Alfisti, 

In case you missed it, the Lime Rock Historic Festival was a weekend of automobile overload!  The 22 mile tour on Thursday night included over 100 classic and vintage race cars.  Racing on Friday, Saturday and Monday was exciting, with perhaps the best sounds coming from Larry Auriana’s Ferrari 1512 with its 1.5 liter flat 12 wailing up to its 12,000 rpm redline.  Although racing is not allowed on Sundays due to noise restrictions, the Historic Festival puts that day to a lovely intermission and fills the track with a concours on the front straight and lines the rest of the circuit with a car show of over 1000 entries.  If you want to see what you might have missed, go here: Bill Stohler Photography

And now for our events update.

Today is the Radnor Concours.  While the weather certainly doesn’t look promising, it will go ahead, rain or shine.  The field of cars is always spectacular.

Another vintage “racing” event is coming up next weekend.  The Coatesville Vintage Grand Prix will be held Saturday, September 16th.  And, while the “racing” isn’t quite Lime Rock quality, the access to the cars and the hometown feel to the event make it worth stopping by.
I received word from the Central Pennsylvania chapter that Faulkner Alfa Romeo Cars & Coffee will be held on Saturday, September 23rd beginning at 9am. They are located at 6714 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg, PA.  Chris Carvell will have his staff at the ready to help you test drive the all new Alfa Romeo TONALE Plug-in Hybrid SUV, as well as the new Maserati GRECALE SUV. After the C&C event, AROC members can then drive the short distance along Carlisle Pike to the Appalachian Brewing Company, where we will find a large selection of Craft Beer, and good tavern-style food. 

The DVAROC Fall Picnic is our next event on Sunday, October 8th.  Mark your calendar now to attend.  The “Petit Mont” has already started preparations and a very nice selection of door prizes is accumulating in our dining room.  That said, we can always use more.  So, if you have any Alfa related trinkets you’d like to donate as door prizes, bring them to the picnic.      

Lastly, our DVAROC Fall tour is scheduled for Sunday, October 22nd.  We’ve received some great ideas for routes.  As is tradition, we’ll probably tour Chester county and stop at a winery, or two.  If you have any interest in helping to plan the route, please reach out to me.

So there you have it, a fun fall, full of fabulous festivities!

As summer comes to a close, it’s time to look forward to the autumn season, and with that, a lot of events to consider.

First up, next weekend, is the Lime Rock Historic Festival.  While it’s a bit of a drive from the Delaware Valley, it’s one of the best vintage racing events on the east coast.  A couple DVAROC members will be racing there and you’re welcome to hang out with us.  But wait, there’s more…. Sunday, the track is closed to racing due to a longstanding agreement with the local town.  But that means the track turns into an amazing display of cars, including some incredibly special Alfas from the Larry Auriana collection.

Then, closer to home, is the Radnor Concours on Sunday, September 10th.  Think of this one as Pebble Beach comes to Chester County.

The following weekend is the Coatesville Vintage Grand Prix on Saturday, September 16th.  And, while the “racing” isn’t quite Lime Rock quality, the access to the cars and the hometown feel to the event make it worth stopping by.

Then, my favorite event of the year, the DVAROC Fall Picnic comes up on Sunday, October 8th.  Mark your calendar now to attend.  Remember, if you have any Alfa related trinkets you’d like to donate as door prizes, we’d be most grateful.  

Lastly, in addition to events, I wanted to mention that Jeff Heckman is parting out a 1988 Black Spider Veloce.  If you need anything (except the windshield which I already claimed :) give him a call at:  484.802.0087.

I hope everyone has had a great summer.  I look forward to seeing you at an event soon!

Ciao!

bob

It’s hard to believe that we’re already about half way through our 2023 events calendar but it’s true! We’ve had a full plate of tech sessions, museum visits, car shows and tours, so far, and we’re not done yet!

This Sunday, July 2nd, we’ll hold our annual summer picnic and rally at Ridley Creek State Park. After that, our next “official” event is the New Hope Car Show in August, followed by the Radnor Concours in September. In between, there are plenty of opportunities to see vintage Alfa race cars in action, either in Pittsburgh or at Lime Rock, Connecticut. If you’ve never been to one, you really should check out a vintage car race!

I also want to welcome our new members. It’s great to see the club grow.

Alfisti, due to the potential of rain this Saturday, the Cars and Coffee at Faulkner Alfa Romeo has been moved to Saturday, 06 May.

Next Saturday, April 15th is our annual DVAROC Tech Session, hosted by Nick Falcone Enterprises.  They are located at: 161 Rock Hill Rd, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004.  We’ll start around 10am and run to about noon.  There’s no need to RSVP, just show up.  Refreshments will be supplied and there will be plenty of Alfisti to chat with and even commensurate.  If you have any particular topics or questions you’d like us to cover, just let me know.  I hope to see you there.  It’s always a great way to start the driving season.

Alfisti, 

Blossoms are blooming.  Birds are chirping.  Peepers are peeping.  It must be Spring!!!

And with Spring, the Delaware Valley Alfa Romeo Owners Club springs to life.

For those of you who joined us at the Simeone Museum in February – thank you!  And thanks again to Jim Hanna for a great tour.

Here’s a rundown of upcoming events:

Saturday, April 15 – DVAROC Tech Session – Join us for our annual tech session/BS session at Nick Falcone Enterprises – 161 Rock Hill Rd, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004.  We’ll start around 10am and run to about noon.

Saturday, April 29 – DVAROC Alfa Meet at Faulkner Alfa Romeo – Details still to be confirmed, but plan on joining us for an informal meet at Faulkner Alfa Romeo.

Sunday, April 30 – Wheels of Wayne Car Show – This is a local car show that you might be interested in entering, or just attending.  For more information, go to: Wheels of Wayne

Sunday, May 7 – Mainline Cars and Coffee – Hang out and show off your Alfa.  For more information go to: https://mainlinecarsandcoffee.com/

Friday/Saturday, May 12-13 – DV/AROC goes to Carlisle – Join the Central Pennsylvania chapter at the Carlisle Import and Performance Nationals at the Carlisle Fairgrounds.  If you want to display your car, register by March 28th.   For more information see the flyer below. 

Saturday, May 13 – Ragtops and Roadsters Open House – For those of you who have not attended one of these, it is a great opportunity to visit a top notch classic car restoration/repair shop and hang out with a bunch of car enthusiasts.  For more information, see the flyer below.

Sunday, May 28 – DVAROC Spring Tour – Join us for a lovely drive through Bucks and Hunterdon counties with lunch at the finish line.  Stay tuned for more details but mark your calendars now!

Events marked as “DVAROC” are club sponsored events.  All others are organized by others.  

For more information, check out our events page: DVAROC Events

While just a few of us might be focused on that other event next weekend, we hope you’ll spend your Saturday morning with us at the Simeone Museum.

For those unfamiliar with it, the Simeone Museum is one of the finest collections of historic race cars in the world – right here in our own backyard.  The permanent collection contains over 75 cars, including several Alfas, and there are always visiting cars that rotate through. To make this event even more special, DVAROC member Jim Hanna will give us the platinum tour, with colorful stories about individual cars as we go through the museum.  

If that sounds interesting, here are the particulars:

Date: Saturday, 11 February

Time: 10:am

Location:  Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, 6825 Norwitch Drive, Philadelphia PA 19153

Meeting Spot: Just inside, next to the first car on display

Cost: Admission is $15 per person

Lunch:  If there is enough interest, we’ll go to Chickie and Petes for an after-tour lunch.  

In order to get a headcount, please RSVP by Friday, 10 February 

Okay, so winter is not necessarily the best time to come out with your Alfa and play with the club. But, it is a great time to catch up on maintenance, watch some inspirational videos, shop for another toy or plan for the upcoming months. Here’s a little of each:

Maintenance: While I’ve been busy stitching the race GTV back together and doing some unplanned upgrades, you might want to tackle some less ambitious work: clean your interior (good mice prevention) and windows, change your oil, replace your tires (are they more than five years old?) and check the age of your battery to see if needs to be replaced. For a good guide to winter storage tips, try this link: Winter Storage Tips

Inspirational Videos: There’s no better way to burn through winter hours than watching some great car videos. Here are a few suggestions: Classic Car Snow Racing – St. Moritz, Fantastic GTA Racing at Goodwood, Great Transaxle Alfa Rally Footage, The New GTAm, Alfa Formula 1 Behind The Scenes, Giulia Oil Change, Alfa Restoration, Five Reasons Why You Need an Alfa Spider

Shopping: Now’s a great time to get some parts, buy some books or Alfa swag. But if you’re really hooked, you need to be shopping for something more substantial. Maybe a winter shopping trip to Paris is in order? If that’s too cold, how about Arizona? Too far? How about Florida?

Planning for 2023: Your DVAROC officers have been busy. We have some great events coming up:

February 11 – Simeone Museum Tour – Jim Hanna will give us a tour of the fabulous Simeone Museum again this year. If there’s sufficient interest, we’ll also meet up for lunch afterwards.

April 15 – Tech Session at Nick Falcone Enterprises – Ruth and Vince are opening their doors to us for our traditional spring get-together.

April 29 – Alfa Meet at Faulkner Alfa Romeo – Greg Shpungin has been working with Faulkner to arrange a meet at their dealership in Willow Grove.

For more event details and a complete (updated) calendar, go to: DVAROC Events

It’s that time of the year, again. Time to put away our classic Alfas and put snows on our daily driver Alfas. It’s also time to start planning out next year’s activities.

Our draft calendar looks a lot like our typical year, with a Tech Session in the spring, followed by a tour around Memorial Day. Then, in July we’ll do our summer picnic and rally. Fall brings with it our annual picnic and then another tour which will likely include some wineries.

We’re looking to go back to the Simeone Museum this winter, but have not yet nailed down a date. We’re waiting for the Simeone to announce their test days to see if we can combine our visit with one of them.

Our calendar also includes a bunch of events that club members might be interested in attending – including car shows and vintage races.

The AROC national convention is being held in North Carolina, this year, in late June. That puts it within striking distance. If we can get enough interest, perhaps we can arrange a caravan.

To see the complete calendar, go to: DVAROC Events Calendar

If you have any ideas or things you’d like to do, feel free to reach out to myself or one of your officers.

While planning our fall tour, to visit some wineries, we found out that one of our favorites is no longer open on Sundays. So, we’re moving our tour date to Saturday, October 22nd. We hope that doesn’t cause any inconvenience.