formerly central & east mids. - alfa romeo owners club › eastmids › alfisti_2012_6.pdf ·...

JohnJohnJohnJohn

Inside this edition:

�� Fox RunFox RunFox Run

�� Classic Car MeetClassic Car MeetClassic Car Meet

�� May Meeting at the G&DMay Meeting at the G&DMay Meeting at the G&D

�� Giugiaro ShootGiugiaro ShootGiugiaro Shoot---out!out!out!

�� Get it Straight. . .Get it Straight. . .Get it Straight. . .

■ ■ ■ ■ Alfisti Issue 144 ■■■■ June 2012

Alfisti is the AROC East Midlands Section Alfisti is the AROC East Midlands Section Alfisti is the AROC East Midlands Section Alfisti is the AROC East Midlands Section newsletter, edited and produced bynewsletter, edited and produced bynewsletter, edited and produced bynewsletter, edited and produced by

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

COTSWOLDCOTSWOLDCOTSWOLD

ALFA DAY ALFA DAY ALFA DAY Sunday 24 June Sunday 24 June Sunday 24 June SUDELEY CASTLE (plus run)SUDELEY CASTLE (plus run)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

FUN CONCOURS NIGHTFUN CONCOURS NIGHTFUN CONCOURS NIGHT

ALFISTI / EASTMIDS Price? IT’S FREE!!

AROCAROC

EAST MIDLANDSEAST MIDLANDS

SECTIONSECTION

Formerly Central & East Mids.Formerly Central & East Mids.

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 light-hearted 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!

Below - A delightful scene from Cotswold Alfa Day 2011

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, flip-flops, 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!

Last year’s Car of the Night winner - Viv Stephens’ GTV Cup

Fun Concours Night 2011

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

MAY MEETING MAY MEETING MAY MEETING atatat The George & DragonThe George & DragonThe George & Dragon

ALFISTI ALFISTI ALFISTI --- June 2012 June 2012 June 2012 --- No. 144 No. 144 No. 144 AROC East Midlands Section NewsletterAROC East Midlands Section NewsletterAROC East Midlands Section Newsletter

CLASSIC CAR NIGHT CLASSIC CAR NIGHT CLASSIC CAR NIGHT atatat Beedles Lake Golf CentreBeedles Lake Golf CentreBeedles Lake Golf Centre

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.)

Chris Childs 159 sporting gold stripeChris Childs 159 sporting gold stripeChris Childs 159 sporting gold stripe Bruce Peers zooms offBruce Peers zooms offBruce Peers zooms off Nice light at sunsetNice light at sunsetNice light at sunset

� George’s tow car � George with Brian in the seat � Very tidy Classics � Delightful Jaguars

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 w i th the Vo lkswagen 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


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 w e l e f t f o r t h e 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

SHOOT OUT!SHOOT OUT!SHOOT OUT!

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

DetailingDetailingDetailing CornerCornerCorner

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

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 Above, parked up at Kelmarsh Hall

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 Stunning Seaton Viaduct.

DOOM WATCH ALFADOOM WATCH ALFADOOM WATCH ALFA

The number of Alfa 33s left on UK roads is...?The number of Alfa 33s left on UK roads is...?The number of Alfa 33s left on UK roads is...?The number of Alfa 33s left on UK roads is...?

...Just ...Just ...Just ...Just 86 86 86 86 (as at end of Q3 2011). Shockingly that is less than half the number of (as at end of Q3 2011). Shockingly that is less than half the number of (as at end of Q3 2011). Shockingly that is less than half the number of (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 Alfasuds, the number of which is hovering close to 200. This is quite scary as of Alfasuds, the number of which is hovering close to 200. This is quite scary as 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 course the last 33s were still on sale only 18 years ago. An excuse to put in two course the last 33s were still on sale only 18 years ago. An excuse to put in two 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… photos of my old ones; 33 1.7 Veloce and 1.7IE. Great cars… photos of my old ones; 33 1.7 Veloce and 1.7IE. Great cars… photos of my old ones; 33 1.7 Veloce and 1.7IE. Great cars… JohnJohnJohnJohn

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] 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….)

AROC EAST MIDLANDS MERCHANDISE High quality Polo shirts with full colour logo NOW AVAILABLE All sizes -

JUST £15 Show your colours!!


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!

AROC East Midlands Section Events 2012

Gazetta News Snippets

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 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.

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 “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)

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?)

■■■■ Alfisti no.145 will be out in July

Our AlfasOur AlfasOur Alfas All the latest on our local members’ cars...All the latest on our local members’ cars...All the latest on our local members’ cars...

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…)

- SCOOP! - Unusual news from the world of motoring

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...

■■■■ Alfisti’s production is kindly sponsored by Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham

Alfa 147 2.0 Lusso - David Griffiths 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.

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!

MiTo 1.3 JTDm Sprint - Tony Flanagan 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 super-

efficient 1.3

85bhp unit.

The Sprint

Spec is a great

mix of price .v

equipment.

We are sure

his students

will appre-

ciate it

anyway!

155 BTCC Replica - Joe Sharpe 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.

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.

145 Boxer - Owen French

Photo by Ken Carrington

formerly central & east mids. - alfa romeo owners club › eastmids › alfisti_2012_6.pdf ·...

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