Alfantics September 2004 Stories

New Hampshire Giulietta Giubilee a Hit

An impressive crew of more than 30 individuals from the Capital Chapter trekked north to New Hampshire late in July to take part in this year’s AROC National Convention. The gathering was called the Giulietta Giubilee in honor of the model’s 50th anniversary. There were an impressive variety of Alfas, ranging from a 1950 2500 to a 2001 166. (Who let that baby through customs?) There was also an impressive turnout of the diminutive 1950s and ’60s Giuliettas and Giulias that saved Alfa’s fortunes.

        Capital Chapter member Russ Baer drove his love of 43 years, Sunshine, up via Vermont, and earned himself a place on the table of contents of the September Alfa Owner. In that same issue you will find a few Capital Chapter members noted, including Frank Smith in the driving zone, Jack Rugh in the concours, and Denny and Tricia Broud and Brewster and Sherry Thackeray for the rally.

        Speaking of which, that magazine will have so much Convention coverage it will drive you silly. If you were there, you’ll have flashbacks. If you weren’t, you’ll have bouts of jealousy. Regardless, you will find yourself crying, “I’ve got to be there next year!”

        Well, start planning now. Several of us sat at the banquet with representatives from the Seattle chapter, a truly neat group of Alfisti. They are going to host Alfa Potlatch in July in Seattle. Please note that Seattle is very far away. Dana and Rick Kern are considering driving their ’82 Spider out. Perhaps others will. Some might buy or borrow a nice Northwestern car. But if you want to walk to the Convention, don’t dink around. If you average 10 miles a day, you will need to hit the road this month.

        Don’t miss photos from New Hampshire on Page 10.

        Picnic Time! Sept.18, Pearmund Vineyard

A high point of our Club’s social  calendar is the Annual Picnic, an end-of-summer opportunity to share good company and food while the days are still long and warm enough to leave the tops down. Each year, dozens of members from around the region join together, many arriving in a variety of Milan’s finest. This year it will be from 11:30 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 18, at a new location: Pearmund Vineyards.   Owner Chris Pearmund is a car nut and vintage Lancia racer. He suggested we have an event at his vineyard, in Gainesville, Va., just off Rte. 66 (directions on back cover calendar).

        Brad and Maggie Mellor, long-time hosts of the Club Picnic whose house is now undergoing renovation, will join in as the guests of honor this year.

        As in past years, the event will be a potluck. Members are encouraged to bring grub of their choice in a portion big enough for 6-10. We will have a grill going if you need it. Please RSVP to Denny Broud, dennisbroud@aol.com, or Sherry Thackeray, sherrylmcc@aol.com, or 703/807-0798, to share what you’ll bring.

        Chris suggests guests enjoy “the most local of wines,” a suggestion we endorse --Pearmund makes great wine. The Club will provide soft drinks. Feel free to bring beer, but please NOT wines from other vineyards (ye olde faux pas!) Vineyard tour at 2:00 for those interested. Wine tasting, $2, refunded with purchase. www.pearmundcellars.com.

        Denny is bringing a bocce set, and Sherry has horseshoes. Similar pastimes welcome! If you have folding lawn chairs bring ’em. Rain date TBD in October (think sun!)

After the Picnic...

Later that day, Pearmund is having a feast of their own. We need to leave when ours wraps up around 4; but those who are prepared to invest in a major treat should consider sticking around for the winemaker’s harvest dinner. That evening event will be $80 per person, including shrimp, oysters, cornish game hens, and peach cobbler, along with 5paired glasses of wine. www.pearmundcellars.com/menus/Dinner_040918.shtml or call 540/347-3475.

Here’s to Bright Ideas: 2500 KM by 1961 Giulietta

by Brewster Thackeray, Editor
The first raindrops hit in New Jersey.
        More were close behind, and they fell hard. Bella Teodora’s tiny, 43 year-old windshield wipers could not keep up, and neither could my darling navigatrix, Sherry, keep my spectacles clear as I squinted through the moisture and finally peeled off at the nearest exit. Through the deluge we saw a sign of shelter, if an ironic one: a carwash. We swerved into a bay, and waited for the rain to pass. I think it was at this moment a little voice in my head reminded me of that lovely 1991 Alfa sedan sitting in the garage back home, to say nothing of another warrantied car... a louder voice, this one on my cell phone, asked “Was this really a good idea?” Thanks, Mom.

        The rain broke, and we decided to tempt fate by leaving the top down. A few miles up the road, however, we had to pull off again as a drizzle kicked in. We pulled the top up. It’s a brilliant design on a Giulietta; it collapses under the trunk, invisible. When you put it up, you latch the rear, then snap on the front just like a new Spider, and head off on your merry way.

        Our way was not merry. The rain, which had come at my glasses vertically with the top down, now hit them horizontally through the gap between the top and the windshield. The top, which Jack Chesley and I had purchased as part of a disassembled parts car from Jeffrey Frey, I had installed myself. It looked terrific in the garage, but looks and function don’t always correspond. So Sherry wedged paper towels while we laughed at our soggy mess of a trip.

        Traffic was brutal--it took ten hours to reach New York. When the rain got heavy, we stopped and bowled a few games, but that aside, we just sat and laughed and/or cried.

        My parents, who still don’t see the crime of having sold a 1962 Triumph TR4 to buy a Volvo station wagon, were not overly impressed by BT. Words like “small,” “impractical,” and “where’s your nice car with all the airbags?” were heard.

        The next morning was much brighter, and we had the top down as we left my folks’ suburban Westchester house. The signs on the highway said, “Brewster bear left,” so I did, and we drove around the pretty town that shares my name in New York. Then on to Connecticut, Bella humming along smoothly and none the worse for wetness it seemed. By that night we made it to Boston, where the Democratic Convention was just coming to life.

        I was there to present an award to Congressman Jim Langevin of Rhode Island from my office for his work in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act. We also took the opportunity to catch a few friends, including a college pal who was getting married that month. All were astonished by our complete lack of judgment in driving our antique through the city.

        Boston during the Convention was interesting and congested. We stumbled on a Saints day parade in Boston’s Little Italy that was a great cultural experience, and I shared with Sherry one of my favorite purveyors of Italian food, Pizzeria Regina.

        Once my work event was over, we headed down to Hyannis, where we caught the ferry to Nantucket. This picture-book faraway island is always a special destination; I spent childhood summers there, and it’s where Sherry and I got engaged in 2000. We stayed at the Nesbitt Inn (at $95, the only bargain lodging left on the island, and right down town to boot!) We considered bringing the Giulietta over on the car ferry, which would have run about $340 roundtrip, but decided not to both due to cost and no guarantee of a space the day we wanted to return. We had no intention of abandoning her at sea! So we walked and bused, and rented a Jeep Wrangler for the day to take to the beaches. Bella would not have been so into that.

        From the ferry dock, we pulled Bella out from under her cover and hit the road North, after enjoying great sandwiches from the Box Lunch, the same place that served me while I was driving battered Ford Tauruses as a Public Interest Group field manager in Hyannis in the summers of 1989 and 1991.

        In New Hampshire, Sherry’s old roommate Karl has joined the “Free State Movement.” This is a bunch of folks from around the country that are moving to New Hampshire so they can, en masse, move toward their libertarian political ideas. Karl now runs a group house out of his huge pink Victorian. Pretty neat life. We had dinner with him and my cousin Kyle, who manages an artists’ and writers’ retreat.

        Bella Teodora just said no to track and autocross events, but did take part in the rally, where thanks to Sherry’s sharp eye, we were among the top finishers in the trivia department. We didn’t do so well on time to mileage. While all of BT’s gages are stunningly accurate (must have been a freaky day in Milan on July 25, 1961), converting kilometers to miles was tricky. However, the Brouds did our chapter proud in this department.

        The concours should have been the high point of the weekend, with all the cars spread out on a lovely town green. Unfortunately, Sunday morning began with drizzle, and the concours was moved into the garage. Great contingency plan, but not nearly the image we might have had. Still, it was great to have our car parked next to about 10 near twins, most in great shape, but a couple rough. There were also dozens of newer Spiders, Milanos, 164s, GTV6s, and more obscure models, including an SZ, two Sprint Speciales, and two Montreals. Bella posed for a photo with her Aunt, the show-winning 1950 2500 SS.

        We stayed too late, and took smaller roads, so it was 9 at night, with thunder rumbling over I-90 in Western Massachusetts, when we noticed a burning stench and a major stream of smoke behind us. The car was running well, but we were losing oil, and needed to stop as soon as we safely could. A McDonald’s rest area appeared just in time and we limped in, turning off the engine and hoping we had done no damage. Sherry got the top up just as a fresh deluge struck.

        The AAA truck took a good hour, but finally arrived, and towed us back to Springfield. The driver told us he’d been on duty for 24 hours straight, which explained his erratic mumblings and having to check five times before BT was strapped down right.

        He dropped us at what he said was the best foreign car specialist in town. We then went to a cheap motel, where a comedy routine ensued. The first room we were shown had not been cleaned. The second had no sheets on the bed. The third smelled like stinky feet. The fourth worked out OK, which was good since the night manager was about ready to die of embarrassment.

        The next morning, we figured we’d enjoy the dopey little pool while our car got checked out. But the shop called and they refused to even look at or diagnose our problem. They dismissed us with a snooty, “We don’t touch Alfas” and told us to get out of their lot. Reminder to self to write a note to their local chamber of commerce about false advertising re: foreign car specialists...

        Back to AAA, back on a tow truck, this time to J.E. Robison Service. These folks are exotic car specialists (nice Rolls Royces, Ferraris, and a Morgan were in the yard) and saints of the highway to boot. They drove us to lunch, and when we were done, gave us great news. It was just the hose from the oil temperature sending unit. We had not done any damage to our engine. They were able to replace the hose, and we were back on the road for under $200. If you have any friends with nice cars in Western Mass, please tell them Robison’s is the place to go!

        Not wanting to test the car, we took slower roads and drove mellowly. All went well, though we were badly behind schedule, especially since it was turning into night and we both had business meetings the following morning. But the car was running beautifully and we started making speed on Route 81 heading south.

        At one point Sherry looked cold, so I leaned over to turn on the fan. I tapped the headlight switch, which had never exactly been good, and it died. At 70 mph on Rte 81 with trucks blowing by.

        We pulled off and I worked on the switch. No dice. Finally limped along in the breakdown lane with our thankfully still working turn signals and two small flashlights as our only source of light, to a truck stop. There I figured out, while miraculously not electrocuting myself, that if I unplugged the battery, twisted the three wires coming out of the switch together, and then replugged in the battery, we could have light. But Sherry was understandably frazzled, so we found another cheap motel. In the morning, we made it home without incident.

        For a car that celebrated its 43rd birthday on this roadtrip, and that we know did not travel much in recent years, Bella Teodora performed brilliantly over 2,500 kilometers. She enjoyed the opportunity to bond with her sisters, cousins, aunt, nieces and nephews, and of course fellow travellers from the Capital Chapter!

        At the concours, inspired by Russ Baer, we posted a note on the car’s history. We thanked Russ, Bert Straus, and Bob Kleinfeld for inspiring us with Giulietta lust; Doug Mitchell of Crown Auto for his expert work that made her roadworthy; Frank Salemi for hooking us up with the right sized Vredestein tires; Jeff for making top-up a possibility; and most of all her late owner, Steven Schwartz, for keeping her alive and complete!

        Bella is resting up after the journey. She will probably sit out the Seattle convention next year.

August Meeting Minutes                            

 by Brewster Thackeray

The August Meeting was held at a  new venue, Chiapparelli’s in Baltimore, Aug. 9. A good turnout included some regular and long-missing Baltimoreans. The main discussion was the recently concluded AROC Convention in New Hampshire.

        The restaurant arranged parking in front for about seven of our cars. They got lots of attention!! Spiders turned the heads of passers-by, but Club members were most intrigued with a rare bird, Jack and Terry Rugh’s low-milege 1969 Berlinetta.

        Chiapparelli’s private room and great food made it worth a slightly pricier menu than usual. The meeting focused more on enjoying that than any business on the hot summer night.

By the Sea, By  the Sea...

European Marques Flock to Ocean City, Oct. 23

Alfa Club is Taking Over Historic B&B for “BeachRoads Ramble”

By Sherry Thackeray, Vice President
Ocean City is known for bike week and hotrod shows. Now it’s our turn. The European car crowd takes over on Saturday, October 23, for The Mid-Atlantic European Car Festival. We’ve arranged a great lodging option for those who want to make a weekend of it, and have a leisurely “beachroads ramble” drive home on Sunday.

        The show runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at the 100th Street lot across from the Clarion Fontainebleu Resort in Ocean City. All British and Italian marques are invited, along with BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche.
        Organizers will allow access to the parking lot starting at 8 a.m. and will register late comers then. Entry in the show is $45 per car, including a ticket to the awards reception afterward; extra tickets, $15 (includes hors d’ouevres and soft drinks; cash bar).

        This will be a judged event. A Best of Show “Peoples Choice” trophy will be awarded. Judging begins at noon. Trophie swillbepresentedfrom6to8p.m.attheClarionFontainbleu Resort Awards Party. Door prizes will also be presented.
       
VICTORIAN BED & BREAKFAST
If you’ve followed the club’s recent road trips, you know Brewster and I love scouting great B&Bs and bringing our Alfa buddies to enjoy them with us. We’ve rather outdone ourselves this time! Merry Sherwood Plantation is a singulary charming Victorian mansion in Berlin, Md., four miles from the bustle of Ocean City in a sweet small town. You won’t believe the value of the estate and grounds. Rates are just $125 per room since it is out of season. We have reserved all eight rooms, but must fill them by September 15. So please let us know right away if you want to join in!

        To learn more, visit www.merrysherwood.com. To book rooms, call Brewster or me at 703/807-0798 or write to TwoThacks@aol.com. It’s first-come, first served, so don’t delay. There are only eight rooms at this inn. Although the inn prefers to have two-night minimums they may make exceptions. If you really want to relax, leave work a bit early Friday, have a pleasant evening, and enjoy the small town charm (and cars) all weekend long! This B&B, unlike most, does not have an on-premises innkeeper. If our group fills the house, we have free reign and can live in an opulent Victorian mansion all our own.  

        There is also an historic inn in Berlin that has rooms if we sell out. They have a brilliantly good restaurant. The host hotel for the concours is the Clarion Fontainebleu Resort, where rates for Friday and Saturday night are $119-239. The Clarion is at 800/638-2100; www.clarionoc.com.

        For more information on the car show, call Bob Sadler, 443/880-5066, or e-mail eurocarfest@yahoo.com
       

Letter from Bucharest:

Hunting Alfas in Romania

by Gavin Corn
Capital Chapter member Gavin Corn, his wife Fiona, their son Liam, and their three Jack Russell terriers are living in Bucharest, Romania, where Gavin is working for the U.S. Department of Justice. Gavin prepared the following piece for Alfantics describing his search for an Alfa to replace the one he had to leave behind in the States.       --Bob Kleinfeld

There is no way that I am going to  live in Europe without acquiring one or more Alfas. While Alfas are somewhat rare in Bucharest, I still see several every day going to and from work.

        Bucharest is a city of amazing contrasts. Once known as the Paris of the East, numerous remnants of a glorious past are everywhere. Grand buildings flank broad, well laid-out boulevards, an almost exact replica of the Arc de Triomphe (designed by the same architect) stands in a huge open plaza (with drivers whizzing around it in a fashion that makes my Italian friends afraid to drive here!), quaint neighborhoods with narrow cobblestone streets, and beautiful parks, filled with flowers and the laughter of children, winding along serpentine lakes. Unfortunately, most of the buildings are crumbling, the streets are pockmarked with potholes, and the gardens and public spaces are overgrown and unkempt.

        Before arriving in Bucharest, I passed through Belgium and Holland, where there seem to be Alfas on every corner. I had little time in Holland, so I picked two dealerships to visit from a list of about six I found. Unfortunately, since I work during the week, I had to visit both dealerships when they were closed. Still, it was wonderful just walking around cars parked outside and peeking into the windows of showrooms and workshops.

        The first dealership had a nice collection of cars parked outside - Alfas from the latest model 156 to Giulia Supers. All of the older cars had some rust and other signs of age, although they were generally in very good condition. The listed prices were high, but I don’t know how much negotiation room is built into the prices. Prices were so high, in fact, I immediately regretted selling my ‘74 GTV before I left the country; I am pretty sure that I will not be able to replace her for anything close to the price I sold her for, particularly since I now know that I could have had all of what I considered to be fairly serious bodywork done for about $500 in Bucharest.

        Inside the showroom/garage were many more desirable Alfas. Several Giulia Supers and at least one GTV, with gleaming paint and trim, were crammed into a very small space. After wandering around the lot for a while, half waiting for the gendarmes to show up and escort me off the premises, I finally gave into Fiona’s patient but insistent looks and drove off in our diesel Opel Zafria rental mini-van. What a contrast!

        The second dealer I visited was in a tiny village in the country called Hoormaar. The area appealed much more to Fiona’s artistic eye, so I met little resistance to this trip. Tucked away in a grove of trees set in the middle of vast open fields, complete with black and white Holstein cows posing obligingly in front of traditional Dutch windmills, Hoormar is a quiet and peaceful town and hardly the place where you would expect to find a classic car dealer. We soon found ourselves looking down a long driveway by a pleasant little house with a large attached building in its rear. A few later-model Alfettas lined the driveway. Toward the back of the driveway was a large barn behind iron gates, and to the left, hanging from a large extension to the building that turned out to be a garage, was a hardly noticeable Alfa sign.

        Were it not closed, this place would have been Alfa heaven. Inside the garage, which was spacious, immaculate, and well supplied with lifts and equipment, were several perfectly restored Alfas, including what looked like a race-prepared GTA, several Giulia saloons, and perhaps most interestingly, an Abarth 500 (the second car I was seeing for the first time outside of a magazine; the third came on our trip from the Hague in Holland – an Alpine Renault 110 – perhaps the most beautiful French car ever built). In the back were several additional Alfas, mostly Giulias, largely obscured by the barn. It was hard for Fiona to pull me away from this place.

        Once arriving in Bucharest, it didn’t take me long to locate a potential project – a 1965 GT Sprint that had spent a very rough life on the streets of Bucharest. Allegedly once the car of Nikolaou Ceausescu’s son, Niku Ceausescu, this car was sold by Ceausescu to one of his guards, and on the night of the Romanian revolution in 1989 it fell into the hands of its present owner, also a one-time member of the Romanian Special Forces.

        The car was advertised as a 1960 Alfa Giulia Sprint – a patent impossibility. A few phone calls and emails provided little clarification on the exact model of the car, although the owner insisted that it was built in 1960. Eventually I arranged to meet the nephew of the owner at a McDonalds. (Yes, they’re about as common as Starbucks in the U.S.!) I probably should not have agreed to drive off with an unknown young man to an unknown address in an unknown area of the city. Yet he looked honest, and it seemed rather improbable that criminals would use an old Alfa as a lure to draw in an unwary victim, so I felt pretty confident. As it turned out, the young man came from a family of professionals, and was a prosecutor in training.

        We drove through a maze of winding streets into a series of Communist-era apartment buildings that crowded each other in crumbling decay. The narrow lanes, as in most back-street areas of Bucharest, were covered with holes ranging from dimples to craters, and the sidewalks were covered with parked cars. As we drove slowly down a narrow lane lined with Dacias, Ladas, and many residents furrowing their brows with curious stares, I saw parked under a tree the beautiful rear end of what looked like a 2600 Sprint in a sad state. Nearby, an old man in overalls was bent over the engine of an Alfetta Sedan, a collection of ancient tools spread out around him and on top of the Sprint.

        The old man greeted us with a broad smile and a firm, if greasy, handshake. Obviously very pleased to show his ancient Alfa, he ran around her excitedly clearing off the tools and chattering in Romanian. His nephew was eager to help but his English was quite limited. Still, I did not need much help to know what I was looking at – not a 2600 Sprint, but an early step-nose 1600 GT Sprint that was in poor shape but that looked fairly complete.

        It was obvious that its owner had kept her running by any means available. The body was covered in filler and maroon paint – probably the closest color available to match the original red. Despite all of the filler, there were no obvious rust spots, and even the floorboards seemed solid from underneath. Apparently the car had been constantly touched-up as rust appeared, the offending spots being ground off and replaced by ugly but effective filler.

        The car was missing several pieces of trim, but the nephew eagerly explained that his uncle had all of the original parts and many spares. The door-handles were missing, and the old man had to reach inside the door, fiddle around, and give a hefty jerk to open the door. Inside, the seats were in good condition, as was the dash, and all of the dials were intact. The spaghetti-pile of wires hinted at the possible death of the car, with one complete wiring harness on the passenger’s seat and another pack of wires leading to duplicate gauges hanging down from underneath the dash board – a repair job probably aborted some unknown time ago.

        The engine looked surprisingly good in light of the condition of the rest of the car. A 1570 cc engine positively shone, obviously recently polished up, DellOrto carbs having replaced the original Webers according to the owner. Again, stray wires indicated electrical problems had put this car to rest.

        The owner of the car then excitedly explained through his nephew that he had some additional spares in his basement. Of course, the lure was too great to ignore, and in a move that would have spun the Embassy’s Regional Security Officer into the stratosphere, I followed the owner and his nephew into a dark, poorly lit, four-foot-high storage area under the stairs of their hideous Communist era apartment building – a dusty, musty, filthy, and cobwebbed space. The old man went in first and found the light – nothing more than a primitive bulb at the end of what looked like a homemade extension cord. When the light went on, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

        All around me were Alfa parts. Not just a few, a room full. Everything you could imagine, from complete engines to differentials, Weber carbs to hubcaps, windows to alternators, with everything in between. In total, he had what looked like spares from at least four separate GTs, including several engines in various states of assembly. I stumbled around in the poorly lit room snapping pictures, the old man chattering away and his nephew doing his best to translate.

        Some time later, I visited the old GT again, this time with an auto-body repairman. His estimates for the cost of repairing the car’s skin and frame was about $1500 American. He advised, however, that paint jobs are expensive in Romania – perhaps another $1000 for the best!  I’ve since learned that it is the paint that is expensive, so shipping paint from the U.S. can save a bundle off of the already low price.

        Still, this looks like quite a project – certainly nothing I’ll be able to finish while in Romania. In the end, I may have to let this opportunity pass.

        My Alfa searching did not end with the old GT. Still convinced that I needed to find an Alfa, either old or new, I eventually made contact with one of the technicians at Romania’s Alfa importer. He was kind enough to show me around their facilities, let me drive a 156 and 147 JTD (putting out about 140 horsepower with lots of torque), and fire up his own 156 GTA. I cannot begin to express the beauty of that car or the wonderful, rich sound of its growling engine.

        Next, he introduced me to one of his automotive engineers, Adrian, a founder of Romania’s biggest classic car club – www.Retromobil.ro. An avid car collector for his entire life, Adrian had managed to get his hands on an Abarth/Fiat 124 Spider rally car about 25 years ago!  Still in perfect shape, he beamed with pride as he let me sit in her. When he fired her up, her 170-horsepower engine made a more intimidating sound than I’ve ever heard from a Fiat! With so much power in an already light car fitted with fiberglass and aluminum panels, this car would absolutely fly on the road. In her day, the Abarth 124 was bested only by the Lancia Stratos and the Alpine 110 – anyone who knows the history of those cars knows that Abarth had nothing to be ashamed of.

        Next week I plan on following Adrian to the beginning of a classic car rally that starts in Bucharest, winds through the mountain passes of Transylvania, and ends at a time trial in Bucharest three days later. Hopefully, I’ll have some photos to share.

        As you can see, my first months in Romania have been interesting. The big decision will be whether to buy a relatively complete Alfa in Western Europe (I’m considering a 1962 2600 Sprint or a 1967 GT Jr. with a 2-liter engine installed), or whether to buy a much rougher Alfa to completely restore here in Romania.

Doing New Hampshire the Verde Way

by Dennis Broud, Social Coordinator
Trish and I left Wheaton, Md. the Friday evening before the 2004 AROC convention at about 11:30 PM to take advantage of the cool evening, and to avoid traffic jams in New York City, where Trish’s 1989 Milano Verde might overheat. Her Italian Baby tends to warm up sharply in stop and go traffic.

        After a smooth ride, with a nap along the Merritt Parkway and breakfast in Fairfield , Conn., we got to Trish’s sister‘s place in West Hartford about 8:30 Saturday Morning. We toured the birthplace of Noah Webster, the writer of the first American dictionary, that afternoon -- a lovely old 1750s two story house where he lived with his parents till he went off to Yale in 1774 at the age of 16.

        Sunday found us driving to Boxford, Mass., to Trish’s aunt’s, where the high bush blueberries were just really beginning to get ripe. After fresh blueberry pancakes on Monday morning, we drove on to Thomaston, Maine, visiting my cousin at his new home there for two days.

        We slept in Tuesday till late morning and after some great fish and chips on the wharf, toured the Transportation Museum in Owl’s Head, Maine. A nice permanent collection there includes a 1909 De Dion Bouton motor car, which has a single cylinder engine with a displacement of 942 cc. Yes, it has the famous De Dion rear suspension arrangement originally designed in 1893! They were beginning to collect cars for the annual Labor Day auction, so the collection was somewhat more than you might usually find. There are some other really unusual cars in this collection. A 1948 Playboy convertible; A 1935 Stout Scarab, a unibody minivan by one of the designers of the Ford Tri-Motor airplane; and a 1913 Scripps Booth Bi-Autogo, which is powered by the first V-8 engine built in Detroit and is essentially a large motorcycle (140-inch wheelbase) weighing 3200 lbs with two balancing wheels to stabilize it below 25 miles per hour. The Bi-Autogo introduced the pushbutton horn, and the disappearing armrest. It is a real monster of a machine.
        Wednesday we headed off to Manchester, N.H. for the Giulietta Giubilee and spent that evening at the drag strip. A variety of Alfas competed. Most were Spiders, in various stages of race preparation. Also a 1970s Alfa Sport Sedan was quite fast. All the cars got several practice runs through the lights so drivers could get a feel for how fast their cars really are.

        The actual drag competition was run in brackets. You state up front what time you will run, say 17.4 seconds for the quarter mile. Your competition might state he’ll run in 16.7 seconds. In this case you would get the green light 0.7 second before your opponent. He starts 0.7 seconds later when his green light comes on. If both cars run in times equal to or greater than their stated target, then whoever crosses the finish line first wins. If the first person across the finish line runs faster than his target time, and the opponent is at his target time or slower, then the winner is the car at target time or slower. If both cars run faster than the target time, the one that runs closer to its target time wins. The ultimate winner of the Alfas was an SCCA-prepared Spider running over his target time of 16.61 sec. He ran a 16.953 at 82.99 mph His final opponent had a target of 17.4 and a 0 .79 second head start, but put up a time of 17.347 sec in the final run which put him under target so he lost even though he crossed the finish line first. It’s all in knowing exactly what time your car is capable of doing within a couple of tenths of a second.

        Thursday was the day of the AROC Board of Directors Meeting. We took the scenic tour of the White Mountains instead. Trish and I opted to carve a tour on our own after some consultation with local AONE club members. A quick zoom north up I-93 through Concord, N.H. east through the Lake Region at Northfield on US 3 took us between Lake Squam and Lake Winnapesaukee to Merideth, then Route 25 to West Ossipee where we tuned sharply north again on NH 16 to Conway, N.H., just outside the White Mountain National Forest. Most of the Lake Region is pretty commercialized and a little too touristy for our taste.

        Our goal was to get to Mt. Washington, the 6288-foot-high peak that’s the highest peak on the East coast. Coming into Conway we ran into a traffic jam, about 400 yards beyond the eastern end of the Kancamagus Highway, which runs east to west across the White Mountain National Forest. We quickly did a U-Turn and then headed east on that highway. After about a half mile, a National Park Ranger steps out of the shadow and flags us down. I was doing 57 in 40 mile an hour zone. Apparently we missed the one speed limit sign in 50 miles which was within the first 100 feet after we turned onto the Kancamagus Highway. Here you are on a smooth highway in a national forest with no side roads and the speed limit is 40 mph! After some fast talking, during which my Retired Army ID just happened to be in view, the Park Ranger, who was also an Army Vet, let me off with a warning and we were off again.

        A short stop for a sandwich on the trunk lid of the Milano along the Passaconaway River, and then a sharp left turn north on Bear Mountain Road led us to Bartlett, N.H., where we turned east again back to route 16, then north to the base of Mt. Washington. The temperature at the base of the mountain was a nice 79 degrees. After checking the oil and coolant levels and paying the $20 fee, we were off on the eight-mile climb up the mountain. We turned on the heater to get a little extra cooling capacity. Running in first and second gear we maintained the 15-20 mph speed limit with ease. The views are spectacular, but with no guard rails, the driver really doesn’t have much time to look. At about the halfway point the Verde was running near the hot end of the temperature gauge, so we stopped at the 4000 foot level for a breather. The outside temperature here was down to about 69 degrees. Fortunately I had a screwdriver with me, and remembering that only one Phillips screw in the center of the Milano grill holds it on, made it a quick removal. This resulted in an immediate drop of about 10 degrees in the engine temperature, and we were off again.

        The air temperature dropped quite quickly in the last 2200 feet of elevation, and we were soon at the top where the temperature was a brisk 52 degrees in the middle of a cloud. We got a few brief moments of clearing while we were up there which offered some spectacular views. The descent offered lots more views, and no cooling problems. Running in first or second gear against the backpressure of the engine resulted in little need to touch the brakes. At the bottom, a high speed Italian tune-up of a few miles cleared the plugs as they had apparently fouled a bit during the descent.

        It was a fun thing to do —ONCE. I’d ride the train up the next time, but we do have a “This car climbed Mount Washington” bumper sticker to display!

        We continued north to Gorhan and then west on Rts 2, 115 and 3 back to I-93. A rapid run back to Manchester down route I-93 at 80-90 mph got us back to the Convention Kickoff reception at the end of our 280-mile White Mountain Tour.
        Friday morning Trish and I volunteered to work at the convention registration and assisted the AONEers for a four-hour shift, helping to register people and sell convention T-shirts. Then we were off to the NE Speedway to see the Time Trials where the Capital Chapter’s own Frank Smith, running in Class E, the largest and fastest class of cars there, ran a very respectable third in his class at 1:30.971 The two cars ahead of him in this class had been trailered in, all set up for the track. Frank drove his car to the convention, and he was still running within 1.4 seconds!!!
        Saturday morning I assisted the Detroit AROCers with the Autocross by helping stage cars, and then at noon we were off on the TSD rally, which was a four-hour odyssey. We took two wrong turns, but still came in fifth out 72 cars. There were only two Alfas ahead of us in the finish order. At penalties of 4:03 we finished only 1:18 away from a trophy in our second TSD rally ever. The Capital Chapter rallyists did well. Nearly all finished in the top half of the field (24th, 32nd, and 37th) except one older Mutt and Jeff team, who shall remain nameless, that finished near the bottom of the field in 62nd place.
        Sunday morning’s Grand Concours brought out some real gems. My favorite was a 1955 1900 SS Zagato 2 door coupe. Lots of super cars to be judged in all the classes. The Capital Chapter’s own Jack Rugh took third in Class 20 (105/115 Coupes) and exclaimed at the awards clambake afterward that had he known his 1969 GT Veloce was that competitive he would have done a lot more preparation. Other cars generating a lot of interest were an 89 Spider with a Twin Turbo 3.0 liter Alfa V-6 engine that was stated to reach 400 hp at 8 lbs boost. This car came down from Canada. They are promising a Montreal V-8 Twin Turbo for the Seattle Convention.     

        Another beauty was a highly customized GTV powered by a Ford V-8 and widened in the rear to accept a 1991 Ford rear end. It sounds strange, but looked wonderful. About 4.5 inches of width had been added on either side at the rear and the rear fenders flared out beginning just belowtherearwindow.FONTP

        Sunday evening we stopped back at Trish’s aunt’s house only about 60 miles south of the convention site to catch our breath and pick a gallon of those high bush blueberries for our freezer. After an early evening nap, we took off at midnight for the run home to DC. Figuring to be through NYC by 4:30 and then stop for an early breakfast in NJ, we were running a little behind schedule after finding our favorite NJ diner closed at 5 AM. After breakfast, I decided to use the NJ Turnpike rather than I-295 around Philadelphia at rush hour and at about 7:30 AM we were approaching the last rest stop on the NJ Turnpike when a sharp CLUNK came out of the front end of the Verde. I rolled to a stop and didn’t observe anything wrong. Proceeding about a half mile to the rest stop, I heard a front tire rub the wheel well when I turned.

        After determining the problem was on the front drivers side and seeing no damage under the car other than it being lower than normal, I removed the windshield washer reservoir to reveal the upper end of the shock absorber. What I found was a real mess. The nut had somehow worked its way loose from the shaft on the shock and was lying near its mount. This had allowed the suspension, when it reached its limits, to pound away at the support in the unibody. The shock mount was bent, torn and distorted. As I turned around to explain the situation to Trish, standing there was a “Road Angel” named Beverly, offering her cell phone. A born again Christian with two young boys who let me make several phone calls and wouldn‘t take a dime. God will surely bless her, I know I do! I went into the rest stop and got a phone book, found a frame shop number, called and got referred to a custom restoration frame and body shop in Vineland, N.J. M and R Auto Body was open, and they had an Enterprise agent waiting with a car when we arrived by tow truck at 10:30. By 11:30 we were on our way home in a rental car after only a four hour delay. Fortunately in Vineland, NJ, Peter D’Amico runs an Alfa shop, so the needed parts to repair the Milano were just around the corner from the frame shop.
        It took Peter a few days to extract the torsion bars from his used Milano inventory but after new shocks, the torsion bars, some uniframe welding, and a front end alignment, Trish’s baby is back home now and handles better than ever.
        What a vacation! Even with the breakdown, we’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Only thing I might do different is spend some time in the tech sessions. At the clambake, I spent some time talking with a Verde owner from Ohio who told me about the sessions, and made me realize that there was more going on than any one person could ever cover. That’s why there’s Seattle next year!

50 Summers Ago         

                                 by John Kay, President
Our Chapter President has been sharing reflections about the summer of 1944, when he was in the WWII British Army.

At the end of August 1944, the battle having gone well, there arose the major problem of getting the troops out of Normandy and onto the road to Paris.. I was in a reconnaissance unit. My squadron leader was sent for and told to find a way out of the battle area. Apart from the Germans blocking the Falaise Gap, the other routes were mostly impassable because of wrecked German horse-drawn transport vehicles. The Allies had by now massive air superiority.
        We were told that we were leading the whole British Army eastwards. As it got dark and we were, say, fifteen miles ahead of the main force, there was suddenly an enormous crash and our lightly armored vehicle landed in the ditch. We had been hit by a Canadian tank, returning by the same road to its lager, well behind us. The Canadian and British Armies had different radio frequencies, and neither knew the movements of the other.
        The Canadians scooped us up and took us for the night to a shed in the Canadian camp. This was miserable, to put it mildly. The driver and I were both concussed, and my glasses had been driven up into my forehead. The next day we were lucky enough to be taken to a Canadian field hospital — lucky because the Canadians had decided to site a fully-equipped hospital quite close to the fighting area.
        There I had the curious experience of being asked to interrogate a German soldier who was clearly dying; my German was not brilliant, his English non-existent... The hospital was in the midst of apple orchards. Many “walking wounded” could be seen strolling about the countryside in blue hospital dressing gowns.
        Shortly I recovered and was sent in a train of cattle trucks — eight horses or 40 men, some of which caught fire because the chaps wanted to cook food — to rejoin my unit, which was by then in Belgium. I drove most of the way from there to the Baltic Coast, north of Lubeck, where I helped to accept the surrender of the German Army.

Upcoming Events

Il Calendario

THE 100 CARS OF RADNOR HUNT
September 10-12
Radnor, Pa.
Featuring Bugatti, vintage motorcycles and more. See Page 2, and
www.radnorconcours.org

ANNUAL CLUB PICNIC
Saturday, September 18
Pearmund Vineyard
Gainesville, Va.
11:30-4:00 p.m.
Details, contacts on Page 1.
Directions: Take Gainesville exit 43 south (Rt. 29 to Warrenton). Travel approximately 7 miles south to New Baltimore. Pass Rt. 600 stop light and take next right, Rt. 674. Travel 1.5 miles to Pearmund Cellars entrance on left.

ROCKVILLE CAR SHOW
Saturday, October 16
Glenview Mansion/Rockville Civic Center Park
603 Edmonston Drive
Rockville, Md.
8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
$10 to enter a car before Sept. 17, and $15 after. An entry form appeared in the August newsletter and can be downloaded from: http://www.rockvillemd.gov/events/carshowregform04.pdf

CLUB VINEYARD TOUR
Tentatively Sunday, October 17.

MID-ATLANTIC EUROPEAN CAR FEST; “BEACHROADS RAMBLE”
October 22-24; Car Show Saturday
Ocean City, Md.
Full information at www.europeancarfestival.com or call Bob Sadler at 443/880-5066. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. followed by reception. Trophies for best of country, make, and peoples’ choice. Alfa headquarters at Merry Sherwood Plantation, www.merrysherwood.com. Details Page 3.

<>Come to the picnic, you’ll be glad if you you do
Bring some good food, and we’ll all be glad too!

CAPITAL CHAPTER

AROC OFFICERS

President: John Kay
7309 Delfield Street
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
301/652-6287
john.a.kay@verizon.net

Vice President: Sherry Thackeray
2117 North Dinwiddie St.
Arlington, VA 22207
703/807-0798
sherrylmcc@aol.com

Secretary: Bob Kleinfeld
1682 Cedar Hollow Way
Reston, VA 20194-1727
AlfaBob@comcast.net
703/437-0899

Treasurer: Eugene Kessler
13212 Cabinwood Drive
Silver Spring, MD 20904
eugenek@concentric.net
301/989-0792

Librarian: Jack Chesley
1707 Crestwood Drive
Alexandria, VA 22302
703/931-5090
jack@jchesley.com

Social Coordinator:
Denny Broud, DennisBroud@aol.com

Technical Assistance:
Les Smith, 540/347-1305

Newsletter Editor:Brewster Thackeray
2117 North Dinwiddie St.
Arlington, VA 22207
703/807-0798
brewthack@aol.com

Executive Editor:  Bob Kleinfeld