Alfantics articles...
Alfantics articles...
The largest Capital Chapter Alfa Club turnout in recent history
made us the dominant marque at the 9th Annual Italian Car Tour on Sunday,
May 5. Twenty-four diverse Alfas and their owners met at the starting
line at Criswell Lamborghini in Gaithersburg and took to the high-ways and
back roads of Maryland.
The event itself, which director Kevin Sims has passionately
expanded for the past several years with sponsorship from the Lamborghini
Club and others, was well organized and the weather also could not have
been better. Fifteen of the Alfas were open cars that delighted in the sunshine.
Three vintage Alfas added excitement to the roads and
the concours paddock at the event's end: Juro Strobos's red 1963 Giulia 1600
Spider, Walter Koopman's rally-prepared 1959 750E Sprint Veloce, and the "people's
choice award" winner, Victoria and Paul Davidson's sweet, swoopy 1964 Sprint
Speciale coupe (see story, Page 6).
There were three cars from the 1970s. Club President
Charlie Drake debuted his red 1974 GTV, a beautiful original car recently
imported from Canada, while Dermot McDermott drove his plum-colored, bumper-less
car of the same year. Pat Graziosi piloted his 1976 Alfetta.
Pat also coerced his niece into driving his shiny red
1988 Spider Graduate. He wasn't the only one making good use of his family
connections--Mike Craig, who drove his 1991 white Spider Veloce, had his son
pilot his black '91 Spider automatic.
The 1980s were the dominant decade, with 11 cars. Most
of these were Spiders, including Dana Kern's charcoal 1982; Ernie Cohen's
beige 1984; Steve St. Martin's red 1986 Quad; the Thackerays' red 1987; Dave
Metzger's red 1988; Graziosi's; and John and Mary Jane Surina's red 1989.
Jan and
Jerry Terri's red 1990 fit right in with this crowd, being the last year
of the spoilered cars. Steve Remington ran his silver GTV6, Christine Salemi
had a blue Milano, and Ron Pacci and Harlan Hadley brought a rare pair of
Milano Verde's in red and charcoal.
Another rare set of twins, identical twins that is, were
two yellow final generation Spider Veloces: Phil Schleider's 1992 and Robert
Umele's 1993. The Schleider car was the day's lowest mileage entrant, with
just 14,000 on its clock; the highest, in contrast, was Salemi's Milano, which
has survived 179,000.
Yet another matched pair, down to their Panasport wheels,
were the Craigs' and Brian Epstein's white 1991s, bearing related custom plates
too: Alfa Man and Spidr Mn.
The most popular color was--guess what?--red, with eleven
Alfas sporting that hue.
With the exception of Koopman's show-quality car, which
he trailered in from Delaware, all of the participants arrived at the starting
point at Criswell Lamborghini under their own power, and all were running
strong 75 miles later when the tour concluded. It was inspirational to see
these unusual cars dominating the roads.
It was also a thrill, as it always is at this event,
to be in the company of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and a unique collection of
about 10 DeTomaso Panteras. These supercars may speak with a slightly different
accent, but they are all proud of their Italian heritage!
There were also about four Fiat Spiders, a single Maserati
Biturbo convertible, and an exceptionally rare 1969 Lancia sedan run by our
members Jay Hinton and Megan Caverly.
by Charlie Drake, President
Well folks, it looks like the good weather brings out the Alfas! Those of
you who made the Italian Car Tour know what I mean. Approximately 100 Lambos,
Maseratis, Ferraris, and DeTomaso Panteras (as well as some non-Italian interlopers)
met at Criswell Lamborghini on a recent stupendous Sunday. The Lamborghini
Club-sponsored event started off about 11:30 a.m.; we traveled approximately
70 miles in around two hours over a course that took us though some beautiful
Montgomery and Frederick County countryside, winding up at Ceresville mansion
in Frederick where we enjoyed a bountiful barbeque buffet. At that venue,
there were corrals by marque. Your president and Editor counted 24 Alfas!
What a nice turnout. Further investigation is pending by the above team to
determine if all are members of our chapter...
We have several other events coming up. The first is
the Prettyboy Rally set up by member Jack Rugh on June 2. See Page 1!
The next is the annual swap meet at Jerry Stahlman's
in York, Penn. on Sunday, June 16 (see Page 9). This involves our chapter,
Delaware Valley and Central Pennsylvania chapters. To be followed by a wonderful
FREE lunch, courtesy of Jerry... C'mon Alfisti, Let's brandish those Alfetta
parts!
By the time you read this, yours truly will probably
be back in Ireland again... Carole and I just couldn't resist yet another
(cheap) trip to that magical isle. I hope to have something better than a
flat tyre to report to you all upon our return (like maybe a test drive in
a NEW Alfa!)
Last year was not, in my humble opinion, a good year for the Italian Car
Tour. The biggest problem was that there were only seven Alfas, and I was
responsible for two of those. Beyond that, some found the food left a bit
to be desired.
What a difference a year can make! A record turnout of
24 cars from our club made this a truly joyous, and largely Alfa, event. Kind
of like at a high school reunion, the food became much less relevant, since
it was the people who attended (and of course in this case their cars) who
made it a
success.
The food may not have been central, but it was really
good. The Ceresville Mansion folks did a fine barbecue and provided a great
parking area and a swell picnic grove.
The biggest kudos for the event go to Kevin Sims of the
Lamborghini Club. Kevin grabbed the reins of this event a few years back.
While our club and others had hosted it and built up a terrific day over the
years, Kevin's devotion to the cause has been exceptional. Last year he had
TV cameras from Motor Week document the event and put it on the map. This
year's tour was better in most every way, and the participants from our club
were treated to a high-class event.
Only one thing marred the perfect day for some of us.
A club called Sports Car Touring Day pitched to Kevin that they would like
to participate. They said they had many Italian owners among them, as
well as fans who drive other kinds of cars. In theory this sounded great.
But some members of that
club were a literal nightmare. (At the risk of stereotyping, I'll quote
someone else: "It was all folks in Japanese cars.") They passed on blind
curves and over double-yellow lines, swerved in and out of traffic, and sped
way too fast for conditions. This behavior was in sharp contrast to the excellent
road manners exhibited by members of our club and the other Italian car drivers.
Dangerous driving put a small damper on the otherwise
perfect event. But taken to its worst case scenario (an accident involving
participants or innocent motorists), such recklessness could wreck this great
event. To their credit, the organizers of that club have told me they agree
and will ban drivers who cause problems from future events.
That aside, the Tour was a grand day for our club and
the others. Over lunch, Charlie Drake, Carol, Sherry and I had a chance to
chat with some Lamborghini owners from New Jersey (yep, they really talked
to Alfa folk!) They too had a great time. This event is a gift to our hobby
in this region, and our club should continue to turn out in ever larger numbers
and support Kevin Sims in his work to make Italian Car Day an institution.
--Brewster Thackeray, Editor
At the end of the Italian Car Tour on May 5, all contestants voted for
their favorite car within each marque group. Chapter members Paul and Victoria
Davidson won for their red 1964 Giulia Sprint Speciale, a Bertone-bodied beauty
that turned heads both at speed and in the paddock afterward. Paul provided
a bit of information about this rare and lovely car:
"This is chassis number 87 2292 and
engine number AR00121 00999 originally delivered to Mr. Orlando Guisto on
November 11, 1964 in Palermo, Italy. Its history is still being researched
but it had an accident earlier in its life where the left front fender was
damaged and replaced with a new outer skin with a repair to the inner valance.
"I bought the car off the Internet in December 1998 in
California from a used car lot. I contacted someone I know in the Morgan Car
Club in California (I own a '53 +4 as well), and he recommended an ALFA SS
owner who could inspect the car. He did so giving me a detailed list of problems
but confirmed the correct engine and most of the goodies were there and gave
me a 'buy' recommendation which I did ($24,000). The car lot owner said the
story went as follows: An owner had the car for a long time in the Boston
area. The guy was in the entertainment business and took a job in California.
Before he left he put the car in a restoration shop to get the $20k redo.
Not watching the restoration progress first hand, the estimate doubled and
by the time it was done he had a lot more in the car than he had planned
and therefore had to sell it! I got it and have been finishing it for the
past four years, detailing the car and locating as much information as possible.
It has the original tool kit and jack as well as original registration papers.
"When I got it the steering box, which is bolted to the
left front fender valance, was actually very loose which made driving almost
impossible until that could be rewelded and anchored properly. I rebuilt the
Webers, rebuilt the transmission and have changed all the fluids, belts, hoses,
etc to make it roadworthy. It really drives nicely. The design makes for
excellent 80-90 mph runs with very little noise. The road tests of the car
claimed top speed of 129 and I expect that it would do close to that today.
"I always loved the design and
having owned a 1987 Alfa Quadrifolio bought new and driven every day for six
years, I knew I had to have one. The search took eight years. I looked at
a lot of roaches and passed up a truly beautiful blue SS that was not meant
to be. Everywhere and I mean everywhere
I take the car people have a comment: either they love it or they scratch
their heads (mostly the former)."
Anyone interested in seeing the car can contact Paul
at (301) 765-9000 and he will be happy to invite you over to the garage for
close inspection and a ride around his favorite roads in Potomac.
by Frank Smith
The Connecticut Chapter of AROC runs a driver's school and time trials each
spring at Lime Rock Park. This year's event was attended by three Capital
Chapter members: Frank Salemi in a Milano, Michael Conrey in a GTV6, and the
author in a GT Junior.
The event was well attended with 65 students and more
than 20 instructors. Thirty-six of the students arrived in Alfas. Friday started
very cold (1/8-inch of ice on our cars from the rainy drive up on Thursday)
and never got out of the 30s. Cold tires kept the times down, but the fun
factor remained high.
Saturday warmed considerably and provided much better
traction and faster times. All students were divided into four run groups.
The novice group with eight Alfas, a 300 ZX, and a Corvette was won by our
own Michael "Shumacher" Conrey (ask to see his trophy!) In the intermediate
group,
Salemi beat Smith by 1/4 second, but they were almost three seconds behind
Conrey. Congratulations Michael!
June 16, head North into Pennsylvania for the Fifth Annual Spring Autocraft
SWAP MEET in York. This fun and useful Alfa event is sponsored by the Capital,
Central Pennsylvania, and Delaware Valley Chapters of AROC. It will be held
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Jerry Stahlman's Autocraft in York, Penn.
The address is:
1510 South George St.
York, PA 17403-4506
Maps are at: http://www.alfaclubdc.com/autocmap.htm,
or use www.mapquest.com, or call the numbers listed below.
Up to 100 people come from all around, to swap
new and old stuff: parts, books, models, etc. from all eras. Les Smith and
others in our Club attest it is one of the best swap meets there is... so
if you have anything to get rid of, or want anything you don't have, head
on up to York!
Jerry generously donates lunch for attendees, and urges
all men, women, and Italian cars to attend!
If you have any questions, or need directions,
call: Autocraft, 717/845-5314
Andy Kaufmann, 717/741-6725
Mike Mihm, 717/741-0460
Alfantics is the official publication of the Capital Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC). Local membership and a subscription to this newsletter is included in the annual AROC membership fee of $60.
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