This year’s Fall Tour will be up along the Delaware River. 

We’ll start, as always, at Washington Crossing in PA, then head into Bucks County, PA and Hunterdon County, NJ as we drive through six covered bridges and over a bunch more historically significant bridges.  About a third of the way through, we’ll make a stop at Prallsville Mills in Stockton, New Jersey for short break.   After that, it’s back to hunting down the rest of our covered bridge targets in Pennsylvania.  We’ll make another stop in Milford, New Jersey to pick up picnic goodies.  Then, it will be a short drive to Tinicum Park in Pennsylvania, where we’ll stop for lunch.  If you drove the spring tour, Tinicum Park is where we made a brief stop – just along the Delaware River.  Many of the roads will be new and there will be plenty of places to exercise your Alfa.  Expect the total length to be about 70 miles and the drive to take about three hours (including stops).

The tour will leave at 9:30am, from the parking lot at Washington Crossing Park, in Pennsylvania.  

Like we did in the spring, the picnic will be BYO. You will be able to pick up food and drinks in Milford when we stop.  The Milford Market has a great selection of sandwiches and salads.  In addition, Pipolo’s Pizza is also there if you prefer something more Italian. Also, if you plan to picnic, try to bring a blanket and/or chairs.

If you want to attend, please RSVP to Bob Brady as soon as you can (so we can better plan) but no later than Friday, October 23^rd

Hope you can make it!!  But, if you can’t, there will be another opportunity to drive on November 14th, when we head west into Lancaster and will finish at Bill Coleman’s Elizabeth Farm for lunch.

Ciao, 

bob

We had a wonderful turnout at our unconventional fall picnic at Ridley Creek on September 27th.

We had about forty attendees and about twenty cars – ranging from Giuliettas to 4Cs and modern Giulias.  Our “show” attracted a bit of attention from park goers who were impressed by the beautiful cars on display.  We met some new members and saw some faces we haven’t seen in a while.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

As is tradition, we held our annual elections at the picnic.  The results are as follows:
President – Bob Brady
Vice President – Greg Shpungin
Treasurer – Bill Conway
Secretary – Ellen Torpey
Congratulations (or condolences) to our officers.

For all of you who made it out to our picnic on Sunday – Grazie Mille! 

Thanks to Steve and Debbie Harter (and Mike Casale), the Fire and Rain Road Rally last Sunday was a smashing (figuratively speaking) success.

About sixty cars came out on the absolutely gorgeous Sunday afternoon in Skippack to spend a few hours exploring the best roads and sights of Montgomery county. Beautiful automobiles were everywhere. In addition to the Alfa squadra, there were Lancias, Ferraris, Benzes, Fords, Packards, Jags, a gaggle of Morgans, and many many others.

The rally was not at all like our typical DVAROC tours. This one required a competent navigator and demanded attention from both driver and passenger to answer the cryptic questions in the directions, as well as keep track of streams and firehouses. Unquestionably, more than a few couples required counseling afterwards as tempers flied and fingers pointed along the way.

Despite participants often driving past one another, in opposite directions, everyone seemed to make it back to Parc Bistro at the end. And the winner? Who knows? Who cares? The good food, drinks, music, and company were the real reward for a sometimes stressful, but always entertaining afternoon.

For more photos, go to: https://www.flickr.com/photos/190355150@N08/with/50365412092/

As summer officially comes to a close, it’s time to look forward to perhaps the best season for Alfa events, Autumn!

September 20 –  Rally and Cars and Cigars – Skippack, PA – RSVP by 9/16 Steve Harter has put together another great event for us.  This time, it will involve driving, not just ogling.  The rally begins and ends at the Parc Bistro in Skippack, PA.  Plan to be there by 12:30 as the rally starts promptly at 1pm.  When you’re done, enjoy some cars & cigars (and maybe a bite to eat).  See the flyer below for more information.  Make sure you RSVP to Steve by 9/16.  

September 27 – Fall Picnic – Ridley Creek Park, PA – RSVP by 9/25
We finally settled on a venue for this year’s picnic – Ridley Creek.  We’ll be at a different, larger site (#17), than our summer picnic/rally, so we’ll have plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the cars.  We’re arranging for box lunches and we’ll still have the usual door prizes.  Mark your calendar now and start looking for some interesting door prizes to donate.  Look for another announcement soon with more details.  Cost will be $10 to defray the pavilion rental, food, and gifts.

Hope you get out this weekend for a drive and hope to see you at an event soon.

The Delaware Valley Alfa Romeo Owners Club will hold our Summer Picnic and Rally at Ridley Creek State Park on Sunday July 19^th.  The event will include a fun rally, which should take less than an hour to complete, followed by a picnic in the park.  You’ll have a chance to show off your car, demonstrate your navigation skills, and safely enjoy some good food and friends.

We’ll gather at Ridley Creek State Park at 10:30.  Refer to the map below.

After everyone arrives, we’ll go over the rally instructions and then have a Le Mans style start.  The rally will take participants through some very pretty Chester County horse country. The course is designed to make for fun competition that won’t reward use of GPS or following another car. 

The rally course will take less than an hour (more like 30 minutes) to complete.  Once everyone is safely back to the park, we’ll enjoy some lunch together at the pavillion.

Instead of a lunch buffet, we’ll do separate orders, this year, from a couple local places: The Country Deli and La Porta Restaurante.  When you arrive at the park, we’ll call in orders.  When you return from your drive, we’ll have food waiting for you.

If you want to attend, please RSVP to Bob Brady at robertanthonybrady@gmail.com  by Friday, July 17^th so we can plan food and hand-outs, accordingly.

Hope to see you there!!

For the 40-50 of you that joined us yesterday, Thank You!

It was a fabulous tour on a fabulous day. Nearly everyone made it all the way to the picnic at the end – which itself is an amazing feat given that there were a couple of lefts in the directions that should have been rights. (whoops)

I hope everyone got their fill of pretty barns, interesting bridges, and guidare con brio.

Look for an update on our summer picnic/rally soon. We’re going to postpone it… just a bit.

ciao!

With the extension of the stay at home orders for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, we’re moving the date of our Spring Tour from May 24th to June 14th.

Hope to see you there!!

We were fortunate to sneak in the David Markel car collection tours in February. For those of you who made it to one of those events, I’m sure you’ll agree it was a great experience.

Not surprisingly, we’ve had to postpone our Tech Sessions. Hopefully, we’ll get them rescheduled after the world opens back up.

We’re still planning to hold the Spring Tour on May 24th. We’ll be making some changes to that event to make it compliant with rules and precautions. We understand if you choose not to attend, but wanted to give the club an opportunity to get out and drive, if even at a distance.

We’re still planning out the route, but it will likely start from Washington Crossing, as usual, and tour up along the Delaware, and points east and west. The theme we’re working with, this year, is Barns, Barns, and More Barns. In lieu of a sit down lunch, we’re planning on boxed lunches (or bring your own picnic) to be enjoyed at a park, field, or along a scenic byway. See the image below for inspiration!

Take care, stay safe, stay sane, and stay tuned…

It must have been cabin fever that brought out a record-breaking group of Alfisti to tour the David Markel car collection in Skippack, PA. The tour on February 16th was completely sold out. The second tour on the 29th was nearly as full. Amazing!

And, maybe even more amazing, was the fact that most of our tour-goers chose to bring their Alfas out in the cold, but dry weather.

After meeting up at the local Wawa, we visited a few of the Markel collection’s 13 garages, inside which included some very special Italian machinery.

Our lunch break was a tasty Italian buffet at Brothers Kershner Brewing Co, located on the main drag of Skippack. Once our tummies were full, we strolled out of the brewery to visit a few more collections tucked within some unsuspecting buildings.

On behalf of the club, I want to thank Steve Harter for arranging for these fantastic events. I also want to thank Mike Casale, curator of the collection, for allowing us in to see these remarkable cars.

I also want to thank Darren Mileto for his wide angle lens :) and the great photos he took. Ditto to Jose Joga for some nice shots.

On request of the owner, we’re not permitted to publish photos of the cars in the collection, but we are happy to publish a couple of shots from the outside.

Our next event will be a tech session at Valerio Motorsports in Norristown, on March 21st. See you there!

Our events calendar for 2020 has been updated and includes a number of new ones, in addition to our traditional set.

We’ll start with two opportunities to tour the David Markel Car Collection in Skippack, PA and have lunch afterwards. The first date filled up surprisingly fast, so we added another.

In March, Valerio Motorsports is opening up their shop for us to visit. They support a number of local racers and are Alfisti at heart.

In April, we’ll be back at Nick Falcones for their annual Tech Session. This is always a great time to hang out and talk cars, and get some advice on how to keep our Alfas going from the guru himself, Vince Votto.

Rounding out spring will be a driving tour and lunch at the end of May. The route hasn’t been set yet, but will likely go up along the Delaware in Bucks County.

For a complete listing of our events schedule as it stands, go here. Check back often as it will evolve as the year progresses.

Get out and Drive!