boughton House".
Parked up at the finish
ALFISTI - June 2012 - No. 144
Stunning Seaton Viaduct.
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
DOOM WATCH ALFA
The number of Alfa 33s left on UK roads is...?
AROC EAST
MIDLANDS
MERCHANDISE
High quality Polo shirts
with full colour logo
NOW AVAILABLE
All sizes -
JUST £15
Show your colours!!
Brian Smith has organised the production of some high
quality Polo shirts featuring a full colour embroidered logo.
TO ORDER simply send an email to Brian Smith at:
[email protected]
...Just 86 (as at end of Q3 2011). Shockingly that is less than half the number of
Alfasuds, the number of which is hovering close to 200. This is quite scary as of
course the last 33s were still on sale only 18 years ago. An excuse to put in two
photos of my old ones; 33 1.7 Veloce and 1.7IE. Great cars… John
If collected in person, pay Brian directly £15 at an agreed Section
event or postage can be arranged. Colour is mid or navy Blue.
Brian has some spares in stock too. . .
Fleeces coming soon!!
(We are blessed in having a professional male model among our number of course.
Thanks Martin! Cheque’s in the post….)
More from SPA ITALIA
Thanks to Stuart O’Donnell for the shot of
his black GTV on track and to Alan Daly for
the one of his GTV Cup alongside a Belgian
registered SZ. Both guys took their sons
over to the event reported on in last
edition and all enjoyed some superb track
time on the epic circuit in April. A real
shame it clashed with Spring Alfa Day and amazingly the weather was better in
the Ardennes!
ALFISTI - June 2012 - No. 144
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
AROC East Midlands Section Events 2012
Date
Event
3 June ‘12
From 9.30am
Auto Italia Italian Car Concours - Stanford Hall near Lutterworth.
Includes special Section parking area and picnic.
Admission £12 per adult, Children £3.
3-4 June ‘12
11am—4pm
AUTOKARNA Show at Wollaton Park, Nottingham. Over 500 vintage, veteran and
classic cars, auto-jumble and family entertainment. General admission is free though
there is a car park charge. Our members can gather at Chris Variava stand at 12pm.
13 June ‘12
from 7pm
Fun Concours Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone. Our popular event returns,
with hosts of prizes for a stack of categories. All Alfas are automatically entered and
everyone there on the night gets to vote. It’s good fun all round! SEE COVER
24 June ‘12
Cotswold Alfa Day will again feature the Giro Panoramico finishing at Sudeley Castle,
Winchcombe. Please see Cotswold Section website for all details - SEE COVER
11 July ‘12
From 7pm
Monthly Meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone. More fun on a sunny summer
evening (we hope!)
20 to 22 July
SILVERSTONE CLASSIC Discount booking code for AROC members is C12167. For
more details see www.silverstoneclassic.com—book there or on 0871 2310849.
29 Jul ‘12
AROC Racing at Mallory Park, near Earl Shilton, Leics. More details to come.
5 Aug ‘12
From
10.30am
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.
TBC Sep ‘12
from 6.30pm
KARTING NIGHT at Sutton Circuit, Broughton Astley. Fantastic outdoor track, £40 a head
- endurance style event.
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
New FIAT Viper…!
Chrysler group retired the old Viper in
2010, but thanks to FIAT’s injection of
finance and know-how, the V10
monster lives again! Branded SRT the
8.4 puts out 640bhp and 600lbs/ft.
Kerb weight, get this, is just 1495kg!
The V10 (ex RAM Truck) was actually
fettled by Lamborghini beck in the
1980s when Chrysler owned the Italian
legend, and it’s been uprated again.
Oh, you can get it with Sabelt seats too,
just like your MiTo Cloverleaf!! You just
gotta love it. (Thinks - is that 8C red?)
Gazetta
News Snippets
ALFA DNA UPDATE —as proudly
announced at the beginning of the year
in Alfisti and
ALFA magazine
appears to be
very much
delayed. The
promised changes
(including ability
to select Dynamic
from ‘Natural’ at above 70mph, for it to
stay in the mode last selected and not
default to N from D) should debut in the
MiTo TwinAir, but at time of writing
that’s not got a firm arrival date either
but we’ll keep you posted.
ZIP WIRE FLYER!
Duncan Langford
completed his
charity Zip-Wire
run at Pride Park.
He’s raised well
over £200 now for
Rainbows Hospice.
go to: www.virgin
money.com/
Duncan
Langford
ZipPridePark
KARTING NIGHT MOVED
Our Karting night
originally planned
for June has been
moved to
September,
essentially owing
to ‘Fixture
Congestion’.
More in a later
edition.
AROC 2012 RACE SERIES got off to a
great start at Silverstone in April. It will
return to Mallory Park on 29 July and we
the signs are that the grids will be even
stronger.
Information
about Section
display
parking will
be in the July
edition of
Alfisti.
“I’D RATHER WALK”
Lexus CT-200h - Words from CAR mag:
“Look past the posh Prius’s poor ride,
foul styling and flat performance and the
other 1% is, er, good.”
(Ugliness rating: 8.95)
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) .
Alfa 147 2.0 Lusso - David Griffiths
Our Alfas
David’s recently had a set of the excellent Eibach Sportline springs fi.ed on
his 147, lowering the car by over 30mm and transforming its slightly wayward
handling as well as its looks - the tail end being previously rather wayward.
The springs were sourced at an excellent price from Peter Cambridge (PCA
Dynamics.co.uk) and fi.ed by Dave Kno. at IntaServices in Leicester; and ride
is s:ll great!
Peter has also
sorted its
alignment
over at
ProTyre in
Warwick.
‘Smoothed’
bumpers to
give it more of
a Series 2 look
at a later date.
All the latest on our local members’ cars...
145 Boxer - Owen French
Owen owns one of just 56
145 Boxers le on the UK
roads. The mildly-modified
machine now sports a full
leather 145 interior, some
custom speaker fi%ngs, and
a perfect number plate! The
mods haven’t finished,
leather door cards next...
Spider 2.0 Twin Spark Lusso - Stuart O’Donnell
Stuart has recently replaced his black 916 GTV with this beauty - a 2002 2.0 TS
Lusso in lightning blue complete with blue hood with light grey leather. The
phase 2 Spider is becoming increasingly popular among Alfisti offering a great
mix of fabulous looks, strong performance (0-60 in just over 8 seconds and
130+mph top speed), reasonable servicing costs and fuel economy(27-37mpg),
good spares availability too. The phase 2 16” spoke design alloys look great
too and with relatively high sidewalls mean a comparatively compliant ride. The
Twin Spark is a jewel of an engine possessing a truly spirited engine note,
plenty of low-end grunt but a spine-tingling growl when coming on cam at
around 4,500 rpm, revving out to neigh on 7,000. Lightning Blue coloured
Spiders (a shade that really suits the 916’s lines) are available with a selection
of leather interiors, including black, red, an attractive deep tan and pale grey.
Lusso spec brings a power hood and the leather. All in all super car and we
look forward to seeing Stuart with his at our forthcoming events.
155 BTCC Replica - Joe Sharpe
MiTo 1.3 JTDm Sprint - Tony Flanagan
Local member Joe Sharpe has now bought the 155 created last year by Nick
Smith that had been sold by him to Mark Sweeney who brought it to Coventry for
our event in March.
The car’s had some
money spent on it in
this :me, but Joe
plans more fe.ling
s:ll… Great that this
car is back in a local
Sec:on
member’s
hands anyway and
we look forward to
seeing it at our
gatherings again.
Tony has been using a MiTo 1.4 16v Turismo on his driving school business
for several years now. He’s swapped that now for this red machine with the
new
superefficient 1.3
85bhp unit.
The
Sprint
Spec is a great
mix of price .v
equipment.
We are sure
his students
will
appreciate
it
anyway!
156 2.0 TS - Matt Dalby
Ma.’s gone and bought another Twin Spark - 516 saloon to
compliment his silver 916 Spider. It looks great in Africa Grey,
complete with ’hi-rise’ boot spoiler a very cool colour that suits
the car’s lines perfectly. Ma.’s treated it to a thorough
AutoGlyming already as you can tell!
- SCOOP! Unusual news from the world of motoring
Alfa trial Ground Effect technology
This Alfa 159 ‘Mule’ was spied at Silverstone recently. Scoop sources say that a
combination of a super-strong under body fan and enlarged front air scoops literally suck
the car to the road, a bit like the Brabham Alfa BT46 F1 car of 1978. (It may need a spot
of adjustment…)
Photo by Ken Carrington
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Alfisti’s production is kindly sponsored by Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham
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Alfisti no.145 will be out in July