ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

This is the 33rd edition of ALFA OCCIDENTALE – the electronic magazine of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division). As always, all WA Alfa Club members (and others) are keenly invited to provide contributions to future magazine editions, C/-: [email protected] The February 2020 edition of Alfa Occidentale includes the latest details concerning the club’s upcoming schedule, plus information regarding its competition, social & driving events.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 1 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

ALFA OCCIDENTALE #33 CONTENTS

Club News and Upcoming Events. Page 3 Report on AROCA WA Fish & Chip night beside the Swan, January. Page 4 Profile of AROCA WA member, John Reed. Page 7 The Berlina Aerodinamica Technica (B.A.T.) cars. Page 13 Bringing an Autodelta Alfa 105 GTA back to life. Page 18 Note from AROCA’s New National Coordinator, Peter Mathews Page 25 Latest version of the 2020 Club Calendar & regular monthly events. Page 27 Competition calendar for 2020. Page 30 AROCAWA Sunset run & Italian dinner on 4th Feb. 2020. (Last Notice). Page 31 FLC sunset run & dinner on Saturday 29th February - AROCAWA invited. Page 34 Shannons 2020 Classic Car Show at Ascot on Sunday 8th March. Page 35 Alpine Alfisti and Cuore Sportivo tours on Auto Italia, Canberra. Page 36 Auto Italia in Canberra. Page 37 Northam Festival of Motorsport & club breakfast on Sunday 5th April. Page 38 Alfesta 2020 is in Toowoomba, Queensland over Easter this year. Page 40 The Ultimate European Car Tour in May 2020. Page 41 FLC’s two oceans tour in Oct. 2020 – have you expressed your interest? Page 42 AROCA WA Treasurer’s financial report, January 2020. Page 43 AROCA WA membership renewal & new member applications. Page 44 Code 404 declaration. Page 46 The AROCA WA “Drive my Car” concessional run approval program. Page 47

AROCA WA COMMITTEE FOR 2020

Andrew Murray President/webmaster [email protected] Vacant Vice-President [email protected] Greg Smith Secretary [email protected] Eddie Bernardi* Treasurer [email protected] David Hamlyn Membership Sec [email protected] Ivan Olsen Comp. Sec/CAMS [email protected] Steve Sugden CMC representative general [email protected] Sam Calabro Gen. Cttee [email protected] Mark Pearson Gen. Cttee [email protected] Vacant Gen. Cttee [email protected]

Peter Mathews1 National Coordinator [email protected]

* We are very sorry that Stuart Bunt will be leaving the committee this February. He is moving from Perth to live near the NSW northern beaches, close to Sydney. The club is very grateful for his service as club treasurer. We wish him well at his new location and, hopefully, in him soon becoming a well-known, very active member of AROCA’s NSW Division ! Meanwhile, Eddie Bernardi has agreed to assume Stuart Bunt’s position as the WA Alfa club treasurer.

1 Peter Mathews became the new national coordinator of AROCA, from January 1, 2020.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 2 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

• The first event for 2020 was an evening club fish & chip picnic on the foreshore of the Swan River in South Perth. It was held on Tuesday 14th January. A report on that very enjoyable night is included below in this edition of Alfa Occidentale

• The next club event is a sunset coastal run and Italian dinner. It will be held as the club’s Tuesday 4th February club night. The final announcement for this event appears below in this magazine issue. Please note that you can book your dinner/drink for $23.00 per person using this Trybooking link: https://www.trybooking.com/590764 . Note do that this link will be closed from COB on Friday 31 January 2020.

• The Fiat Lancia club will hold its sunset run and dinner on Saturday February 29th. Members of AROCA WA have been invited to attend. Last year’s FLC sunset run event was a very enjoyable evening. An announcement of this event appears below in this magazine

• In March, the monthly club night will be held at the WA Light Car Club on Moojebing Street, Bayswater on Tuesday 3rd March 2020. Nembers’ visits to events at Goodwood and the Targa Florio will be presented. In addition, a second presentation regarding other European car visits may be included. Look for additional details in an email circulation during February.

• The Shannons’ Classic Car Show will be held at the Ascot racecourse on Sunday 8th March. Details for this event are shown below. 8 AROCA WA Alfas will be on display AROCA members are invited to visit and examine the approx. 1000 cars that will be on display.

• The April club night will be held very close to Easter on Tuesday 8th April. Given the date, an informal club pub night is planned for this club night. More details are still to come.

• In this magazine, you will again find an announcement for AROCA’s National Alfesta to be held in Toowoomba Queensland over the 2020 Easter long weekend. Only very few places remain for this popular Easter national AROCA event.

• There will be a club run to Northam for the Festival of Motor Sport. We will meet at the Noble Falls Tavern for breakfast before touring in convoy to Northam on Sunday 5th Aril (See annnouncement below in this issue).

• Our May club night is on Tuesday 5th May. It will be a Dyno night at Steve Boyle’s “United Injection”. More details on this event will be provided later. Meanwhile, save the date.

• In 2020, other club events for late Summer/Autumn will include: o The British car day raid to GinGin. o The Albany round the houses over the late May/early June long weekend.

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FISH & CHIP PICNIC BY THE SWAN RIVER - 14 JAN 2020

On Tuesday 14th January 2020, forty-four WA Alfa Club members met beside the Swan River in South Perth for the club’s fish & chips night evening picnic. Photographs of this event have been provided by Glen Phillips, Natasha Domansky and Greg Smith

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Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 5 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

As the evening ended, it was agreed that the fish & chips picnic had been a great club night. Sam and Maria Calabro were thanked for organizing the simultaneous arrival of so many packets of fish and chips and having everything arrive still fresh and hot. How did they do it?

Some thought that the potential for future evening picnics in pleasant locations was a very attractive proposition. What did you think? Please let committee members know your views.

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INTERVIEW WITH AROCA WA MEMBER, JOHN REED

In this article, John Reed is interviewed by Greg Smith. This profile of John continues another chapter in the incidental series that features AROCA WA’s long standing members.

John was born and brought up in rural North Devon in the South-West of England. He began his career as a marine engineer in 1975 with the Royal Navy. He then spent 15 years in the service. During that period, while serving in a variety of ships, he travelled to many parts of the world including the US and West Indies, the Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic and Indian Oceans, South China Sea and several trips into the South Atlantic

John spent his first four years in the navy at its marine engineering college in Scotland, where he met his wife Nancy. By 1982 he was serving on HMS Ardent, which, ultimately, was sunk during the Falklands War. Twenty-two of his crewmates were killed when the Ardent was bombed by the Argentinian air-force on the day of the landings in San Carlos. Britain had been determined to protect the interests of the Islanders, all of whom identified as British citizens, and to maintain its place in the South Atlantic Treaty Alliance. That UK national interest that led the British to go to war with Argentina in the Falklands, far from home. The Falklands are known in Argentina as Las Malvinas and (are still) regarded by them as rightfully Argentinian territory. The invasion by Argentina though was primarily carried out to maintain the military junta's grip on power in their country and it cost thousands of lives for no gain to either side.

Someone whose heroism was best known about from his expedition to the Antarctic peninsula in the early part of last century and then leading his men to survive a crossing to South Georgia through a South Atlantic hurricane is Ernest Shackleton, who is a hero of John’s. On a subsequent trip to the South Atlantic, John was lucky enough to visit the whaling stations on South Georgia and was able to see Shackleton’s last resting place; Shackleton having been buried there after dying during a later expedition.

After 15 years in the Navy, and by now with a wife and two young children, John decided it was time to move on and into a new stage of his life. Having renovated 2 homes already and built a new house in Cornwall, a future in building beckoned, with purchasing old cottages for renovation and then their sale being his plan. However, with the UK property market crashing in 1988/89, this idea was shelved.

After working as the plant engineer for an American filter manufacturing company and a subsequent role as engineering manager at a large entertainment complex, and the realisation that a better future for him and his family could be had elsewhere, meant that John and Nancy decided to emigrate. The only decision was where to go but, after a few coin tosses, Australia was the intended destination. A move to WA was eventually agreed on, mostly due to his interest in windsurfing - or so he claims.

In 1992, John and his family arrived in Perth. He says that it was a good time to migrate to Australia

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as his oldest son had just finished primary school, while the youngest was still only eight. John knew an old friend in Perth who had migrated from the UK to Australia a couple of years earlier. That person helped him with the move and settling in. He also assisted him to obtain his first job in WA which was a 3-month contract with the engineering department at Royal Perth Hospital, where that friend was also employed. In the end, John worked at RPH for 11 years. He believes that hospitals do have similarities to ships, with all of the engineering facilities that must be maintained for the facility’s continuing successful operation. He notes that, partly as a result, there are so many former marine engineers who have ended up involved in some role within the infrastructure of various hospitals, and with management roles in larger facilities, both in Australia and elsewhere.

Following his Royal Perth Hospital engineering experience, John’s next role was with the WA Sports Centre Trust which operates all of the state’s major sport stadia and undertakes capital works, major facilities improvements, etc. John greatly enjoyed the experiences he had with the trust and the breadth of engineering projects he found himself involved with. He was particularly pleased with the energy-saving projects he completed, e.g., geothermal heating installed at Challenge stadium.

In 2008, he moved to work for the WA Water Corporation as a commissioning manager for major projects, where he stayed until his semi-retirement about 4 years ago. He was fortunate to take advantage of a redundancy opportunity, too good to pass up at the time.

Over the years, John has made use of his renovating and building experience and has more recently involved himself in the renovation of his large 100+ year-old house in Lesmurdie. He now works for himself, trading as a general handyman, but he has specialised in carrying out complete bathroom renovations.

John and Nancy have had a long-term plan to live in Spain, at least for some part of the year. After John’s semi-retirement, they spent a month in Spain as a preparation step for that move and looked around for a house. Eventually, they bought a small house in need of renovation in the middle of a small Spanish village and they have since spent the last three years renovating this house (and that is nearing completion). Nancy and John both enjoy spending time each year in Europe and use their home in Spain as a base to travel from. They have found that the Spanish to be really warm and welcoming and a little less manic than the Italians on the roads. They find that their friends in the village there all have a great love for life. As a part of their Spanish existence, they have learnt enough Spanish to become very communicative. John mentions that during the part of the year they are back in Lesmurdie, they are able to keep up a relationship with their new Spanish village neighbours on Facebook.

On one European trip, they were visiting the Monaco GP Historique with some old friends from Cornwall, as well as a life member of AROCA now living in the UK, Andrew Stevens and his wife Kelly. While there, they ran into Paul Blank’s European tour group and all had dinner together. On that same trip, they also ran into Sam and Maria Calabro at Monaco and then arranged to meet with them again while in Rome.

John’s automotive interests were encouraged by his Dad, an electrical engineer who also owned shares in BRM, a UK company that had built an H16 (i.e. an H design of 16 cylinders) engine for auto racing (but which was not so reliable). His interest in Italian cars was initially driven by the location of his house in the UK. As a young teen he lived opposite a pub at which one particular young and very enthusiastic car driver, the owner of a Lancia Fulvia, would stop by for a beer or two on his way

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home, at about 5pm every night, before driving off again very audibly at high speed along the country lanes.

Around then, John’s interest was more aligned with riding motorbikes - of which he has owned many. However, on arrival in Western Australia, Nancy noted the poorer quality of West Australian drivers’ capabilities and decided that WA roads might be too dangerous for John to continue to ride a motorcycle. Thus, John’s first car in WA was soon bought. It was a 1967 Giulia Sprint, which he renovated and then also occasionally raced. Previously, in Cornwall, John had also raced with friends, but then he was driving in a Sunbeam Stilletto sprint that he raced on airfields.

After a while, John sold that first Alfa Giulia Sprint. He replaced it with a 1966 Giulia Sprint that, very interestingly, he is re-doing again now. (More on that later). He had bought the Giulia Sprint in 1995 and, soon after, had put it through a first restoration which only took him 12 months. Despite winning the Club Show and Shine with the car in 1997 and '98, and only 18 months after completing the renovation, he sold that car. John says that he did this because he became just too precious about his restored vehicle.

John then bought a Giulia Super from Andrew Murray via Rod Quinn in a complicated transaction. Rod had run it in classic rallies. When the Giulia first arrived in John’s garage, it was a little care-worn, although Rod had made a lot of improvements to it. These included a turbocharged 2 litre engine for more competitive rallying. However, that was no longer installed. John had the car for 11 years and enjoyed entering it in a variety of competitive events, including the one and only round the houses event at Joondalup.

In 2004, starting with a car that John “rescued” from a chook shed that John Schoen used to house part of his collection of weary cars in Pickering Brook, John had the basis for a project that had been on his mind for a number of years. His intention was to build his own 105 GTA replica. That starting point was a rusting half shell which had been changed over time with various body modifications. This time, the conversion to the GTA replica took him five years of rebuilding. Prior to commencing the GTA replica conversion, he was also constructing a Westfield 7, together with Stuart Bunt. Although with the purchase of the GTA replica project car, John exited that joint endeavour and the Westfield has never quite been finished. Stuart Bunt still has it and he will take the Westfield with him

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when he moves to NSW this February.

As mentioned, John bought his first Alfa in Perth soon after his arrival in WA in 1992. Thereafter, he joined AROCA WA, shortly after the club had run its first Alfesta in Fremantle, earlier that same year. He has also owned a series 2 V6 156 manual and a one-owner 1970 Giulia 1300Ti that he restored after it had been neglected for 16 years. On the motorbike front he has more recently owned a Ducati 900SS and an Aprilia RSV1000. Both bikes are great Italian machines.

John says that his interest in Alfa Romeos has gradually evolved since his transition from motorbikes. The Alfa was Italian (as had been the noisy Lancia Fulvia in the UK that first enticed him towards Italian cars). In addition, the Alfas are reasonably affordable, and they have proven to be a lot of fun once refurbished to John’s requirements.

Although John was not initially planning involvement in competition events, he was introduced to Tony Morton, whose kids went to the same school as did John’s. Tony, who owned a hot BMW, had got into racing at Wanneroo. With Tony’s encouragement, the first Alfa was driven at Wanneroo and run around the track on weekends in the Combined Car Clubs Sports Register events. However, with the sale of that car and the commencement of John’s first restoration of the '66 Giulia Sprint, he dropped out of the competitive events until later purchasing the Giulia Super in 1999. There was then a further hiatus until the GTA replica was completed in 2009,

During this period of track racing hiatus though, he became co-driver for Nick Rahimtulla on tarmac rallies. Nick and John went on rallies together over a number of years, until a last run at the Adelaide rally about a year ago. The highlight was their class win in Adelaide in 2015.

At John’s property at Lesmurdie, as well as his weatherboard house built in 1916, John has a well laid out big green shed in which he keeps his cars and has the facilities for a lot of the engineering work that he has undertaken over the years.

As well as his GTA replica, the shed also houses his 1983 GTV 6 and the 1966 Giulia Sprint that has returned to his ownership.

He repurchased the Giulia Sprint in 2016, 18 years after selling it, not that long after he had completed restoration #1 on it. The car had been written off in a severe hailstorm in 2010 and its then owner had started restoration work, but he had lost momentum. John had previously met the then owner at an Italian Car Day just prior to the storm. At that time, he had asked to get first option should that owner ever wish to sell.

Since the Giulia Sprint’s arrival at the shed, he has completely stripped the car again. As it came apart, he found many of the little things, markings, etc., that he had made on the car’s body and other parts the last time he restored it. He found it fascinating that he could recognise his own handiwork from his earlier restoration. The car was still in solid basic condition and apart from the replacement of its

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original 1600 engine with a later 2 litre engine, it was entirely original. Incidentally, thanks to some "horse trading" with another AROCA member, he now has an early 1600 back in the car.

This Giulia Sprint GT is John’s favourite Alfa of those he has owned. The end of his second renovation of that car is nearing, as you can see in adjacent photos. The car will be back on the road in 2020. It will be great to see this car in action again with John driving it.

John had also owned an Alfa 90 for a while which had been tricked up a little. He holds the Alfa 90 model in high regard, though it hasn’t become that popular as a platform for restoration or long-term ownership. Eventually, John sold the Alfa 90 to Bob Pride, an ex AROCA WA president, who wanted the car for his son. John is not sure of that Alfa 90’s current status, but he is aware that John Schoen has two other Alfa 90s currently resting in the chook sheds.

Among the other car marques that John Reed has owned, there have been some Audis and BMWs, all used more for driving and commuting than for sports. Additionally, Nancy does like French cars and she has owned a number of them.

The Reeds have had a long involvement with AROCA WA. Since joining in 2002, they have remained AROCA WA members for 27 years. John had a stint on the club committee from the late 1990s until the early 2000s. John and Nancy (she acting as club secretary) were also more recently again on the AROCA WA committee until their part-time relocation to Europe and the new commitment to the home renovation in Spain. John remains a very well-known member of AROCA WA and a regular attendee at Alfa club events, whenever he is resident in Western Australia.

When asked what he looks for from a car club, he points out that the most important thing is the social and competitive event opportunities that come up with people of like mind, together with the cameraderie and friendships that gradually develop and deepen over time. There is also the access to a network of automotive (and particularly Alfa) knowledge, should it be needed.

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John recognises that he has probably become one of the people who now can help others significantly with Alfa matters, although, in earlier times, John was very grateful to be aided by many other long term AROCA WA members.

Thinking about his greatest highlights as an auto enthusiast, John cites attending the Monaco GP Historique in 2015, which he found to be a fabulous weekend.

Additionally, while he was doing the club’s concessional license inspections, John was able to drive or be a passenger in a number of very special cars. He once was offered a lift back to Melbourne from the Phillip Island historics in Bob King’s magnificent Bugatti, which John also got to work on. He remembers some other wonderful rides in Rod Quinn’s RL Targa Florio and in Stuart Murdoch’s Castagna-bodied 1750 6C (dating from the early 1930s).

I asked John what his Alfa pipedream was. He responded that the world championship Alfetta 158 is something he would love to be able to drive. He recalls that he had a great day at the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo in Arese, where a permanent collection of Alfa Romeo cars and engines is displayed, including John’s pipedream car.

John thought again about this pipedream and considered that a more achievable ambition might be to drive at the Phillip Island historic races one year in his own GTA replica. The regularity event is something he could enter at Phillip Island and John has got this car down to the proper low 105 GTA weight.

In closing, John was asked about the other hobbies and interests that he sometimes finds time for. Cycling features in John’s weekends with his riding friends, which he does enjoy a lot. While at the sports centre trust, John also used to ride between his office and home; i.e., to and from Perth up into the hills. He also does a lot of mountain biking. Thus, one corner of the big green shed is not part of his car workshop. Instead, it is set aside for bicycles.

His other interests include water colour painting, the ongoing house renovation in Spain, and Nancy’s and his ongoing travel plans.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 12 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

THE BERLINA AERODINAMICA TECNICAS. PART 2: B.A.T. 5

This second article on the B.A.T. series of prototypical concept cars focusses on the B.A. T. 5. This article is editd from a series written about all three of the B.A.T. cars. These articles were first presented in the December 2019 issue of VeloceToday.com. Photos are by Jonathan Sharp, with the original text written by Peter Vack.

The display of the three B.A.T. Alfas, which was held at the Phillips Auction House in Berkeley Square, London was only displayed for four days from November 20-23, 2019.

The first of the B.A.T.s, the B.A.T. 5, was perhaps the most celebrated; gaining notice in magazines across the western hemisphere. But, was it actually the first? Rick Carey, writing in VeloceToday, thinks that the Packard-Abarth Bertone might have been B.A.T. 1. Nevertheless, B.A.T. 5 was shown first in April of 1953 at Turin.

In the Nov. 1953 issue of the U.S.-based magazine, CARS, an article entitled “Tail Fins will be Worn” by Gordon Wilkins, featured two photos of the Bertone Alfa. “In Italy, two sensational new tail fin designs stole the show at Turin’s auto exhibition.

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One was the Pegaso V8 chassis and the other was by Bertone of the 1900 Sprint Alfa. The fins are slotted, recalling Kamm’s experiments at Stuttgart, and sweep up to the full height of the roof. Just how long it will take is uncertain, but there seems to be now question that in automotive styling of the future, tail fins will definitely be worn.” Wilkins didn’t know just how right he would be, given the Cadillacs and Chryslers that appeared later in the same decade.

The foremost U.S. authority on foreign and sports cars in 1953 was Road & Track. It featured the B.A.T. 5, as had been seen at Turin, in its August issue with photos by Corrado Millanta. The caption read, “Four views of the greatest attraction at the show—the Bertone bodied B.A.T. on an Alfa Romeo 1900. High fins on rear fenders aid directional stability at speed. The rear treatment is functional but grotesque.”

We might think they would have put it as “grotesque but functional” but that’s the fun thing about going back to original comments about the cars.

Meanwhile, at Cadillac, the designers were very well aware of the B.A.T.s. In 1957 and 1958, Cadillac Eldorados sported the now infamous ‘Chipmunk cheek” rear fenders, with sharp fins atop a rounded fender. The man responsible for that design was Ron Hill, who recalled that “Management encouraged us to go far out with the dramatic concepts … we paid a lot of attention to Alfa Romeo’s B.A.T. series of cars and the Abarths and Bristols running at Le Mans.” (Automobile Quarterly, V16-4).

After its Turin debut, B.A.T. 5 was quickly hustled off to the United States, where, according to a 1989 letter from G.B. Panicco at Bertone, it was sold to Mr. S.H. Arnolt on October 1st, 1953 for the price of $7,650. Later, it was loaned to Herb Shriner and shown at the New York Motor Sports Show in February of 1954. There it was photographed by Robert Pauley, a Chrysler employee who worked with a good camera and Kodachrome film. While now in the digital age, the images do not seem to be the greatest, but given the crowds, the location, lighting, and the use of only 10 ASA speed film, it was fortunate that they turned out at all. In one photo, you can see the $2500 price tag.

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The B.A.T. 5 was also shown at the Ford Sports Car show in January of 1955.

Arnolt had driven 7,000 miles in the B.A.T. 5 before selling it on to Joe Prysak, who then hung it from his rafters until he finally sold it in 1987. From there, it passed through a number of other owners before eventually ending up with the Blackhawk Museum in California.

Thanks to Jim Sitz, we found that car in 1994, Strother MacMinn wrote an article about Franco Scaglione (Automobile Quarterly, V33- 3) and tracked the history of each of the B.A.T.s to that time.

In addition, MacMinn translated Scaglione’s original dissertation on the aerodynamics of B.A.T. 5 from the October 9, 1954 of Auto Italiana.

After making a few sketches, working with Ezio Cingolani, who was responsible for fabrication, Franco Scaglione developed a full-size model, watched daily by Nuccio Bertone.

“The entry form must give a smooth penetration,” wrote Scaglione in an article for Auto Italiana in 1954 about designing the B.A.T. Headlights, signal lights, bumpers, all but disappeared.

Despite being a concept car, B.A.T. 5 was driven by S.H. Arnolt for over 7000 miles, although rear visibility was probably limited!

The headlights hid behind covers which opened sideways, unlike the Cord or Ferrari 308s. The air flow to the radiator was limited to exactly what was required. Not always noticed is the enormous relative length of the two rear windows, almost half the length of the car itself,

Noticeable in particular at the Philipps Exhibition, is the placement of the exhaust pipe (see first photo in this article), which is seemingly out of sync with the aerodynamic style and certainly begs to be hidden. However, when looking at photos of the car at Turin in 1953, no sign of a tailpipe can be seen. Interesting!

Some have often wondered about the various side vents and their purposes. Quoting from AQ: “Curved vanes to reduce wheelhouse turbulence hide behind the front fender skirts.” The complete curved vanes cannot be seen unless the fender skirt is removed.”

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Thoughts on Scaglione’s Legacy from Strother MacMinn

About 45 years ago, the Pebble Beach Restoration expert Mark Arizona and Strother MacMinn spoke during lunch. MacMinn talked with Arizona about a “what if” scenario and how the world of automotive design might have evolved in the event that Franco Scaglione hadn’t joined the Bertone firm.

1. Without Franco Scaglione, the S.H. “Wacky” Arnolt projects that kept Bertone financially alive may not have happened. 2. The publicity of the first B.A.T. 5 gave Bertone the chance to compete for the Giulietta (and for other Alfa Romeo contracts) which kept his Turin design company alive as a coachbuilder. 3. Without the Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica cars series, Scaglione would not have created the ATS 2500 or the Alfa 33 Stradale that became the configuration for supercars for decades. 4. Without Bertone getting the contracts because of his decision to hire Scaglione, perhaps Giorgetto Giugiaro would have been hired in the industry by someone like Pininfarina instead of Bertone? Look at what Giugiaro designed at Bertone and also later.

It should be remembered that Harley Earl, William Mitchell’s boss at GM, was very impressed after seeing the Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica car at Turin. Although he didn’t copy the design, he did he use it as inspiration to push the “tail fin” of his 1959 Cadillac to an exaggerated height because he had seen Franco Scaglione do it and he recognised the “futurism” and “aerodynamic design” that was portrayed in doing so.

From: Bertone Sender: G.B. Panicco Receiver: Strother MacMinn Date: November 24, 1989 Subject: B.A.T. cars

Dear Mr. MacMinn,

Thanks for your fax of November 14, 1989.

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance has been a very important event for us and we thank you again for the unique chance you have given us.

Coming to the specific questions you have asked about the B.A.T.s, I must unfortunately say that no historical documents remain available with Bertone. The answers you will find below have come from memories, talks, and so on, that were held with Nuccio Bertone himself.

1. The idea for the B.A.T. production was entirely conceived by Bertone. There was no cooperation with Alfa Romeo in the project. The main philosophy of the B.A.T. cars in Bertone’s mind was to explore the ultimate possibility of advanced design. The choice of the Alfa Romeo engine and chassis was the consequence of other important work that had been given in those days by Alfa Romeo to Bertone.

2. As previously mentioned, there was no financial cooperation with Alfa Romeo. Bertone bought the necessary chassis and then just informed Alfa Romeo regarding the idea of using those chassis as the basic mechanical layout for a future show car with no plan for its later production. No tests were

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executed by Alfa Romeo because their experimental department was too busy and was too much engaged in other projects at that time.

3. The design of the B.A.T. cars came out straight away. The design project was the very immediate expression of the first idea generated. The design theme was developed with the cooperation of Franco Scaglione and with the great and unique craftsmanship of Ezio Cingolani who was responsible of the project development and manufacturing.

4/5. The B.A.T. 5 model was made directly in full size with very few sketches and with most of the work being directly done at the modelling stage by Franco Scaglione and continuously reviewed by Nuccio Bertone himself. The same happened for B.A.T. 7 and B.A.T. 9. The previous experience of B.A.T. 5 made the manufacturing of B.A.T. 7 and B.A.T. 9 easier and faster. You have to keep in mind that the three cars were all 100% hand-made. At that time, no wind tunnel tests were executed. In order to obtain some aerodynamic information, we used the system of fitting onto the outside body some wool threads. The cars were then driven on the road at different speeds and photographs showed the aerodynamic movements of the wool threads.

In our files, we discovered that only the B.A.T. 5 was sold to Mr. Arnolt. The car was delivered on October 1st, 1953 at the price of US$ 7,650. The B.A.T. 7 was sold on January 13, 1955 to Alfa Romeo for Italian lira 3,850,000. We have no records about the sale of B.A.T. 9D. Even better, in Bertone’s files, the car is still registered as Bertone property!

The sales price of B.A.T. cars was not aimed to recover the cost of the cars, but mainly to “get rid” of them. In fact, for years the strategy of many Italian design companies, including Bertone, was to show the car and then immediately to sell it due to lack of storage space.

Sorry for not having more information about B.A.T. cars. I hope this information will reach you in time.

Kindest Regards,

G.B. Panicco

Adjacent: The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray XP-87 concept car of 1959, designed by Bill Mitchell’s team at GM, after seeing the B.A.T. cars at the 1955 Turin auto-show.

Below: Robust tail fins seen on the 1959 Cadillac.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 17 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

BRINGING AN AUTODELTA ALFA 105 GTA BACK TO LIFE

By Colin Wilson-Brown of AROCA NSW, written December 2019

This article will first appear in print in the March 2020 edition of the AROCA NSW magazine, “Amatori Alfi. Meanwhile, it is electronically published here by permission of the editor of Amatori Alfi.

I have been lucky enough to own some great sporting cars and, over the years, Alfa Romeo has been my favourite: I have owned six. I love the history of the marque, and the great shape of the exotically named Giulietta and Giulia of the 1960s. Twenty-five years ago, I decided to take up motor racing in a 1970 Alfa 1750 GTV. I had this car totally rebuilt by Tim Doyle of Zoo Autocraft, and Mick Mitchell of Corse Automotive Services; both of whom became lifelong friends. Since then I have competed with it in over 400 races and at three tarmac rallies.

In 2014, I decided to undertake another restoration and I wanted this one to be a rare car with some history that I could bring back to life. Indulging my affection for 105 series Alfas seemed a good idea. Restoring a GTA would be a dream come true and I knew the best guys in Australia to help me with this: Tim Doyle, Mick Mitchell and Vin Sharp of Pace Engineering. I wanted it to be a track car as I didn’t fancy the cost of insurance on the roads of Sydney.

The 105 series Giulia coupe was designed as a road car in 1964. Under the direction of the legendary Carlo Chiti, Autodelta (the racing division of Alfa) developed a car for competition that closely resembled the roadgoing model. These cars were named GTA, the 'A' standing for ‘alleggerita’, Italian for ‘lightened’. The GTA was produced first in 1965 as a 1600 Sprint (1570 cc), and then in 1968 as a 1300 Junior (1290cc) version. GTAs were manufactured in either street (stradale) or pure race (corsa) trim. 1,000 had to be built for homologation and approximately 500 Sprints and 450 Juniors were built, of which less than half were corsa spec. All cars were built in the Alfa Romeo factory at Arese and, for a considerable price premium, clients could have their car race prepared by Autodelta.

The outer body skin of the GTA was made of, instead of steel, Peraluman 25, a light aluminium alloy, containing magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc. The inner steel panels were also of thinner gauge with the inner and outer panels bonded and pop-riveted together. It had magnesium alloy wheels, clear plastic side windows, an aluminium rear upper control arm, lightweight door handles and quarter window mechanisms, with lightweight interior trim.

The engine had a new double ignition, ‘twin plug’ cylinder head, high compression pistons, high-lift cams, lightened flywheel, a Magneti Marelli distributor, 45 mm carbies instead of 40 mm, and magnesium camshaft cover, sump, timing cover and bell housing. A limited slip diff was standard and

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a special sliding-block rear axle locating system could be specified. The 1300 had a short-stroke, oversquare version of the GTA 1600 engine. Power output was 170 hp for the 1600 and 140 hp for the 1300. Weight was around 750 kg.

The GTA 1600 had numerous race victories in Europe, winning the European Touring Car Championship in 1966, 1967 and 1969; while, in America, it won the Trans Am ‘B Sedan’ Championship in 1966 (driven by Aussie, Horst Kweck, who died recently). However, competition in the 2-litre class from BMW and Porsche led to development of the GTA 1300 Junior (1290cc) which, it was hoped, would have success in the smaller class; and so it did; winning the European Touring Car Championship in 1971 and 1972 and the US SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) ‘C Sedan’ championship in 1969 and 1971.

Now, to find a car! I spoke with Tim and Vin, both of whom own unrestored GTA projects, but neither were for sale. I also discussed the idea with Steve Byrnes who owns and races a GTA 1600 Sprint with a great Australian pedigree, raced successfully in period by Frank Gardner, Kevin Bartlett, John French and Brian Foley. I also followed the international market, searching for a restoration project.

Then, an eagle-eyed friend, Vaughan Stibbard, sent me a link to an ad on ebay for a 1968 unrestored GTA Junior Corsa for sale in New York state. The ad was accompanied by dozens of photos and said, “What you see is what you get.” Restoration had begun, and the car had a complete body on wheels. There were some original parts, such as two blocks, one of which was un-numbered and unused, and the special sliding block axle locating system. There were plenty of parts missing though.

I had Tim Doyle inspect the photos, and he was confident that this was an original GTA (many advertised are not so). It came with original SCCA logbooks detailing its race history in America and it was referenced in the GTA bible, Alleggerita. Allerggerita is a remarkable set of three books, compiled by enthusiasts, which detail the history of the GTA. I managed to purchase a new copy for $600: a bargain I was told.

I bought the car sight-unseen and arranged for it to be shipped to Sydney and I eventually collected it in my trailer on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Timing!!!

While I was waiting for the car, I studied its history from data provided to me by Martin Uebelher, co-author of Alleggerita. Car no #775511 was built in May, 1968, at Alfa Romeo’s Arese factory, and prepared by Autodelta to race spec with the sliding block. It is one of only five GTA Juniors shipped from Autodelta directly to Alfa Romeo in the USA.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 19 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

Among the information I received was a hand-written note from Alfa Romeo America’s Don Black, who managed Alfa’s US racing activities during his evenings and weekends. Black’s records said it was sold in January, 1969, to a New Jersey exotic car dealer, Tom O’Brien. I successfully contacted Tom, who confessed that his memory was hazy, but he did not think he ever bought or sold a GTA. He also said that it might have gone through his books, as Alfa Romeo was not allowed to sell directly to customers.

With the help of my genealogist wife, Susie, we then tracked down the five drivers listed in the SCCA logbooks and corresponded with them, adding to the history file and securing some photos. SCCA first issued logbooks in 1972 and there was no record of the first owner. I was keen to plug this gap in its history. One of the car’s owners, Jerry Wannarka (a former President of the SCCA), told me that he thought that the first owner came from Des Moines, Iowa.

From further googling of old race results, I found that a GTA Junior had been raced in 1969 by Gene Strandberg of Des Moines. Wannarka said, “Yes, I’m pretty sure he was the original owner”. So I asked the second owner, Bob Henson, from whom he bought the car. Not surprisingly he also had a rusty memory. He said, “I think it was Strandberg. I had a red GTA that was involved in a trailer accident and I bought Strandberg’s white car.” I was still keen to have confirmation of this important gap in the car’s history, but I was unable to locate Strandberg.

Eureka! Four years later I received a note from Gene Strandberg on the Alfa Bulletin Board responding to a posting from me, and he confirmed that he was the first owner. He had paid US$ 5,800 for the car, race-ready and delivered to Newark!

He told me that Alfa Romeo had wanted him to enter it in the 1969 Sebring 12-hour and the Daytona 24 hour races, but, “To my eternal regret, I was short of time and money.” He did, however, race it successfully, finishing 2nd in the SCCA Midwest division in 1969 and 1970. Strandberg sent me his race history with the car, together with some photos.

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The car was eventually raced at over 50 SCCA meetings between 1968 and 1980, at tracks including Road America (Elkhart Lake), Road Atlanta, Daytona, Indianapolis, Mid-Ohio, Bridgehampton, Summit Point, Mid-America (Wentzville), Brainerd (Donnybrooke), Phoenix, Nelson Ledges, Blackhawk Farms, Lake Afton and at Virginia International Raceway.

The car competed three times at the SCCA National ‘Run Offs’ – the American Road Race of Champions. Strandberg was 10th in this event at Daytona in 1969, while Bob Henson was 4th at Road Atlanta in 1971, and Jerry Wannarka was 7th at Road Atlanta in 1974.

After an accident at Indianapolis in 1980, and one final outing at Elkhart Lake, its racing career was concluded and the car was acquired by collector John Murphy (of Alfa Legends). Murphy’s collection went to auction in Atlanta in 2004 and #775511 was acquired by ‘Judge’ Parker of Richmond, Virginia, who then commenced a restoration. In 2013, Parker sold the partially assembled car and parts to New York classic car dealer, Daniel Rapley, from whom I bought it. Other cars and GTA parts from that auction were acquired by Tim Doyle and Steve Byrnes and shipped to Australia.

By an amazing stroke of good fortune, it transpired that the original block for my car was in Tim Doyle’s shed, it being one of the items he had acquired from Murphy’s collection. My car had been sold to another guy at that auction in 2004, but it had been separated from its original engine. Tim and I agreed to swap engines, although the original had been cracked and repaired. I now had a matching numbers car, even though I planned to build a new engine using the un-numbered unused block, as the original was too valuable to risk further damage.

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That was the good news; then came the bad news. Tim advised that some parts had suffered water damage during shipment. But the biggest disappointment was when he put the car on his 105 jig and pronounced that it had a twisted front cross member - and that, without replacing it, he would not be able to build a straight car. He also advised that the rear guards had to be replaced with new copies from Classic Alfa in England.

Tim had to cut off the front of the car and remove the guards, which revealed some poor workmanship. All the restoration work that had been done previously had to be undone, as we both wanted the car to be as good as when it first left Autodelta – and as original as we could get it. We recognised that some replica parts would have to be used, although preference was given to sourcing original parts whenever possible.

While Tim started work, the engine parts were sent to Vin Sharp in Melbourne, and he measured and ordered valves, pistons, camshafts, crankshaft and other engine components. He also provided a new replica GTA close ratio gearbox, with original Autodelta ratios. Meanwhile, Mick Mitchell had the radiator, suspension and axle components restored. Tim is painstakingly meticulous in his work and, along with Vin Sharp, their knowledge of the GTA is unmatched in Australia. The body came apart pretty swiftly, but it was put back together slowly. I didn’t mind this as the project was the purpose. I was not in a rush and I had no specific deadline or immediate plans for the finished car.

Tim and Vin inspected all the parts and made an inventory of what was re-useable, what was missing and where we could source missing parts. We had to find a Magneti Marelli dizzy, unique to the 1300 GTA, and a magnesium middle sump. Vin found an original magnesium cam cover in Europe. Vin had a mould for the fibreglass race seats so I had a pair made. With Google’s help I sourced a replica steering wheel shroud in Slovenia, and a missing speedo from Quebec, which we didn’t use in the end as Steve Byrnes had a complete spare set of original instruments. Other parts came from Classic Alfa, Alfaholics and OKP. As the car will be used on the track, I thought a good roll cage would be important as the alloy body doesn’t provide much more protection than would cardboard. Through Alfaholics, we purchased an FIA approved kit from Custom Cages in UK for a welded-in cage. This was quite a process as Tim had to send a sample of his welding for approval and then photographs of the finished job, trial fitted, in

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 22 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

order to obtain the FIA approval certificate. It was as though he was sitting welding exams, which Tim was relieved to pass. It is a super neat cage. By December 2016, the body was ready for painting in its original Bianco Spino AR013 (Hawthorn White). Tim opted for local custom car painters, AA Panelcraft, who did a lovely job at a fair price. GTAs only came in red or white, although most of them were, or are now, red. However, it was originally white (and my 1750 is red), so that choice was easy. There is not a great deal of trim in a race car and cockpit references are hard to find. However, Tim had a pretty good idea of how it should be, and Sydney trimmer, Steve Busitill, made the panels using the correct skai vinyl from Classic Alfa. Tim fitted the headlining – again, with the correct material from Classic Alfa. It was a tight fit behind the snug fitting roll cage.

Due to a hold-up with the crankshaft, the engine build was lagging. An original crankshaft had been crack-tested and refurbished, but Mick was not happy with it – and rightly so, as a hairline crack was found. Although it could have been repaired, we had a new crank built from the original pattern that

Vin Sharp fortunately had. That process took three months. Almost every engine component in a 1300cc GTA engine is different from the 1600 GTA and the 1300 GT Junior.

Dummy assembly of the engine showed that the valves would kiss the pistons. The piston shape allows very little tolerance and compression had to be sacrificed to ensure that the engine could be revved freely - allegedly to 9,000 rpm. The pistons were thus sent back to Special Piston Services in Victoria for further machining.

Meanwhile, Mick Mitchell and his team were sourcing, restoring, fabricating and assembling all the other mechanical components. They were painstakingly thorough as we wanted the car to be as close as possible to when it left Autodelta. Both Mick and Tim have done an amazing job with extraordinary attention to detail.

The engine was sent up to Kim Baker in Orange to tune on his dyno. It develops 140 bhp at 7700 rpm, with torque of 91 lbs/ft. This is similar to the original Autodelta cars. However, the car weighs 800 kg, which is slightly more than the original - mostly because of the roll cage, hidden muffler and alloy wheels instead of mags.

One of the many challenges was to quieten the car to comply with track noise limits, while still using the correct side exhaust.

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The Corse Automotive boys came up with a clever solution whereby a hand-built muffler runs laterally underneath the car – this is another work of art!

The car was finished in November 2019, just in time for the 2019 AROCA Concorso. It returned to the track later that month at the HSRCA’s Summer Festival at Sydney Motor Sport Park, presented in the livery in which the car had first raced 50 years earlier. True to the HSRCA motto “as it was, it shall be”. I ran it on the correct Dunlop CR65 cross-ply tyres in Regularity,

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 24 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

alongside Steve Byrnes’ GTA 1600 Sprint. The car ran faultlessly and, despite it being somewhat slower than my 1750 GTV, I had a heap of fun.

FROM AROCA’S NEW NATIONAL COORDINATOR - PETER MATHEWS

Dear Fellow Alfisti,

A very Happy New Year to you all. I trust that you have had a relaxing and safe festive season. To all our Alfisti in the country areas who may have been impacted by the fires - our thoughts are very much with you at this time.

Firstly, it is my great pleasure to thank Victor Lee for all his hard work, mentoring and guidance as AROCA’s National Coordinator over the last 13 years. His are very large boots to fill! I have very much enjoyed Victor’s friendship and assistance over the last ten years. I look forward to taking on the role and continuing his excellent work. It is my intention to try and work my way around each of the Divisions over the next couple of years or so and meet with as many members as I can. I want to understand how I can value add to what each of the Divisions are achieving and planning for the next couple of years.

The first chance we will have to meet will be at Alfesta this April in Toowoomba, Queensland. I look forward to holding an informal get together on Easter Sunday with a representative from each State, hopefully the President, but in their absence, a Committee Member or member of the State Club. This will enable us to address any issues relevant at a national level and to decide on the Spirit of Alfesta award for Alfesta 2020.

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Please note that I am now operating from the new National Coordinator website which is accessible from https://www.alfaclub.org.au/. I will set up a distribution list that is similar to the list used for this message, and I thought it would be good to include each Division Secretary as well.

I invite you to share your thoughts with me on any issues that you think I may be able to address for you at the national level. Feel free to call me on 0408 456 632 to have a chat, or you can e-mail on the email address shown below. In the meantime, best wishes to you all. I look forward to our ongoing contact.

Ciao,

Peter Mathews AROCA National Coordinator Mobile: 0408 456 632 Email: [email protected]

The Alfetta 159, that had been driven by Juan Fangio to win the 1950 F1 world championship, made a very welcome visit to Phillip Island for the historic races and to be shown at Alfesta 2010 during the 100th anniversary year of Alfa Romeo.

It is seen here at an Alfa Romeo exhibition that took place in the park on Lygon Street, Carlton and is seen together with several other significant pre-war racing Alfas owned by AROCA VIC members. (Photo courtesy of Leon Cottle.)

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 26 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

CURRENT VERSION OF AROCA WA’S 2020 CLUB CALENDAR

EVENT EVENT DATE COORDINATOR COMMENTS

Fish & Chip night - Tuesday 14th Sam Calabro Event details are provided beside the Swan River January 2020 below in South Perth AROCA club night - Tuesday 4th Greg Smith & Event details are provided sunset coastal run and February 2020 Richard Peirce below dinner Barbagallo Twilight 15th February Porsche club See Sprint 2020 http://www.porscheclubwa.org.au/ FLC sunset run Saturday 29th Rob Rowbotham, WA members invited to attend. February FLC See announcement below. March AROCA club 1st Tuesday in Andrew Murray Presentations on European car night at WA light car March related visits with pizza, beer club, Bayswater and wine. Shannons Classic car Sunday 8th Greg Smith Announcement shown below Show, Ascot. About March 2020 1000 cars, with 8 Alfas on display Midvale speed dome Sunday 8th TSOA See: https://tsoa-wa.com/events/ March 2020 Cuore Sportivo and 25th – 28th Clyde Hay and/or See notice below. Booking Alpine Alfisti runs to March, 2020 Peter Atkinson. details in attachment from Melbourne to (All details in Canberra attachment to this issue.) Auto Italia Canberra, Sunday 29th Book tickets See brochure below Exhibition Park ACT. March, 2020 directly through Auto Italia Alfesta Toowoomba Easter 2020 Nearly booked out. Some WA members attending. Mount Ommanney Saturday 4th VSCCWA See: www.vsccwa.com.au April 2020 Club run to Northam Sunday 5th April, Greg Smith. 1st Club breakfast at Noble Falls Motor Sport Festival, 2020 announcement Tavern at 10:00 on Sunday 5th via Noble Falls Tavern. below. April Northam Flying Fifty Sunday 5th April, VSCCWA See: www.vsccwa.com.au 2020 British car day raid to Mid-May 2020 TBD GinGin Point-to-point Sunday 23rd WA Sporting car May 2020 club

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Mount Clarence Hill Saturday 30th VSCCWA See: www.vsccwa.com.au Climb May 2020 Albany round the Sunday 31st May VSCCWA See: www.vsccwa.com.au houses 2020 Albany motor sport 30th May – 1st Andrew Murray Sunday night dinner in Albany long weekend June 2020 for attendees. Club birthday dinner Late June, 2020 Greg Smith Location TBD for 2020. Announcement to come Weekend run Date TBD but, TBD ideally, it will be near end of June 2020 Wildflower run Late August or TBD Timing is important for this weekend early September event. AROCA WA AGM First Tuesday in Andrew Murray Light car club, Bayswater September Port Dennison Sprint 27th September TSOA https://tsoa-wa.com/events/ 2020 Two Oceans run Late October Rob Rowbotham, Invited to join the FLC‘s tour Fiat Lancia Club Rotary Italian Car Day Sunday 1st Andrew Murray November Annual Pasta Run Sunday mid to TBD late November Vintage Stampede 6th December VSCCWA See: www.vsccwa.com.au 2020 Annual Christmas Early December TBD lunch TO BE ANNOUNCED : 1st Tuesday events TBD Club night events each month in 2020 in development Other club runs or TBD TBD Seeking volunteers EMRs

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 28 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

AROCA WA REGULAR MONTHLY CLUB EVENTS CONTINUE

• Classic Cars & Coffee is held at the University of Western Australia, but do note that it is moving to the UWA Business School Carpark, which is further down Hackett Drive, Crawley. It runs on Sundays from 08:30 until 10:30, but the scheduled date varies from month-to- month. The next meeting will be held on Sunday 16th February. The following Sunday meetings are scheduled for 15 March, 19 April, 17 May and 28 June (Note that the last one to run from 09:30 until 11:30). Check https://www.classiccarsandcoffee.com for details.

• Most months, the AROCA WA club night is held on the first Tuesday of the month. Look for details of upcoming meetings in emailed club announcements and in Alfa Occidentale issues. Note that the annual September meeting is always the month of the club’s AGM.

3 RD SUNDAY INFORMAL RUNS CONTINUE

DATE: Every third Sunday of the month TIME: 09:30am for coffee with a 10:00am tour departure STARTING POINT: Boatshed café, South Perth. See: https://goo.gl/maps/KVSxLuP4Atx

Since the April 2018 informal run, the club has used only one starting point for all participants. Every Alfa club 3rd Sunday informal run starts from the South Perth foreshore at 10:00AM. Park in the car park on Coode Street, near to the Boatshed café and the water ramp in the park. Arrive early and enjoy coffee at the café before departure.

These informal trips depart soon after 10:00am. The run can commence once a participating member (or members) decide to depart from the starting point. Note that individuals or informal groups can do this as soon as they like after 10:00. This event is another regularly scheduled AROCA WA event and so it is a great opportunity for club members with concessionally registered cars to take their vehicles out for a run. Note any of these 3rd Sunday runs may involve only one individual vehicle.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 29 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

AROCA WA COMPETITION CALENDAR 2020

2020 Event Organiser Website 15 February Barbagallo Twilight Porsche Club http://www.porscheclubwa.org.au/ Sprint 8 March Midvale Speed Dome TSOA https://tsoa-wa.com/events/ 4 April Mt Ommanney VSCCWA 5 April Flying 50 VSCCWA http://www.vsccwa.com.au/ 23 May Point to Point WA sporting Car Club 30 May Mt Clarence Hill VSCCWA http://www.vsccwa.com.au/ Climb 31 May Albany Around the VSCCWA http://www.vsccwa.com.au/ Houses 27 September Port Denison Sprint TSOA https://tsoa-wa.com/events/ 6 December Vintage Stampede VSCCWA http://www.vsccwa.com.au/

• All these listed events are arranged by the organising party shown on the above calendar.

• Each event will be fully listed on the organizing party’s website prior to the event, where you should complete your event registration in order to participate.

• Most of the listed events will require you to hold a Speed level 2 Licence. You can organise this through the CAMS website: https://www.cams.com.au/docs/default-source/licence- forms/speed-nonspeed-licence.pdf?sfvrsn=527884c7_7

• You must meet certain general requirements to drive your car at these events. These include that your car has to be certified as road-worthy; that you are carrying a fire extinguisher; and you are wearing a helmet compliant with the applicable Australian Standard (AS).

• If you want to enter any of these events, please do this directly through the event organiser using the website registration process for the event - and also pay them directly.

• After you participate in any of these events, please let the club know your result. AROCAWA will then score your points in the club competition.

• If you want to find out more about how to participate in our 2020 competition program, please contact the WA Alfa club’s competition secretary, Ivan Olsen by email: [email protected]

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 30 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

TUES. 4 FEB 2020 - CLUB NIGHT SUNSET DRIVE & DINNER

Meet in car park on North Mole at end of Rouse Head

DATE: Tuesday 4th February, 2020.

START: 18:00 (i.e., 6:00PM).

MEET AT: Car Park on North Mole at the end of Rouse Head, Fremantle. Map above shows meeting point for Rottnest Island and Fremantle harbour views. Detailed instructions regarding how to get to North Mole appear on the next page.

DRIVE TO: Drive along coast, from Fremantle via Cottesloe, City Beach & Scarborough to watch the sunset, ending at Hillary’s boat harbour for the February club-night dinner.

DINNER: Mia Cucina Restaurant at Hillarys Boat Harbour. 1/45 Northside Drive, Hillarys, WA, 6025. Ph: (08) 9448 1753

PRE-BOOKING ONLY: Dinner and one drink (wine or beer) $23.00 per head. Book via this TRYBOOKING link: https://www.trybooking.com/590764

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How to get to the North Mole Car Park on Rouse Head, Fremantle …..

In North Fremantle, from Stirling Highway turn onto Tydeman Road. Head west towards the Indian Ocean. At T-junction, Tydeman Road ends. Turn left at the T onto Port Beach Road. After 1.0 km, heading south on Port Beach Road, turn right at unmarked intersection onto North Mole Drive. It is adjacent to the Caltex service station (also on the right). After another 1.0 km, pass Carnegie Wave Energy. Proceed next to ocean rock wall as the road narrows for next 1.0 km. Arrive at North Mole carpark. Park your Alfa facing in, forming a row of cars for club photos before our sunset drive departure.

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TUESDAY 4TH FEB. DINNER MENU AT MIA CUCINA

TUESDAY NIGHT SPECIAL - Three Meal Choices

• CALAMARI (C) Lightly coated in seasoned flour with a touch of chilli, shallow fried & served

with a crisp salad & tartare dipping sauce

o Add fries, extra $3

OR

• CHILLI MUSSELS (L)(C)

o Steamed & sautéed with garlic & chilli in napolitano sauce, served with a slice of

Mia’s delicious garlic bread

o Note extra slice garlic bread $2

OR

• PIZZA Choice of any pizza from our menu

• Each comes with a glass of Hightide SBS or Cab. Merlot, Cascade Light, Carlton Mid or VB.

COST PER PERSON: $23.00.

Reservation of your dinner place for the Sunset Run Dinner is only available by pre-booking via this TryBooking link:

https://www.trybooking.com/590764

• Note that cash payment on the night is required for any additional items, e.g., extra drinks,

chips, bread etc., all of which can be ordered on the night.

• Please remember to bring enough cash with you for that purpose.

IF PREFERRED, A FULL A LA CARTE MENU IS AVAILABLE, BUT AT EXTRA COST.

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Sat 29 February 2020

Meet at 5:30 pm

The Point Carpark, Riverside Drive, Perth

Depart 6 pm

Leap of Faith Sunset Run

Rise Pizza City Beach

$35 per person

$8 Pints / $8 Wine

Kids menu pay on the night

40 km Route Only 50 places

Link to Route Book and Pay

Arrive 7 pm Link to Tickets

City Beach By 14 February 2020

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 34 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 35 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

Victorian Division

The Alpine Alfisti Association and AROCA Victoria present the:

Cuore Sportivo & Alpine Tour Wednesday 25th March – Saturday 28th March 2020

Following e cce f e 2019 Bay to Border A T, immediately after Alfesta 2019, the Alpine Alfisti Association, in collaboration with AROCA Victoria, will be running a joint Cuore Sportivo & Alpine Tour in autumn 2020 - this time to link up with Auto Italia Canberra. 2020 marks the tenth aea f e a Le T de N Ea Alpine Tour. While the original Tour visited the Victorian Alps, this joint Tour will run from Lilydale, north east of Melbourne, to Canberra. Four days of autumn touring through Vca High Country and the Snowy Mountains. The Cuore Sportivo Tour will commence in Lilydale on Wednesday 25th, travelling via Mansfield, lunch in the King Valley, then to Beechworth for an overnight stop. On Thursday 26th the tour will visit Mt Buffalo, lunch in Bright, then to Wodonga for an overnight stop and the Gala Dinner. The Alpine Alfisti Tour will commence in Wodonga on the morning of Friday 27th and travel to Tumbarumba for lunch. The tour will then head through the Snowy Mountains via Cabramurra (the highest town in Australia), stop for tea & scones in Adaminaby, then on to Jindabyne for an overnight stop. On Saturday 28th will be an optional morning excursion to Charlotte Pass while the rest can enjoy a sleep in or a stroll taking in the scenery around Lake Jindabyne. The Tour will regroup in Jindabyne for morning tea then travel to Dalgety for lunch. After lunch, the group will head to Canberra via Cooma, where an afternoon visit to a classic car collection may also be an option. The Tour should arrive in Canberra by late afternoon on Saturday, allowing Tour participants time to prepare for Auto Italia Canberra at Exhibition Park In Canberra (EPIC) on Sunday 28th. NB: Tour registration does not include entry to Auto Italia Canberra. (Book your tickets for AIC here) As with previous Alfisti Tours, you are welcome to join and/or depart the Tour where it suits you. You are not required to complete the full Tour.

If you have any questions about the Tours, contact either of the Tour organisers:

Clyde Hay Peter Atkinson [email protected] [email protected]

Alpine Alfisti Tours: classic camaraderie, dynamic drives, fabulous food and sensational scenery. email: [email protected] web: AlpineAlfisti.org.au.

See a separate attachment sent out with this issue of Alfa Occidentale for more details - including all of the needed booking information for the Alpine Run and the Cuore Sportivo Tour.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 36 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

AUTO ITALIA 2020

SUNDAY 29t h MARCH 2020

EPIC Arena

Corner of Flemington Road & Northbourne Avenue, Mitchell, ACT, 2911

A UTO ITALIA 2020 CANBERRA

is an annual showcase of Italian automotive design. Hundreds of exceptional cars, motorbikes and scooters gather each year in Australia's Capital City, in celebration of Italian motoring history and its ongoing, cultural influence on the international landscape.

If you own one of these beautiful pieces of Italian art on wheels, or you are considering doing so, or if you just love to admire and talk about these cars, this is where to be on Sunday 29th March 2020.

Please see above for this year’s location & date. All are welcome!

Presented by the Italian Cars Association of the ACT since 1985 (Auto Italia Canberra has no association to any other event staged using the name Auto Italia)

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 37 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

NORTHAM MOTORSPORT FESTIVAL, 2020

Saturday–Sunday, 4–5th April 2020

The Northam Motorsport Festival is a free classic car event for all ages. The Vintage Sports Car Club of WA and the Shire of Northam celebrate the annual running of the Northam Motorsport Festival.

The main streets of Northam will be transformed into a racing circuit with classic cars competing in regularity time trials.

The event also incorporates the Lindsay Monk Hillclimb at Mt Ommanney, a Motokhana and the Northam Flying 50. There will be car displays, market stalls, retail, café and hotel outlets open, as well as children’s rides and activities in a family fun area.

The Northam Motorsport Festival is a major highlight on the Town of Northam’s annual calendar and it offers a great opportunity for all ages to enjoy the history and spirit of classic racing cars.

Location: Fitzgerald Street, Northam, WA 6401.

Contact for further event info: 0407 797 003

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 38 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

NORTHAM MOTORSPORT FESTIVAL SUNDAY 5 TH APRIL,2020

AROCA WA’S RUN & BREAKFAST

On Sunday 5th April, AROCA WA members will meet up at the Noble Falls Tavern in Gidgegannup at 10:00 for a coffee, or breakfast/brunch before they proceed in convoy to the Northam Festival of Motor Sport.

On arrival in Northam, parking spaces will be reserved for club members who are attending the run.

The Noble Falls Tavern is situated at 2672 Toodyay Road, Gidgegannup, WA, 6083.

Phone: 9578.3627 Web: www.noblefallstavern.com.au

Please contact Greg Smith (email: [email protected]) to let him know if you are planning to join the group for the breakfast and the run to Northam.

Note that the breakfast, coffee etc. costs for this event will be on an individual cash payment basis.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 39 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 40 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 41 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

THE WA FIAT/LANCIA CLUB’S “ TWO OCEANS TOUR” FOR 2020

Expressions of interest have been called

After running successful TWO OCEANS TOURS on two previous occasions; 2016 and 2018, the WA Fiat Lancia Club is contemplating another TWO OCEANS TOUR for October 2020. Tentatively, this event would run between Sunday 25th Oct. and Friday 30th Oct. 2020.

Preliminary discussions suggest that the tour may start in Esperance, proceeding along the south coast to Albany, then heading towards Perth, but via the Margaret River wine country. The tour is likely to depart Esperance on Monday 26th Oct. after a weekend drive down and a welcome and registration function on Sunday night. FLC hopes to couple the tour with the annual ITALIAN CAR DAY In Perth on the first week-end in November.

The Fiat Lancia club will also follow that up with some short site-seeing drives around Perth that avails visitors to Perth the opportunity to visit some of the more popular tourist attractions around the Perth metropolitan area. A number of east coast fiat Lancia club members are intending to travel to WA for this week-long two oceans adventure.

To provide the organizers with the confidence that this tour will be well supported and for them to identify sufficient accommodation along the planned route, it would be appreciated if you are considering joining the tour that you send an email to Rob Rowbottam at [email protected], expressing your interest.

Note that this expression of interest is not binding, nor will failure to express interest now exclude you from entering later, once event entry forms are released in early 2020.

PUT THESE DATES INTO YOUR 2020 CALENDAR

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 42 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

FINANCIAL REPORT JAN 2020

INCOME Membership (none) $0 Bank Interest $0.45 Trybooking (Fish and Chips) $819.00 Cash (F&C) $60.00 SUB TOTAL $879.45 EXPENDITURE Postage/Petties/Rental $ Merchandise $ Rent $ Club Meeting Food/Drink (Fish and Chips) $950.00 Investment Account $ SUB TOTAL $950.00

EXCESS EXPENDITURE/INCOME $70.55

BANK RECONCILIATION Opening Balance $4,534.73 Receipts $879.45 Payments $950 BALANCE $4,464.18

INVESTMENT ACCOUNT as of 15 Jan 2020 Opening Balance $14,169.77 Transfer from Main Account $ Transfer to Main Account $ Interest $1.24 BALANCE $14,171.01

TOTAL IN ACCOUNTS Westpac Community Solutions One $4,464.18 Westpac Business Reserve $14,171.01 Grand Total $18,635.19

Stuart, Bunt, Treasurer 15 January, 2020

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 43 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

AROCA WA MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

Dear Western Australian Alfisti,

NOTICE TO CONCESSIONAL LICENSE HOLDERS: Those AROCA WA members who make use of Western Australia’s concessional licensing system to register their historic Alfa Romeos must remain as financial members of the club into each new financial year so that their vehicle’s concessional license remains current.

NOTICE TO NEW MEMBERS: The Alfa Club is seeking to increase the number of club members among Western Australian Alfisti.

Whether you wish to become a new AROCA WA member, or if you need to pay your AROCA WA Subscription for the upcoming financial year, please complete the information request shown over- page and pay your subscription amount to the club, following either of the methods outlined below.

The annual fee continues to be $80.00 for the next financial year, 2019/20. Please note that AROCA WA membership renewal for all existing members is due on the 30th June of each year.

You can either pay this subscription fee by cheque, making it payable to AROCA WA and then mailing it C/- The Secretary, AROCA WA, P.O. Box 8231, Perth BC, WA, 6849.

Alternatively (or from the club’s point-of-view, preferably), you can pay the amount directly by making an electronic transfer into the club’s bank account using the following details:

Account Name: AROCA WA. BSB: 736-054 Account No.: 070313.

(Do note that if you are paying electronically, you should include your surname in the payment reference and also advise the club of your payment via an email.)

Membership Fee: $80 (1st July 2019 - 30th June 2020) Associate Mbr Fee: $80 (1st July 2019 - 30th June 2020)

We look forward to seeing you at the WA Alfa Club’s future events.

Andrew Murray. President, AROCA WA.

FIRST NAME(S): ______

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 44 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

SURNAME: ______

PARTNER’S NAME: ______

ADDRESS: ______

______. POSTCODE: ______

LANDLINE: ______MOBILE: ______

EMAIL: ______

NEW MEMBER, CURRENTLY PAID-UP MEMBER (OR PAST MEMBER):

MEMBER NUMBER: ______

CURRENT MEMBER: YES NO PAST MEMBER: YES NO

LAST YEAR AS AN AROCA WA MEMBER: ______

ALFA ROMEO (AND OTHER VEHICLES) OWNED: Registration OR Manufacturer Type Year Colour Concession Plate # (if applicable)

Please complete the above form and email it to AROCA WA at [email protected]

NOTE: If you are a concessional registration plate holder, note that data on your concession registration has to be provided annually by the club to fulfill Western Australian state regulatory requirements. The due date for this information provision falls immediately after 30th June. Therefore, be sure to renew your membership before the end of the financial year in order that your concessional vehicle registration remains current.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 45 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

OWNER DECLARATION - CODE 404 CONCESSIONAL VEHICLE LICENCE

I declare that the vehicle, as listed below, is in factory standard specification. I acknowledge that, if the vehicle is modified, it no longer complies with the regulations and cannot be used under Code 404.

I understand that the onus is with the owner of the vehicle to ensure that the vehicle as listed complies with the regulations and that it is driven within the conditions applied under Code 404. The owner must at all times be a financial member of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (WA Division) for the Code 404 registration to remain valid.

Name of Owner:…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Alfa Club Membership number:……………………………..

Vehicle Details:

Make:…………………………………………………………………………………

Year:…………………………………

Model:……………………………………………………………………………..

Chassis Number:………………………………………………………………

Engine Number:……………………………………………………………….

Registration Plate:……………………………………………………………..

Signature

Date

If you own a concessionally registered vehicle, please complete this form and then email it to the

attention of the Secretary of AROCA WA at [email protected]

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 46 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division) ALFA OCCIDENTALE Issue 33, February 2020

“DRIVE MY CAR”

SINGLE VEHICLE EVENT APPROVAL FOR AROCA WA MEMBER-OWNED CONCESSIONALLY REGISTERED VEHICLES

AROCA WA has provided this club logging system solely for the use of currently financial AROCA WA club members who own vehicles concessionally registered under CODE 404. Completion of this form and then providing a completed copy to the club secretary, enables club members to legally drive that vehicle at a “single vehicle event” such as to a wedding, picnic, country drive, etc.

MEMBER’S FIRST NAME(S): ______

MEMBER’S SURNAME: ______

MOBILE PHONE: ______

EMAIL: ______

AROCA WA MEMBER NUMBER: ______

VEHICLE TO BE DRIVEN: VEHICLE BUILD YEAR REGISTRATION PLATE CONCESSIONAL REGO. @ AROCA WA

TRIP DETAILS:

TRIP DATE: ______START: ______END: ______(DD / MM / YYYY) (HOUR AM/PM) (HOUR AM/PM)

FROM: ______TO: ______

DESCRIPTION: ______Purpose of trip in a few words only.

Three-five days prior to undertaking any single vehicle trip, be sure to complete and email this form to AROCA WA, where this trip will be logged by the club. (Email: [email protected])

After sending your completed form to the AROCA WA club secretary, please print out a copy of the filled-in form. Make sure that you keep it with you in your vehicle during your trip. Remember that you must have your vehicle license with you in the car too.

Additionally, note that it is a condition of Code 404 that you remain a financial car club member at all times. You should be aware that, otherwise, if stopped, you will be deemed unlicensed.

Alfa Occidentale is the electronic magazine of the 47 Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia (Western Australian Division)