Aroc East Midlands Section
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AROC EAST MIDLANDS SECTION Formerly Central & East Midlands BROOKLANDS SPRING ITALIAN CAR DAY Saturday 4 May People from our Section are supporting this big Italian gathering again this year at the magnificent Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey (KT13 0QN). The club van will be central to the AROC display and parking area which always fills up incredibly quickly. If you plan to go, do let John know so he can keep an eye out for you, and if you do want to park in the main Alfa Romeo area do plan to arrive by about 9.15 at the latest. Any time after that and you could end up in the mixed parking, often on the old 40-degree banking itself—photo below taken as it began to fill. SPRING ALFA DAY Brooklands has both a car museum and historic aircraft park and sections of the The editorial bit now. It looks like our section incredible old banked race track that have to has bucked a trend of decline in car club’s be seen to be believed. Highlight of the day SUNDAY 21 APRIL generally with local membership increasing ever so is the runs up the steep test hill - see photo Section Convoy Run Too! slightly since the same time last year. This despite below featuring a Ferrari 458 Italia. Also the new Alfa range being just two mainstream during the day, various special cars will be models and a noticeable decline in the number of lapping the adjacent Mercedes Benz World We can only hope for a nice, warm spring day I older Alfas on the roads. track. The event famously attracts a host of guess for this year’s event, just like the one we We’re still a relatively small bunch really, Italian Supercars and fascinating classics had for the event at Burleigh House in 2010, an (perfectly formed of course!) - with about 170 too, as well as all the major Italian car clubs. event largely delivered by our Section of course. members plus partners in the region. Of that we The trade area is always well supported too. This year the North West Section has stepped have a core of around 40 true ‘activists’. We have Tickets are available at discounted rate in up to the plate to stage the event at Gawsworth a great list of events and gatherings each year, a advance via www.brooklandsmuseum.com. Hall near Macclesfield. well established regular meeting date, a website Again, if you plan to go please get in touch Ticket price is just £10.50 per car for pre- updated constantly and this organ of course . As a with John, it maybe that a (very) early booked entry by members. Entrance on the day proportionate ratio of activists in the country our convoy run can be arranged. for members and non-members arriving in Alfa Section actually does very well, but it’s never good Romeos will be just £15 per car. All tickets to rest on laurels. include entry to Gawsworth Hall itself too. So what should we do to attract more people There will be an array of trade stands, the AROC along? Do we need to do new things? Are some of Club shop, Alfas from local dealership Mangoletsi the things we do a bit ‘tired’ now? Do we need a plus an Italian market and Italian food stalls all on new regular meeting venue for ‘freshness’? site to keep you busy through the day. Suggestions by email please - all ideas welcome. Book tickets at www.arocuktickets.lpl-uk.com We were sad to have to postpone the or by posting a cheque to Club Manager Nick Curborough Sprint Experience in March, but Wright, 8 Ickworth Court, Felixstowe, Suffolk, delighted its back in May. The weather has been IP11 2XL. horrific, and not much better for the Coventry event CONVOY RUN reported on inside, so I’m really not surprised that Our Section will meet up at the Donington Park we had so many no-shows on the day. Hopefully Services, M1 J23a, to depart at 8.30am prompt. we’ll have more along for Spring Alfa Day. I do hope Please arrive sooner if you would like breakfast / to see you there. Cheers! refreshments there. John Alfisti is the AROC East Midlands Section Inside this edition: newsletter, edited and produced by Coventry Transport John Griffiths Museum Alfa Display AROC East Midlands Section Secretary Sensational Alfa 4C up close Tel: 0774 8881317 Geneva Motor Show highlights e-mail: [email protected] March Meeting Night Our website for the latest news and more: A new big Alfa? . and more www.AROC--UK.COM/EASTMIDS Alfisti production sponsored by ALFISTI / EASTMIDS Price? IT’S FREE!! ■ Alfisti Issue 152 ■ April 2013 Alfa Romeo 4C - It’s official: STAR OF THE GENEVA MOTOR SHOW! Alfisti have be praying that this one would be right - the Alfa to truly demonstrate the style, performance and technology of the marque. Me, Leigh, Martin and Simon just had to find out and our trip to the Geneva Motor Show was organised early in the year, with stand hospitality including full access to the 4C provided via Damian Dally, Alfa Romeo UK’s Brand manager. The 3am wake up to get to the airport proved to be well worthwhile. After being first shown in Geneva as a concept in - it’s just right. 2011, the 4C now enters production at Maserati’s Before the full annual production of 3,500 units factory in Modena. It’s a lithe, 2 seat, mid-engined commences, (approx 1,000 pa destined for coupe; I think of it as a 4/5ths scale Ferrari. Europe) the Launch Edition features, complete Perfectly proportioned, at 850kg dry (that’s half a with carbon fibre mirrors, boot spoiler and Nissan 370Z!!) its 1750cc, turbocharged, all headlamp surrounds, plus additional air ducts in aluminium engine with twin-clutch ‘box will let it fly the front wings. Two colours are available, Alfa to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds and on to a top speed Rosso or a very special Carrara Bianco, a very of around 160mph. The special limited number attractive semi-matt metallic white. Both look Launch Edition’s Interior is beautifully functional superb, the white one is the most ‘show car’ for with really superb seats, a digital tft instrument sure, but it’s hard to beat red on an Alfa Romeo. panel, multi-function DAB entertainment unit, no- 100 RHD Launch Editions are coming to the UK nonsense switches from the Giulietta, swathes of from October priced at £52,000. If you want one, carbon fibre (carpeted, unlike a Lotus Elise ), with it’s £16K deposit - quick! leather and aluminium just where you need it - and Overall, the 4C is a fantastic way of showing off Above: “Standard” version of the 4C will appear a gorgeous, tiny sports steering wheel. It’s a special the “essence of Alfa” - or as per the advertising in early 2014. Expected to be priced from around place to sit; not minimalist Lotus, not luxury cruiser material, PURE ALFA ROMEO. John £42,000 and with a very long option list. 4C - UP CLOSE ALFISTI -- April 2013 -- No. 152 AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter Elsewhere at the Geneva Motor Show After the 4C there was still plenty to see. Clever work from Martin Lindus firstly got us into the Maserati stand, then, having befriended Natasha, our host, we got onto the hallowed ground of the Ferrari stand. Martin had also secured la very nice hot lunch on the Saturday courtesy of Mercedes Benz (he’s bought a E-Class Coupe for work). ‘Blag of the Weekend’ however came via Simon who befriended the driver of our taxi who gave us contacts with Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin. This got us the other side of the barriers on the Saturday too. We were massively impressed by the quality and features of the Rolls Phantom Coupe and new Wraith in particular, the Astons generally looked terrific too, though some were in questionable colour combinations. The Maserati coupes still look terrific 6 years on, but the HUGE new Quattroporte is definitely aimed at rich Chinese businessmen; the old one’s sporty mojo has gone, hopefully to return in the new, smaller, Ghibli saloon. Ferrari. Where do you start? LaFerrari, the £1M+ 950bhp Enzo successor is breath-taking. If it was a boxing match, the McLaren P1, its prime competitor, would be knocked spark-out at the first punch. An awesome car. California, FF, 458, 458 Spider, all beautiful, but we all fell for the magnificent new F12 Berlinetta, in subtle ‘Grigio Silverstone’ with fantastic interior in sumptuous tan hide. Very special, and we can only imagine its performance from the 730bhp 6.3L V12. It’s only £239,000, before the long list of extras! All the supercars were there of course; Pagani Huayra, Lamborghini, the bonkers Gumpert Apollo (love it!); and some very special Alfas of a sorts too. Touring Superleggera had their Disco Volante based on an 8C donor they strip to bits (I’d keep my 8C), and the IED Gloria, a seriously big Berlina concept, looked very attractive in the metal (and carbon etc.) I wasn’t a big fan of it in photos, but it was mighty impressive up close. On the Alfa stand we had two MiTos in SBK trim and four Giuliettas; a Cloverleaf in 8C red with carbon add- ons was to the fore and was one of my overall favourites, especially with the optional rear ‘diffuser’ panel fitted.