Alfisti is edited and produced by

John Griffiths AROC East Midlands Section Secretary

Tel: 0774 8881317

e-mail: john.jhgcs@gmail.com

See our website for latest news and more:

www.AROC-UK.com/EastMids

Alfisti’s production sponsored by

Star chef at the G&D, Josh, will be putting on a special Indian meal for us at just £10 a head - Chicken, Beef, Veggie, rice, naans, bhajis, you name it. Now you can’t say fairer than that! If Indian is not your thing, you’ll be able to choose from the G&D’s normal extensive menu.

Please reserve your place asap by letting JOHN know.

The Fox Run officially opens the Spring season of events as British Summertime Begins. The clocks will have gone forward, and we’ll be ready to enjoy a morning’s navigational run. FULL DETAILS in the next edition. We’ll meet for breakfast, enjoy a navigational run around north Leicestershire, finishing at Donington Park to enjoy lunch in the café followed by a tour of the famous Donington Grand Prix Collection at a special discount price of just £8 a head.

Alfa Romeo Owners Club UK

East Midlands

Section

Formerly Central & East Midlands

■ Alfisti Issue 172 ■ February 2015

Inside:

2015 Events

New Year Meal

January meeting

Back to Curborough Circuit

Our Cars

. . . and more

It’s only just February and I’m bored to tears with winter. Frozen windscreens, mucky gritty roads, when the sun’s out it’s always in your eyes. I’m just thankful I’m not doing my old 100-mile-a-day commute, fun as that could be at times in my Alfa. Still, won’t be terribly long ‘til spring is with us.

Inside there are more reminders of what we’ve got to look forward to this year - so many great things! Driving-wise we’ve got The Fox Run at the end of March, with a route that promises to be really good fun finishing with lunch then a tour around the jewel of Grand Prix car collections at Donington Park. In April we’ll enjoy a convoy drive over to Spring Alfa Day at Duxford with its amazing display of aircraft, then during the week after that we’re off to Curborough Circuit for some flat-out circuit action at the track reserved solely for us! Excellent.

I must say the meetings we’ve had so far this winter have been very good. It was great to see and hear from Peter Cambridge again at the G&D in December, as reported on in the last edition, and the New Year Meal was another super evening at La Torre in January. I still can’t believe that was the 7th visit we’ve had there! Food at our gatherings is very popular, so I hope our Curry Night at the G&D has good support - it is certainly looking that way. See panel on the right. There’s still plenty of space so do please get in touch if you’d like to go. Our January meeting there was good fun too as you will be able to see inside.

Can you believe the price of fuel? 99p per litre in Birmingham, well, for a time, but under £1.05 in many places for unleaded. Just as downsized 3-pot turbos start to make real sense, and 2-pots in Fiat’s and Alfa’s case! Well, Has the V6’s time come again? Certainly with fuel down 30% on its high (I’ve paid £1.49 for Diesel before now), there’s no excuse not to plan to use your Alfa Romeo on our driving activities this year. Ever tried high octane? You may be surprised, but it can take 2 or 3 tank-fulls to really take effect. There’s Tesco Momentum 99 going into 2 cars on our drive at the mo to see if you can really tell. I’ve used Shell V-Power on and off in our MiTo and at 97 Octane you notice that a tad, so is 99 even better? I’ll let you know. (V-Power diesel, for example, is really just boosted by enhanced detergents, you don’t see any power increase.)

And what about the 4C Spider? Absolutely stunning I think you’ll agree. If you need further convincing, fire up YouTube and do a search. The ‘unofficial’ video of it gives a really good view of the car in stunning yellow and classic high-gloss Alfa Rosso. I think I’ll have to have both, to go with the 4C Coupé of course… Look, you can dream, and who needs a house anyway?

Fabulous to see so many of you at the New Year Meal in January all looking forward to a terrific 2015. Let’s get motoring. Cheers!

John

@AROCeastmids

Stunning Alfa 4C Spider was launched in the USA in January

ALFISTI / EASTMIDS

It’s FREE!!

January Meeting Night The George & Dragon, Thringstone

Our January Meeting is always a low-key affair being so close to the New Year Meal

Night. Nonetheless 14 of us came along to enjoy the evening, and to take part in the

What’s It Worth quiz I’d put together. That’s all about guessing the asking price on a

range of classic and newer Italian cars for sale at the moment, with multiple choice

answers to choose from.

I made sure it was a truly eclectic mix this time, from the sensibility of Giulietta Spider

and Sprint through Fiat 126 BIS , Lancia Delta Integrale, on to Maserati Merak.. Oh

chuck in a 1955 Lamborghini tractor and what’s the cost of a Lamborghini Gallardo

clutch replacement… (About 2.5K if you’re interested!)

Well, the participants didn’t do bad…. OK, they did. Winner after a 3-way tie on 10/20

was Leigh Nethercot, then propping up the results with 5 was Richard Shaw.

Statistically, with a choice of 4 answers to go from, that wasn’t terrific—but we had a

good laugh anyway!

Aside from that we had a good old natter on all sorts of subjects. Paul Jones was over

from Chris Variava Alfa again, this time armed with info on the new Jeep Renegade,

DNA of which could well end up in a future ‘small’ Alfa Romeo SUV. It’s a very

interesting machine—built in Italy of course! Roger Smith is talked about the industry

he’s in oil exploration—it was genuinely fascinating to hear some truths about Fracking,

and the wealth of ‘Farcked’ Natural Gas in the USA - that when compressed as CNG

can power any internal combustion engine. And there’s heck of a lot of it there and

under the UK… May be a good subject for an ‘official’ talk from Roger to us later on, if I

can twist his arm! All good fun anyway. John

ALFISTI - February 2015 - Issue 172 AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter

New Year Meal

We were back to the delightful Italian Restaurant ‘La Torre’ on

9 January, would you believe for the 7th year? We had another

great attendance with 43 of us enjoying some terrific food; three

courses plus coffee for just over £20 - tremendous value.

It was particularly nice that we had several people there for the

first time, but sad that a few regulars couldn’t make it this time,

including Chairman Bryan with Jenny, and El Presidenté George

Cole with Janet. Another time we hope.

After enjoying the food (the fillet steak was simply amazing!),

we had our traditional Charity raffle in aid of Macmillan Cancer

Care. People had brought some superb prizes; lots of wine and

spirits (surprise!!), plus some funny stuff too ; 3 in 1 Top Gear

Hair Shampoo anyone? Several nice model cars, a High Tea at a

smart hotel in Birmingham, a very nice padded Alfa gilet, Alfa

caps, and owners Grieg and Fabio donated a two course lunch

with drinks at La Torre too! Some lucky winners included Lis

Jones—she must have won at least 5 bottles (or so it

seemed!) Keith & Germaine Krog won the High Tea,

Graeme & Shona won the lunch and Rebecca the

gilet. Importantly though we raised £160 for

Macmillan Cancer Care, which was great going.

A super evening again anyway as you’ll hopefully tell

from my varied snaps you’ll see here. Thanks to

everyone again for coming along, including former

regulars Simon & Clare Addison who’ve emigrated to

South Wales, and again to Brian Smith for the local co-

ordination with La Torre. (It’s had work having to go in

and forcing down a glass of wine or 3!) Needless to

say, we’ve booked for next January already...

John

We took over the whole lower end this year!

The La Torre team

Owner Greg with Brian

Prizes galore!

Gunson’s Gotta Alfetta! Mark Gunson tells us about his latest addition

Finally a chrome-clad Alfa in the garage! It’s an early Alfetta

GT (1975) with its original engine and in pretty good shape all

round. It needs some bits but has been fettled with by Alex

Jupe (renowned Alfetta Specialist), which is a good start.

A very kind Mr Ian Jephcott assisted with collecting it from

Black and White Garages of Newbury in his 1.3MiTo diesel. It

was a fun, crisp and sunny December morning which saw the

two Alfas cruising down the A34 in convoy. That Mito moves

but the old girl kept up pretty well with loads of poke. It’s all

original but has the Alex Jupe short-shift box which is brilliant.

I've known this car for a number of years and always felt like

"the one that got away" so finally the opportunity and timing

was right to make it mine. It’s not had many owners and has

spent some of its life in Spain which has helped the bodywork.

It has blue cloth/black interior with a rather nice wooden

steering wheel that feels great and looks the part. (It’s got the

crazy split-dash too! JG)

I've always been a fan of the 1750 engine for its eagerness

and rasp. Not quite a Cloverleaf for power, but I think it’s cool

that my two cars share something. Roll on Spring, time to

start polishing! Mark

A new featurette especially for newer Alfisti (Alfa Fans)

who’d like to know a bit more about Classic Alfa Romeos. 105 Series Alfas

The 105 Series was a backbone range of Alfa Romeos, and hugely popular within our

club today of course. They were high quality, technically advanced & very rapid cars in

their day.

It started with the Giulia Saloon in 1962 underpinned by a monocoque chassis, a

range of twin-cam engines starting with 1300 and 1600s a revolutionary 5-speed

gearbox and all-wheel disc brakes. A coupé called Giulia Sprint joined in 1963, styled by

Bertone (the coupes often just called ‘Bertones’). A short run of 4-seat GTC rag-tops were

built by Touring of Milan from ‘64-’66. The coupe was developed into an amazing race

version called GTA by Alfa’s race arm, Autodelta. With lightweight aluminium body and

1600cc Twin-Spark engine, it won countless races and championships through to the

1970s. Nowadays road or race GTAs are often worth well over £100,000.

A longer wheel-base saloon called the Berlina was introduced in 1967, built in 1750cc

and 2000cc versions and sold through to 1977.

In 1966 the gorgeous Spider 2-seater soft-top appeared, originally termed the Duetto.

It had its ‘long tail’ (sometimes called cuttlefish) chopped in 1972 to form the Series 2.

These are termed ‘Kamm tails’ after the aerodynamicist of the same name. Its engine

grew to 1750cc, and later 2000, though 1600 and 1300s were available in various

markets.

The Giulia Saloon was ’facelifted’ in 1974 as the ‘Nuova’ and soldiered on until 1978.

The Bertone Coupé evolved through the 1750 GTV to the 2000 GTV, peaking at 133bhp,

until finally superseded by the Alfetta GT in 1977 (see Alfetta above.) The Spider

meanwhile gained rubber bumpers and rubber boot spoiler in its Series 3 iteration in

1982, needed to suit American market requirements. Universally popular, the Spider

morphed again into the Series 4 for 1990, gaining fuel injection, power steering, more

modern bumpers and rear lights, strictly speaking now these are termed 115 Series.

The 105 Series underpinnings were also given to the amazing 2.6 V8 Montreal in

1967 but really a very different beast. Spider sales ended in 1994 - some 32 years since

the birth of the Giulia. Simply an amazing range of exceptional cars. John

SIGN UP NOW FOR THE CURBOROUGH SPRINT EXPERIENCE! Weds 29 April

The chance to drive your Alfa on track, at a speed you want to, is a rare opportunity, especially for a full day at around £60!! We’ve enjoyed several of these

’experience’ days now, courtesy of ‘El Presidenté’ George Cole who is a member Shenstone and District Car Club who own the track. These days are limited for

insurance purposes to 10 cars, but multiple drivers are permitted. The overall cost (expected to be £600) is divided between all drivers taking part, and

spectators are free.

This time we’re having to insist on a non-returnable deposit of £25 per car paid in

advance. If you wish to go, please write a cheque for said amount payable to

Shenstone & District Car Club and post it to: John Griffiths, 25 Heards Close,

Wigston Harcourt, Leics, LE18 3SW. That will guarantee your slot for a tremendous

day of driving action.

The latest course features a figure of eight section, possible of course as there’s

only one car allowed on track at a time, and that cross area has now been

resurfaced giving a really varied, twisty challenge. It’s a short track but very fast in

parts. All cars are welcome - be prepared to give lots of passenger laps too!

To be sure of your spot please do not delay as several have gone already - please

contact John as soon as possible. It really is great fun.

ALFISTI - February 2015 - Issue 172 AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter

The Giulia Saloon, often termed Giulia Super. Yes, it is the Police car in ‘The Italian Job’, and despite appearances, very aerodynamic! 1.3 and 1.6 litre models were built, and rapid with it.

Giulia Sprint Coupes. Designed by Italian styling house Bertone they are often simply termed ‘Bertones’. Sold by Alfa for over 12 years, they are terrific to drive - the 1750s and 2000s are fast too.

Rare Giulia Sprint GTA. Values are now well into 6 figures, a tremendous race car in its day and highly desirable for classic car racing today. Road versions very rare, RHD ones exist too!

Last of the Giulia Spiders, a Series 4 with 2000cc and fuel injection. It was sold until 1994. Though relatively young and plentiful, values are now beginning to rise.

ALFISTI - February 2015 - Issue 172 AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter

THE FOX RUN - At the

end of March we will

be having a morning

navigational run

around north

Leicestershire,

finishing for lunch at

The Donington Park

Grand Prix Collection,

followed by a tour

around the superb

facility at a special

party rate. Here are

some photos from last

year’s run.

The Curborough

Sprint Experience

on 29 April is sure

to be tremendous

fun again.

Organised George

Cole, 10 cars can

take part on track,

but with unlimited

drivers. Cost is

around £60 a

head. CONTACT

JOHN.

FUN CONCOURS

NIGHT is always

popular at the

George & Dragon

and is set for Weds

10 June 2015.

We’ve got several

new things to come

too this summer at

this our regular

venue.

SPRING ALFA DAY -

at Imperial War

Museum, Duxford on

26 April, then, on

Sunday 21 June,

NATIONAL ALFA DAY

at Gawsworth Hall

near Macclesfield.

We’ll be having

morning convoy

drives to both events

too...

ALFISTI - February 2015 - Issue 172 AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter

MITCAR - our big

Section event will be

taking place in

August. At time of

writing in January

however various

things are still up in

the air. The photos

here are from our

edition back in 2006

which may give some

people a clue as to

the venue we have in

mind. Answers on a

postcard to….

LEICESTER AERO

CLUB OPEN DAY - our

big Section event, is

our favourite late

summer event.

Planned for early

September we get to

park together to

enjoy air displays, a

runway parade and

chance for free

pleasure flights too.

AROC TRACK DAY

will come late in

2015. It promises

superb driving fun,

importantly,

amongst friends.

LOTS OF OTHER

STUFF!! - The big

Auto Italia events,

karting, racing,

maybe even a new

Alfa Romeo launch.

Don’t forget you’re

getting ALL THIS in

with the cost of your

annual AROC

membership.

NEC CLASSIC

CAR SHOW in

November is a

great way to

end the year.

We’ll have

another

cracking AROC

stand there

and our local

members are

very welcome

to lend a hand.

Top Tips . . .

How do you remove white wax residue from plastic trim?

We’ve all done it, got carried away applying the wax, or worse,

AutoGlym Super Resin Polish (SRP) and ended up with lovely

white marks on that nice black trim. Well, fear not, reach for

either AutoGlym Fast Glass spray cleaner or AutoGlym Interior

cleaner, give it a good soaking and then apply elbow grease

via a microfibre cloth. It will, eventually, come out. For really stubborn white stains, use

AutoGlym Intensive Tar Remover. Remember to dress the rubber with a product such as

AutoGlym Vinyl & Rubber Care.

How do you prevent brake dust build up on wheels?

Nothing will stop it, but you can slow it and make it much easier to clean by applying a

dedicated sealant product, like Poorboy’s Wheel Seal, or a polish, like AutoGlym SRP (Super

Resin Polish). You can also cheat using a spray sealant like Armorall Wheel Seal or

AutoGlym’s Sealant. My favourite is straightforward SRP—no home should be without it!

How should you clean Microfibre cloths?

Best way - machine wash on a low temperature using liquid detergent not powder and

NEVER use fabric softener, that will break down the structure of the cloth. They should then

last and last.

How can you remove ink from seats and trim?

A great product to use is AutoGlym Intensive Tar Remover. It’s a super-solvent. Apply on an

inconspicuous are first to check it doe not affect fabric colour. ’ITR’ is also great for removing

chewing gum from carpets and trim.

What’s the best way to clean rubber foot pedals?

Use a good interior cleaner, like AutoGlym Interior Shampoo. NEVER use dressing products.

(Foolishly I once used some dressing on a small rubber heel pad. It got on the sole of my

shoe and, well, you can imagine! Foot slips off pedal. Put it this way, I was lucky and

certainly learnt a lesson!!)

How can you get rid of an Aircon pong?

Over time aircon units can develop a horrid smell, particularly noticeable when switched off.

It’s to do with the build up of bacteria in the system. AutoGlym sell an Aircon Sanitizer can

that works BRILLIANTLY. We used it on my son’s old 147 and were astounded! Cleared it

effectively permanently. Basically, you run the engine with aircon on full blast and all vents

open - doors closed and windows up you set off the can which, a bit like a bomb, empties

itself into the air circulating completely through the system. Quite astounding, works a treat.

There, hopefully a few things to remember and some ideas for when our pals from the

AutoGlym franchise visit our meeting later in the spring. John

George is at it again… El Presidenté buys another single-seater!

There’s no keeping a good man down… Soon to be

Octogenarian George, our Section President, trekked down to

Hastings on New Year’s Eve to buy this single-seater ’special’

powered buy a Yamaha Fazer 998cc bike engine! Pictured

here with its previous owner, the car was being raced at the

Brighton Speed Trials on Madeira Boulevard. By all accounts

it is even more minimalist than his previous ‘Terrapin’. He’s

currently modifying it for his taller frame… but we very much

look forward to seeing the machine later in the year, very

possibly at Curborough. There’s no stopping him!

ALFISTI - February 2015 - Issue 172 AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter

Date Activity

Weds 10 February 2015

Curry Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone. See cover. Please reserve your spot with John - just £10 a head!

Weds 11 March

Regular Meeting Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone, from 7.30pm

Sunday 29 March

The Fox Run - A morning navigational run around north Leicestershire - see cover. (Meeting for Breakfast, run ends at Donington Grand Prix Collection for lunch and tour.)

Wednesday 8 April from 7pm

Regular Meeting night at the George & Dragon, Thringstone. With the clocks going forward it’s our first meeting where we can start outside near our cars. Our local AutoGlym franchise will be invited too with bargains galore!! Starts from 7pm

Sunday 26 April

AROC Spring Alfa Day - Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Will include a special convoy drive to the event from a breakfast time meeting point. (See Gazetta on right.)

Wednesday 29 April, 9.30-5pm

Curborough Sprint Experience - we’re going back! El Presidenté, George Cole, has booked this fabulous circuit for us alone to enjoy again. You can reserve your slot NOW with John. (Cost @£60, spectators free.) A full days action 9.30am to 5pm. Limit 10 cars!

Saturday 2 May

Auto Italia Brooklands. The excellent multi-marque event close to the capital. Special Alfa Romeo parking area. Plan to get there early to guarantee a good parking spot.

Weds 10 June Fun Concours Night at the George & Dragon, Thringstone. Our ever-popular event where all Alfas present are automatically entered and everyone gets to vote!

Sun 21 June

AROC National Alfa Day - Gawsworth Hall, near Macclesfield. We will be organising a convoy drive across the Peaks to the event from a breakfast meeting point.

Sunday 29 June

Summertime Classics. Auto Italia event at Stanford Hall near Lutterworth. This year ’s event promises an extra special Concours contest too with some terrific cars.

PARTIAL CALENDAR. 2 big events for later in the year shown below….

AUGUST (TBC)

MITCAR (Midlands Italian Car Day). Our Section ’s BIG event will return for its 15th edition! Date and venue to be confirmed. Please watch our website!!

Sunday 6 September

Leicester Aero Club Open Day - at Leicester Airport, Gartree Road. Including special Alfa Romeo parking, aircraft displays, chance for free pleasure flights. Free admission.

AND THAT’S JUST THE FIRST PART OF THE YEAR!

Lots more to be added during the coming months… Keep an eye on our website!

AROC East Midlands Section Events 2015

The Small Print: Alfisti is published primarily for the enjoyment of members of the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club East Midlands Section. Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham supports the cost of Alfisti’s printed production carried out at cost rate by a Section Member’s company. Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club UK ltd cannot endorse or recommend services or products advertised in its publications. Any opinions published in ‘Alfisti’ or its sister website, Twitter account or other broadcasts 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.

Gazetta News Snippets

SPRING ALFA DAY, SUNDAY 26 APRIL

The club’s first big event of the year is still

a coupe of months away, but we’re already

looking forward to it. For our convoy drive

to the fabulous air museum at Duxford,

we’re going to meet at the Rothwell

services (McDonalds) on the A14 near

Junction 4 planning to depart at 8.30am.

Here’s a photo from the 2011 edition, with

our Chairman Bryan entering into the spirit

with flying jacket, leather helmet and

goggles!! Great stuff.

AROC MEMBERSHIP - It’s Rolling

For people who joined anew during the last

year, you’ll get a written reminder when

your renewal is due, you don’t have to pay

now. Remember, you save £2.50 when

you join by Direct Debit too! Contact John if

you have any queries. (Direct Debit saving

goes for all members - worth doing.)

ALFA SUV IN 2016, GIULIA NAME IN DOUBT

Speaking to

the press in

the USA in

early January,

FCA boss Sig

Marchionne

stated that

the long-

awaited Alfa

Romeo SUV

may well be

built at the Cassino plant in Italy alongside

the new saloon car as early as 2016. The

other FIAT plants in Italy are busy, with

Jeep Renegade production already

underway and its sister FIAT 500X

(receiving great reviews) is expected to be

very popular. It looks much better than the

rather challenging ‘500L’.

Marchionne also stated that the name of

Alfa’s 159 replacement is still to be

finalised, but confirmed that over 1,000

highly motivated people were working on

the brand. New Alfas are not far away . . .

What were they thinking?

FIAT 500L ‘LIVING’

Also known as 500 ‘Dodgy Extension’. (Can’t have had planning permission.)

ALFISTI - February 2015 - Issue 172 AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter

NEW EVENT TO COME

Visit to The Bottle Kicking Cider Company,

Hallaton (Date TBC, most likely in May.)

Another event to be arranged a little later this year is

a visit to the Bottle Kicking Cider Company in Hallaton

in east Leicestershire. Locals will I’m sure have heard

of the Bottle Kicking tradition - basically a giant scrum

between hundreds of players form Medbourne &

Hallaton, taking place every Easter Monday. The

game being won when one of the 2 or 3 barrels used

as ‘balls’ is hauled across a stream marking each

village’s try line. It takes AGES! Anyway, this small

cider brewery will make an interesting visit, with some

tasting of course. More info in a later edition.

NEW EVENT TO COME

Classic Car Night, Melton Mowbray

Friday 31 July

A little later in the year we’re adding another activity,

This casually organised event takes place on the last

Friday of the month from April until September

(weather permitting) is now in its 8th year. Around 50

Classic Cars gather in the town centre from 5pm ‘til

Dusk. Classic Alfa Romeos (over 25 years old or there-

abouts) can simply join in with the rest of us parking

up nearby . We will all converge on a suitable pub

afterwards for a pint and a natter. As ever we’ll have

more details nearer the time.

Alfisti no.173 will be out in March

- SCOOP! - Unusual news from the world of motoring

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

GTV6 - Nick Everard From an email to John: Sorry I have not been that active recently: quite a lot

of my work is in London, it's been a busy time and it's a 90 mile round trip to

those monthly meetings - but I hope to be at more of them next year.

Attached is a pic of my

GTV6. As you know I

bought it from specialist

Alex Jupe in September

2013. It has run pretty

much faultlessly since bar

some relatively minor (but

still expensive to fix!)

brake issues. I had it out

yesterday as it was a nice

dry day. Great fun and a

fantastic noise - I'll give

you a spin in it next year!

Nick

GTV V6 - Dave McFarland From an email to John: Trust you have settled into the New Year

successfully. Thought l’d bring you up to date

with the car. Enclosed are 2 photos of the

engine, last photo before installation (top) and

first photo after. So it’s now back on the road

and running well albeit somewhat slower than

usual.. ah the fun of running-in! First

impressions are good, it’s very smooth, at least

up to 3 and occasionally more thousand revs. It

may take a while if this weather lasts…. Dave

For context, Dave managed to buy a brand new

3.2 V6 Busso engine last year. It’s now been

fully balanced and expertly installed in his

‘track day’ focussed 916 GTV)

Bryan is sorting his insurance out

again, but how on earth do you

value one of these? Early Sprints

are extremely rare to start with,

then it’s a Limited Edition on top.

Not at all easy to do…. But

probably easier than trying to find

a replacement!

147 GTA - Darren Richards From an email to John:

I thought I would drop you an email to introduce myself as I have recently

joined the AROC after purchasing my 147 GTA in December. I hope to get to

the monthly meets, although due to work commitments this may not be until

the March or April

one. I live in

Brinsley,

Nottingham so not

too far to travel.

This is my first Alfa

after 20+ years of

fast Ford's. My

wife drives a

Giulietta, so we

are now a true Alfa

family! Darren

Early George Cole Racing Evidence Found

Section Honorary President, George Cole plans to celebrate his 80th Birthday later this year. His Sprinting exploits are well known, including a famous Alfasud Sprint on its roof moment at Shelsely Walsh a few years back. Well, this shot from 1967 would hint at his ‘60s Alfa exploits too...

MiTo Distinctive - Jayne French Jayne French, wife of The Real Dave French, has swapped her 159

Sportwagon

for this little

beauty, a

MiTo

Distinctive TB

105 sourced

from

Sturgess. It

looks terrific

in Tornado

Blue, and

she’s

absolutely

delighted

with it.

Giulia 1300 Ti - Dave Atkins After selling his Giulietta TurboDelta to a man in Greece back in the autumn,

Dave’s been searching for another interesting rarity, and he’s found an absolute

cracker here. This 1970 Giulia is a ‘time-warp’ machine, owned by a family in

Italy for many years before recently being imported to the UK. It has an ultra-low

mileage and is extremely original, with vast history file too. It’s got fabric seats

and even its original

rubber mats!

Finished in ultra-

deep red, it’s a real

stunner. Dave

collected it from a

Classic car specialist

in Peterborough in

early January, and

said it drived great

travelling home, its

twin-cam engine

humming

beautifully.

So another great

classic Alfa joins our

midst!

Giulia 1750 GTV - Phil Levell Phil has been doing quite a bit of work on his Bertone Coupe at the back end of

2014. It’s been a bit of a challenge to get the panels lined up properly (it has

GRP wings all round). After a few trips to a garage he discovered in Bromsgrove

that has much experience

in fitting GRP parts to

Lotus and TVRs, the shut

lines look really

impressive - and he says

he has the bonus of the

door not opening

anymore when he goes

fast round a corner! It’s a

great looking car on its

GTA-look alloys of course

and we look forward to

seeing it, and Phil of

course, later in the year.

Alfasud Sprint Trofeo - Bryan Alexander