The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club

Iniezione

If you have an Alfa Romeo, this is the event to justify dusting it off and bringing it out-side. To celebrate the 50 years our Northwest Alfa Romeo Club has been around, we’re going to have a party. A gathering of friends, old and new to hang out, surrounded by Alfa Romeos, Alfa parts, and Alfisti. Be prepared to swap a few tall tales about cars,

events, challenges, and special moments that are all part of Alfa ownership. Perhaps we’ll laugh about how we got caught up in this passion we all seem to share.

The event is at the garage and home of Jay Nuxoll, who, 50 years ago as a young lawyer

and Alfa guy, helped gather a few other like minded crazies and founded the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club. Jay had owned Alfas before the club, and now after more than 50 years, still drives and surrounds himself with Alfas. He is truly the definition of Alfa pas-sion.

When: June 10th 6:30 PM - 9 PM Come for the cake, friends, or cars.

Where: Jay Nuxoll’s G’rage Mahal 13843 SE 10th Street Bellevue, WA 98005

All are welcome! Member, former member, relative of a possible member, future member, or simply can spell Alfa Ro-meo, then plan to attend. Snack foods, Cake, and drinks will be provided!

* Club Birthday …………….. pg 1

* Lambo Lab Tour ……….... pg 1

* President’s Column ….... pg 2

* Last Month .................... pg 3

* Alfa News …………...…... pg 4

* AROO/NWARC Drive pgs 6,7

* Garden Tour ………..... pgs 8,9

* Born Again ………... pgs 10,11

* Swap Meet …………….… pg 12

* Classifieds …………..….. pg 13

* Calendar ……………….... pg 14

Next club events…

* Club Birthday ………………..… June 10

* Lambo Lab Tour ……….......... June 13

* SWAP Meet .......................... June 27

Inside this June 2015 issue…

June Club Meeting / NWARC 50th Birthday June 10th

Located in the Interbay area of Seattle, hiding behind other businesses is an un-marked building that houses a place with an Italian name, but is far from Italy. Its the Automobili Lamborghini Advanced Com-

posite Structures Laboratory (ACSL). Known as the “Lambo Lab”, it was based at the University of Wash-ington campus from 2007 to 2013, but since January 2014 it exists as a stand-alone Non-Profit Organiza-

tion (NPO) in Seattle, Washington. The ACSL is responsible for the development of all CFRP technologies and BIW concepts at Automobili Lamborghini, S.p.A..

The Director of the Lambo Lab, Dr. Feraboli had been a Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington where he helped win $4 Million in funding for various research projects, mainly from Lam-

borghini, Boeing, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Working in conjunction with a design firm that focuses on product development, ACSL has delivered products including the Automobili Lamborghini Sesto Elemento monocoque and suspension control arms, the Callaway Diablo Octane and Razr Hawk golf drivers, and the Union FC snowboard binding. Other customers include Northrop Grumman, Volvo, Honda, Rocky Mountain Bicycles, Nike, Mitsubishi, Quantum Composites, and MR Collection/Looksmart.

Now… NWARC members, have a chance to enjoy a guided tour of the facility with Dr. Feraboli (Director) and Bonnie Wade (Lab Manager) on Saturday June 13th. This is a wonderful opportunity to see the research and science behind why Lamborghinis are fast, Boeing planes fly, and much more. The challenge is we are limited to 32 guests total. When: June 13th, 2015 10AM—11AM, or 11:15AM—12:15PM

Where: Interbay area, close to Dravis Street. (Address will be provided when you reserve your spot)

Who: Club Member and 1 Guest. (Limited space… RSVP! Do not delay!)

What: One Hour Tour with Q&A, and if a group gathers afterwards and wants to go to lunch, that is possible.

Cost: $12 per Person. Paid in advance to NWARC. (Mailing address 129 19th Ave. Kirkland, WA 98033)

How: RSVP to Bill Gehring ASAP and reserve your spot. (Bill at 425-822-4231 or bjgehring2@msn.com)

Lambo Lab Tour June 13th RSVP Required!

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 2

A Sprint Speciale, three Giulietta Sprint Veloces,

Giulietta and Giulia Spider Veloces, two Supers, two

red Duettos, an Alfetta, a GTV and six two liter spi-

ders from the 70’s and 80’s, with an average age of

45 years old. That was the group of beautiful cars on

the joint tour this month. You’ll read about it else-

where in this issue, but it was an amazing group of

cars, more Alfas than we have ever been on a tour

with. There were even two more spiders that had to

cancel at the last minute. (one was replaced by a

Mercedes with less than 1,000 miles, but guess what

she would rather have been driving) It was really fun

to be on the road, with nothing but Alfas as far as we

could see both ahead and behind, and seeing all of

them together at rest stops. Keith Martin’s grey 1958

Sprint Veloce was especially beautiful. He wrote in

his weekly column that when he purchased it for

$38,000 he thought it was the perfect car. He did

have to do a little work on it, though, and now it is an

$88,000 car. There is probably a lesson there some-

where. This was its first outing and his column was

mostly about the car and how it performed, but the

Facebook link contains a lot of pictures, including

some of us Northwest Chapter people and our cars.

Speaking of our cars, our group that came back

together was relatively modern, with an average age

of only 37.5 years. It was a fun trip, we met some

interesting people and are looking forward to the next

one.

Many of us were at another event, the national con-

vention in Rohnert Park, California two years ago, and

marveled at the experiences and speaking ability of

Denise McCluggage. The whole automotive world is

saddened by her recent passing. She was born in

1927, and in the fifties started racing against the best

and also started Competition Press, which evolved

into Autoweek. She continued to be an

excellent writer. I just read columns by her

in Autoweek and the Hagerty magazine.

Long ago I bought a copy of, By Brooks Too

Broad For Leaping, a collection of Denise’s

writings in which she wrote to me, “Keep the

revs up”. Quite appropriate for an Alfa driv-

er, is it not? I enjoyed seeing Denise and

chatting at the convention concours and all of

us marveled at her keynote speech at the

banquet. One of the best tributes to her is

the May 25 issue of Autoweek. She was

amazing.

With my name and phone number listed on

our club website, I get a lot of calls from peo-

ple wanting to sell Alfas or parts, or wanting

to find them. I said I would include a couple

of their appeals in my column, and maybe

some of you could help them. One is a local

collector who wants a 2600 spider. Of course

I directed him to Jay Nuxoll, but maybe someone out

there knows of one? I don’t. Also, there was a call

by someone from Idaho who has a 1978 spider with

79,000 miles that has been in the family since new.

It sounds really good, with leather upholstery, always

garaged, and with all of the records since new. Any-

one interested? Then there was the guy from Cali-

fornia who wants his old spider back, a white 1979

with a large serpent on the hood. He heard it was in

the Seattle area. If you can provide any leads on any

of these, send me an email or give me a call.

We have some really good events in the next two

weeks. One is a limited number tour in the Interbay

facility of Lamborghini, who is doing a lot of work with

the University of Washington in carbon fiber. Fred

Russell, who arranged it, really wanted to get the in-

formation and sign up opportunity out earlier, but

couldn’t, as we have so many members who have not

provided email contact. Because of that, it wouldn’t

have been fair to have an email registration and now

we are squeezed for time. It sure would be nice to

have more email addresses so please send yours if

we don’t have it.

The other events I am looking forward to are the Gar-

den Tour, organized by Debi Shmid, on Saturday,

and of course the 50th birthday of our club on June

10. If I can, I will squeeze in the open house of Chris

Benny’s Prova Motorsports on Saturday also. I’m

looking forward to seeing you at least one of them.

Bill Gehring

NWARC President

President’s Column By Bill Gehring

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 3

SOVREN (Society of Vintage

Racing Enthusiasts)

TBD

AROO

(Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon)

Ed Slavin 503 789 3282 eslavin@nic-mail.com

FEN (Fiat Enthusiasts NW)

Gordy Hyde 425 241 9307

MGCCNWC (MG)

Ken Bottini 425 883 9615

President Bill Gehring (425) 822 4231 bjgehring2@msn.com

Vice President Ken Case (425) 702 9298 casekb@msn.com

Secretary Gordy Hyde (425) 241 9307 gohyde@hotmail.com

Treasurer Ron Calkins (206) 403 3445 tip1ring1@gmail.com

Activities Earl Krygier webmaster@nwalfaclub.com

Track Monkies Mirko Freguia (206) 795 0861 Chris Benny (206) 283 9065

Membership Paul & Kristy Affolter (206) 523 8534 phaffolter@gmail.com

kristinaffolter@hotmail.com

Iniezione Editor Fred Russell editor@nwalfaclub.com

Webmaster Earl Krygier webmaster@nwalfaclub.com

Technical Editor Wes Ingram 15613 “C” Peterson Road Burlington, WA 98233 (360) 707 5701 wing@nwlink.com

Digital Printing by Swifty Print Seattle / Dan Hatch

http://nwalfaclub.com

www.aroc-usa.org

www.alfabb.com

Facebook: NWARC

Board Members

Committee Directors

Club Liaisons

The Iniezione is the monthly newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club, a non-profit organization of Alfa Romeo en-

thusiasts. NWARC is a regional chapter of the national Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC). Chapter meetings are typically held the second Wednesday of most months except December. Membership dues are $68 per year, which includes sub-

scriptions to either the digital and/or print versions of the Iniezione and the monthly national publication, Alfa Owner. For

information about joining the club, contact the membership director listed in the right hand column. Opinions expressed

in the Iniezione are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the club. (The author may simply be nuts!)

Publication of articles describing technical procedures does not constitute an endorsement by the club, its officers, or

AROC. It is the responsibility of the person performing any procedure to accept all consequences of his or her actions. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone would take personal responsibility?

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Just the Facts...

On May 10th, we held our monthly club meeting at Rairdon’s Maserati Alfa Romeo Fiat

of Kirkland thanks to our host Alex Sargeant. The guest speaker was Jeff Chalker, Mas-ter Technician, who talked about his career and classic car maintenance. Our host also

provided pizza for our gathering!

Rairdon’s Maserati Alfa Romeo Fiat

I want to personally express my gratitude for those members of your club that took the challenge to participate in our first “Motore Alfisti Avventura NW” joint club tour recently

held in your state.

The event turned out to be a resounding success and was enjoyed by all 21 car partici-pants. We even thru in a little after lunch navigation challenge to add to the adventure. Was it a mistake in

the route instructions or was it planned to see if you could figure out how to get back on course?? Only Denny and Stu Moss will ever know (route planners). The delay at lunch was not planned! Oh well, best laid plans sometimes go astray. The weather was great, the roads terrific and Washington State scenary lived up to it's reputation. The cars were a great mixed of

old Alfa's with a few newer ones in attendence.

So thanks to Harry and Elsie Reed, Bill and Judy Gehring, Whit and Kathy Forrest, Ken

Case and Kristy and Paul Affolter and Gordy Hyde for making the journey. And a special thanks to our northern Alfa friends from BC that made the long trip to join us, Dave and

Rondi Opko, Felix and Cherie Chiu, Michael Lambert with friend Susan and Alex and Ja-net Roethe.

The message everyone wanted to get out after the event was “when is the next one”! Thanks everyone, it was a blast putting on the event and who knows what next year will bring. The meeting of new Alfisti from different parts of the Northwest was great in it self.

Ciao,

Dennis Torgeson Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon

Thank You Northwest Alfa Romeo Owners Club

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 4

2600 West Commodore Way

Suite #3

Seattle, WA 98119

206 378 0900

www.group2inc.com

One of the first Alfa 4C to be bought in Washington State belongs to Thomas Lee. Now that he’s driven it a while and has had a few good cars to compare it to,

I asked for his opinion of the car. “The Alfa 4c feels special and unique, nothing like I have ever driven or owned before. I have only put about 600 miles on it so

far, but it has been the most enjoyable miles I have ever driven. The way it drives has so much character, it feels much quicker than the specs show, brakes extreme-ly well and handles like it is on rails. I feel like I am in a rollercoaster and it’s hard for me to imagine another car that could replace it. The car is super loud but it sounds amazing I still can’t believe a 4 cylinder is making that sound. I feel like you have to own this car to really appreciate it and get used to its characteristics, it doesn’t do a lot of things well it actually sucks at being a car but as a toy it is the

best thing I have ever experience. My favorite part of the car is you can drive this car and you don’t need to be going excessively fast, it’s fun to just get up to the speed limit and it looks amazing. I plan to keep this car for a really long time.”

After an amazing life of a writer and race car driver, Denise McCluggage passed away on May 6th at the

age of 88 years. McCluggage was a pioneer. She

fought for the right of women to be on the racetrack and in the press box by quietly doing an outstanding job of both. She also loved skiing and photography. Many of us have fond memories of Denise from the 2013 AROC National Convention where she spoke at the dinner. She was asked what started her inter-ested in racing, she first replied, “Have you ever

seen Phil Hill or Stirling Moss without a shirt?” After-wards she did explain that she simply enjoyed driv-ing just like all of us. Hher stories of picking up a Ferrari from a dealer in New Jersey, then driving it to a racetrack hundreds of miles away, racing it and then driving it back were amazing. Truly a unique, fun, talent-ed person who enjoyed her path in life and who will be missed by the car communi-ty and many others.

The 33rd running of the Mille Miglia Historico was on May 14-17 and Alfa Romeo was the queen of the scene. They celebrated the 80th anniversary of the win by Pintacuda and Della Stufa driving the Tipo B P3 BiPosto. The very car that we get to enjoy as part of Greg Whitten’s great collection. Alfa Romeo

also celebrated the 1955 AR 750 Competizione and the 1954 AR Sport Spider by pulling them from the Museo and running them in this year’s Mille.

Richard Merrell shared this info about cars, behavior, and not getting a ticket: www.petrolicious.com/has-your-car-helped-you-get-out-of-a-traffic-ticket

Next time you spot our club member, Eu-gene (Bo) Bricklemyer, ask him about the

one that got away. This is a photo of him

leaning on his 50’s Alfa Romeo SSZ Scuderia car he enjoyed while attending Grad School in Ann Arbor. He drove it to Minnesota before taking all the way to

Chapel Hill where it was sold. The car may be gone but the Alfa passion is still there as after all those years, Bo still drives a 164L.

We may not be seeing a new Miata / Alfa Partnership but the Fiat version

looks rather good. Alfisti just have to wait for the real McCoy.

Alfa News By Fred Russell

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 5

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

Spouse: ____________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip: ______________________________________________________________

Home Phone: _______________________________________________________________

Alt. Phone: _________________________________________________________________

E-mail Address: _____________________________________________________________

Do you wish to be affiliated with the local Alfa Club? Yes…. NWARC

Please indicate your interests:

Technical______ Tours______ Social_______ Rally_______ Vintage Cars_______

Cost: $68 annual AROC / NWARC dues

Make check payable to: ALFA ROMEO OWNERS CLUB

Or… Online registration http://www.aroc-usa.org/

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The following members provide Alfa Mentoring!!!

Don’t hesitate to contact any of these members for good Alfa info!

Model/Series Member Name Contact 164 / GTV-6 Dan Jardine thosejardines@comcast.net GTV Dave Emerson dj.emerson@comcast.net Spiders, GTV Fred Wright fred.wright@comcast.net Spiders (101/105) George Gibbs alfamale1@gmail.com 80’s Spiders Harry Reed arspiderq@comcast.net Almost Anything! Fred Russell FKTMRussell@msn.com

Membership

Member Recommendation!

Have a parts or service provider you have found to

be highly satisfactory? Share your wisdom at ca-

sekb@msn.com . With your help, we can all be

better automotive consumers.

Dent Solutions, Mobile - Paintless dent removal

206 890 6456

Burien Upholstery, Burien - Upholstery, carpets

Classic Interior Restorations, Seattle - Headliners

Mark 2 Collision Center, Lynnwood - Collision repair

North Kitsap Auto Rebuilt, Poulsbo - Collision repair

Professional Glass Company, Seattle - Windshield Replacement

Security Safe & Lock, Inc., Bellevue - Lock rebuilding

Speedometer Service, Portland - Speedometer and tachometer repair and calibration

Tire Rack Internet - Tires, wheels and parts

Vancity Plating, Burnaby BC - Chrome plating

and polishing

All the providers listed were recommended by one or more club members as being highly satisfactory but are not specifically endorsed by NWARC.

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 6

Motore Alfisti Avventura NW 2015

On a grey and slightly menacing morning in mid May, a small group from the NWARC met in Renton

to drive the country back roads to Chehalis. Whit and Catherine Forrest led the group that consisted

of Bill & Judy Gehring, Ken Case and his childhood friend, Bill Pendergast, and Paul & Kristy Affolter. Our thanks to Gordy Hyde for his detailed direc-tions and excellent route; despite the fact he was-n’t able to join us on the drive. With curving roads, green pastures, and a stop for lunch in an old train car in Elbe, we made our way into Chehalis around

4:00PM on the 15th.

The group from Canada arrived later at the hotel,

having survived many hours of grueling traffic on I-5. It was great to see Dave & Rondi Opko, who joined us last year in the San Juan Islands on our Half Lap tour. We admired a gorgeous Sprint Spe-

ciale in our hotel parking lot, driven by Felix & Cherie Chiu. Others included Alex & Janet Roethe

and Susan & Michael Lambert, also in well-maintained Alfas!

Saturday morning once again found us enshrouded in drizzle as we met the Oregon group just off I-5 on Hwy 12.

Dennis Torgeson had come prepared with detailed instructions and Keith Mar-tin handed out new copies of Sports Car Market and we were off! Everyone’s tops

were up for the first half of the drive, except the dauntless Harry Reed, who had driven down that morning to join

us. It was so thrilling to see the grand procession of 18 beautiful classic Alfa Romeo’s rolling down the road together, and many times people would come to the road’s edge to wave and admire as we passed them. We did have three “regular” cars in addition to the 18 Al-

fas, including NWARC member Thomas Mous and his two sons in his Audi wag-on. Cindy Banzer, AROC National Presi-dent, had her Alfa break down when

Words and photos by

Paul & Kristy Affolter

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 7

leaving Portland, but she joined up with us in Naches for

lunch in her daughter’s new Mercedes. We had stops for gas, bathrooms, views and pictures. We skirted Mt. Raini-

er National Park and crossed Cayuse Pass, and then stopped on Chinook Pass, where we filled the parking lot and all admired and photographed the gathering of fine cars!

Down the other side, the sun came out as we made our way into Naches. We filled both sides of this historic town with our cars. Fol-

lowing the unexpectedly long lunch, the sun was out, the weather warm and tops were down while driving through the Ellensburg Canyon. Those early to eat went on to Vantage and the Ginkgo Petrified Forest and the others head-ed on to our Ellensburg motel to meet Gordy for the pre-arranged social sponsored by NWARC. We had a very pleasant and loud gathering, where we were also able to meet Gordy’s brother, Wendell, who was visiting from Kan-sas. Then the group of approx. 40 all walked to dinner at The Roadhouse

next door.

Sunday morning found the Oregon people preparing for a fun drive back to

Portland via Goldendale and Lyle. The Canadians were heading for an even-ing in Leavenworth and then home on Monday. Our remaining group headed

out of Ellensburg on the “Old Ellensburg Hwy 10” to Cle Elum. Tops down, we stopped for a couple photo ops and then we said our good-byes at summit at Snoqualmie and joined the “already in progress” I-90 freeway home.

Great trip – wish more of our club could’ve been there, to expe-rience the large gathering of proud vehicles being driven as they were intended, and to make new friends. We discussed a get

together again next year and perhaps plan to have a NW Alfa convention, including members from WA, OR and Canada.

Thanks again to Gordy, Dennis and Whit for their contributions. The routes were beautiful and well organized. We sure live in an amazing corner of the country!

Avventura NW Cont’d...

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 8

That reputation for rainy days in the Northwest is not

completely true but we know that the rain we do get helps us enjoy the green side of the Evergreen State, especially on the sunny weekends. One such sunny

Saturday was May 30th when we enjoyed the NWARC Garden Tour.

Planned and organized by our members Debi and Tony Schmid, the event attracted 14 cars with a total

of over 30 people. The car mix was nice with 7 Al-fas, 2 Fiats, and a mix of Mercedes, Audi, Chevy, and more. We all gathered at 10 AM to start in Auburn at the Soos Creek Botanical Gardens.

The gardens are located in an area that was heavily

logged between 1900 and 1910 with a few mills lo-cated along Soos Creek. They built small homes around the mills and transported lumber via the

Northern Pacific Railroad line through the area. Prior to this period the multiple tribes that became the Muckleshoot tribe, plus a few random white settlers occupied the beautiful

area. After the loggers came dairy and crop farmers who were happy to find the great soil; part of the Osceola Mudflow that was a prehistoric gift from Mt. Rainier.

The 22 acre gardens were part of the 200 acre farm started by Norwegian immigrants who started buying small portions in

1891. It was farmed until 1968 when Maurice Skagen, who was pursuing an MBA at the University of Washington, bought up some of his relatives land. His master's thesis explored the prof-itability of growing nursery stock as liners, which he tested by propagating woody plants such as rhododendrons, azaleas and conifers. Skagen ended up a librarian, but a selection of his the-sis material formed the original plantings in the garden. Skagen

began the garden by removing the native alders, but he left oth-er native flora — western red cedar, Douglas fir, vine and bigleaf maple huckleberries, skunk cabbage and bleeding heart. His inspiration came both locally from his Aunt Nettie, and from his travels to gardens in Europe and Japan.

Our visit to this life’s work included enjoyable walking paths winding through an excel-lent variety of native plants in a well designed and thought out environment. In the center was a nice pond with tall grasses and lily pads and as we walked around it, we were treated to the sounds from the peacocks in the aviary. Buildings on the property have educational programs as well as a Heritage Museum. The museum had lots of photographs, newspaper clippings, and household items dating back to the early years of farming this land. It even had a few car photos but no Alfas.

After this nice visit, we had a wonderful relaxing drive south on scenic roads that re-mind us how lucky we are to live in such a photogenic place. Our drive took us to the

Garden Touring Alfa Club Style

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 9

small town of Orting where a family style fried chicken lunch awaited us at Tim’s Kitchen. The chicken was some of the best

I’ve had and the service was great for such a large group, in a small town. They did an excellent job.

Orting sits in the shadow of Mt. Rainier and started life support-ing the logging, farming, and mining industry in the area. It grew into a hops growing region for a long time but now also

has Christmas tree farms and a salmon hatchery.

After lunch, we wandered another 15 minutes to a remote loca-tion known as the Chase Gardens. This garden is just under 5 acres in size but thanks to its carefully designed layout, hedge

like edges, and stunning view of Mount Rainier, it felt much larg-er. The property was originally bought by Emmott & Ione Chase and like our first stop, they started turning it into a garden dur-ing the late 60s. The area had been logged so they had to have vision to create the beautiful spot it is now. They initially con-sidered making the place into a Christmas tree farm, but after

planting a bunch of tree, changed their mind and only 4 tall No-

bel Fir remain from that plan.

Ione had studied design and patterns and enjoyed the use of curves so almost every aspect of the plantings of native of special plants, flowers, and trees are done using curved pat-terns. Narrow walkways harken to the Japanese gardens she enjoyed that elicit calm and

promote singular focused enjoyment. Ione and Emmott gathered the plantings, created the different groupings, built the house, created the ponds, and poured the cement and stone ponds and stepping stones.

A few years back, the Chase family gave the property to The Garden Conservancy whose main role is to provide expert advice to people trying to create nice gardens. With this loca-

tion, the docents maintain the Chase Garden and provide educational programs and tours in a nice example of Pacific Northwest modernist garden style.

One more stop for our Garden Tour was only 5 minutes

away at the Rainier View Winery & Nursery. The own-

ers greeted our group with a presentation about their European style of wine making. Many of their wines are fruit flavors, high in alcohol and low in chemical use. Fun and healthful when compared to many big winery operations. Many people bought the wine tasting option which gave you taste samples and you got to keep the

glasses with a nice etched image of Mt. Rainier on them. Our tour guides, Tony & Debi provided a basket full of biscotti for people to enjoy along with their wine .

A little past 5 PM, the fun day came to a close as people

started heading for home. It was a wonderful event and made special by the addition of a few people from FEN, perfect weather, and excellent planning by Debi & Tony.

Garden Tour Cont’d...

Photo by Cindy Akana

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 10

So, for those of you that have had the misfortune to know me for a while, you already know that I’m a car killer! For those of you that don’t, you’ll probably want to keep it that way and hide your cars from me…now let me tell you a tale.

Back in mid mid-90s I purchased a 1969 Giulia Coupe, called “Alfie” as a project car. Body wise it was a bit rusty, but it was a runner and mechanically OK, until the clutch started slipping. Then I parked the car for nearly five years, until a buddy, Chris Butler and I, decided to set about restoring the car. We went back to bare metal and realized there wasn’t too much of that and that rather than restoring the car to full street glory it would be far cheaper to turn Alfie into a race

car. Ha, ha, cheaper maybe, but six years later, after lots of adventures, lots of help (you know who you are) and huge learning experience, we were ready to race.

We went through lots of teething troubles, trials, tribulations, heartaches, genuine mistakes, total cock ups (not allowed on Top Gear), etc., but eventually we developed a pretty decent race car, that we successfully campaigned in the SOVREN Historic race series.

Alfie and I were never a front runner (need a Lotto win for that!), but

we had lots of fun and excitement running with other Alfas, Cortinas, Porsches & BMWs, that were similarly of the same capability. We im-proved the car, we got quicker and supposedly I as a driver was getting better as well.

Then came the fateful Sunday afternoon at the 2013 July 4th “Hysterics” (Historics) at Pacific Raceways. All weekend the car had per-formed solidly, with latest suspension updates working terrific, until the

driver decided to go Banzai!

During the last race of the weekend, I’d managed to catch up to a group of cars…the race was on…well until I missed a gear going in to Turn 3A…argh! Disgust, frustration and red mist followed

swiftly in that order…”bugger!” (or, some similar expletives were bellowed inside my crash helmet), “get the hell after those guys”…now the red mist truly descended and with pedal to the metal I set about trying to catch what were now di-minishing objects in the distance…”come on little car!”…we burst out of 3B, through 4, danced through 5A and then as I pushed through 5B, the poetry and romance stopped! I realized that I had pushed too hard and too fast! The back of the car started to come around…had I been wiser I would have just let it go and Alfie would have done a 360 and maybe gone

into the ‘Kitty Litter’, but all I would have lost was dented pride. Instead, I decided, in that split second you decide these

things, that I could save the day, take corrective action and make it through the next corner and up the hill.

Bad decision! By trying to correct my course all I induced was a ‘Tank Slapper’, or in aeronautical terms a “Pilot Induced Oscillation”. At this point I was along for ride. I had but one decision to make…what direction did I want to hit the tire bar-

rier wall at Turn 6? In another split second I decided that going in straight was the best course of action. Having made that momentous decision I was at peace with myself, after all there was nothing more I could do. I braced for impact and the last thing I remember seeing was the two corner workers ducking for cover.

Thump, crunch and whump!! Well I did hit the tire barrier almost head on, at an estimated 60 mph. Alfie then slewed sideways, with the tire wall absorbing the impact, but their elasticity went from bending in to rebounding out, as the car launched sideways across the entire width of the track and landed unceremoniously facing backwards, but amazingly still on four wheels…oh, and “phew” I was alright. After a quick check, “Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet & Watch”…not a scratch. This is an absolute testament to having the right safety gear, because when the ‘brown stuff hits the fan’, nothings pre-

dictable, so having the kit that can protect and save your life is paramount.

I looked across at the turn workers who were dusting themselves off and signaled I was OK and then the arm signal that

I’d need a tow…what a bloody understatement! When the Crash Truck arrived I was allowed to get out of the car. They

gave me a quick check over and then assessed how to extricate the car, driver and clean up the track, after all there was still a race in progress, albeit by now they were all forming up behind the Safety Car. Even in adversity funny things hap-pen. As I emerged out of the car the spectators nearby up on the banking, all started to clap. In an instant I removed my driving gloves, which I then used and raised up and waved back at the crowd in a very Noel Coward fashion…what a twit I must have looked! Meanwhile one of the corner workers remarked he’d been doing the job for 30 years and this was the first time he’d had a car driven straight at him. He said “you scared the s#*t out of me!”

After that the car was hauled up on to a Flat Bed. Oh boy, what a mess! Fluids, a combination of steamy oil and water leaking all over the place, a front windshield that had popped out and bent metal panels everywhere. Only the roof and passenger rear quarter panel came through unscathed. The rest bent to buggery!

While the car was hauled back to the Paddock, I had to report to the Race Control Tower to see the Paramedic. Amazingly, I was physically fine, not a scratch…mentally? Well owning an Alfa already makes you a nut case, so he couldn’t help me

with that. However, as I walked back to my Paddock parking spot, I did have a brief moment to reflect, “You were bloody lucky” and “what the hell am I going to do now?”

“Don’t hit walls at speed…it hurts” or, “You Bend ‘em, we mend ‘em”,

or “Stupid things wot I have done”, or “What a fantastic new/old car…

did I pay for that?…you most certainly did!”

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 11

When I arrived back at my parking spot, the brotherhood of Alfisti and other fellow SOVREN racers had already taken things in to their own hands. They had done two wonderful things;

First they consoled and took care of Tracy, the ‘Other Half’, who after they’d announced over the P.A that some idiot had crashed in Turn 6, figured out it was me when the car didn’t reappear again. This concern for my welfare was only exacer-bated when the bent, mangled car was returned to the paddock, but I wasn’t with it. That was of course the same time I was over with ‘Nursey’, unaware of this consternation and disconnect, but how was she meant to know I was OK at the time, or even where I was.

Secondly, they had rallied around and put the car on my trailer and packed away all my gear. Talk about making my life as easy as possible for someone who’d screwed up. Thank you all for what you all did that afternoon, we really appreciat-ed it.

Epilogue.

Well that evening after we parked the trailer with a forlorn and broken Alfie parked atop, we adjourned to the pub, where all serious thinking starts. We debate what to do next. Could we fix the wreck I’d created? Should we start again? Should I give racing up? The last one got short shrift, but to really answer the first two we knew we needed expert help and advice. That evening I sent out an APB email confessing my sins to the world at large and asking “what next?”

A new Chapter begins.

I got lots of nice replies offering condolences to the car, sympathy to me and some great advice and encouragement. The

best advice came from Daron Walker down at Vintage Customs in Tacoma, which was bring it down and let’s take a look and assess whether it can be fixed, or what alternatives there might be. So, after crashing on Sunday, we hauled the car to Daron’s on the following Friday morning for inspection. The synopsis was the body is ultimately fixable, but all but two body panels would need to be repaired and would take beaucoup time and $$$$ money. However, the good news was that it looked like the motor and most of the running gear had amazingly survived intact. That was quite enough work and bad/good news for one morning, so we retired to the pub across the street for lunch to consider our options.

The quickest option was to outright purchase someone else’s racecar that might be up for sale. That was ruled out be-cause I didn’t have that kind of cash lying around.

The next option was find another body shell, reasonably intact and straight and use that as the start of a replacement res-

toration race car project and transfer what could be salvaged from Alfie to at least keep some of the costs down. This seemed the best path, but where would we find such a donor car? Before we’d even started lunch Daron had the answer. An old friend and client of his in the Bay Area, had a 1967 GT Sprint that had been ‘festering’ on his driveway for years and his wife was always on at him to get rid of it. The perfect candidate!

Daron jumped straight on the phone to his buddy and we did the deal right there over lunch. A week later, “Road Trip”!

Daron and I, with truck and trailer headed South on I-5 heading for Walnut Creek, CA. When we got there we met with Mike and surveyed the car, which was a rolling chassis, with no interior save a Dash, but to be fair we knew what we were getting and Mike had agreed a fair and reasonable price. We then manhandled the car on to the trailer and along with a whole bunch of other Alfa bling & stuff (that’s another story), we headed on back to the Pacific Northwest.

And so the new/replacement race car project began.

The first and most important job is to give the car a name, so it has soul. After a short debate Tracy decided the “Charlie” was an appropriate name, after the cheeky crook, played by Michael Caine in the original “Italian Job”. If that was too masculine, we could just say we named it after the ladies perfume of the era, also called “Charlie”.

The next step was to start stripping Alfie of all it serviceable parts, including pulling the motor, which was completely trapped by the bent and mangled front bodywork that I’d stuffed in at 60mph. Daron and his crew set to and had to cut the entire front Clip off the car to release the engine.

This was the start of a project that has taken twenty-two months to complete. As some of you may have already seen, Daron does a fabulous job of documenting many of the jobs he does in videos that you can see on YouTube. In my case

he started a series called “Resurrection of a Race car” and has featured many of the cool, smart and even mundane things they’ve done to get Charlie up and running. These videos do a much better job describing and explaining all the different stages of restoration and modification, as the project moved along. Here’s the link to the culminating video that summa-rizes the restoration from beginning to end, with me driving off in to the sunset…well just down the street.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKKFqLBV0Y4

Along the way the Vintage Customs crew were also aided, abetted and interfered with, by some ‘Santa’s Helpers’ (you know who you are), who gave up their time and expertise to help keep things on track. This mainly meant trying to train a

monkey…me, how to do things that were way past my technical competence. Thank you all for your help and patience. The biggest thanks go to Daron and his guys for an outstanding job.

I trailered Charlie home last weekend and am now fettling it in readiness for the upcoming 4th July SOVREN Historics. So

the story will come full circle after two year gap. This time however I don’t want any Déjà vu and certainly will be avoiding

any altercations with walls, cars, or other similar dense objects!!

Dave’s GTV Adventure Cont’d... Words and photos by Dave Kingstone

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 12

It was back on May 13, (1950)

when four Alfa Romeo 158 Alfettas

took to the track at Silverstone in

the UK. Located about an hour

north of London on a former Royal

Air Force airfield from WWII, the

race was part of the new F1 World

Championship series. In one of the

four Alfettas entered in the race by

Alfa Romeo, Giuseppe "Nino" Farina

earned pole position, fastest lap,

and then won the race. Later in the

year, he would also win the title of

world champion.

That same car resides in the Museo

Alfa Romeo for you to enjoy at your

next visit. The 158 Alfetta was first

envisioned in 1937 and created

with a 1479cc straight 8 Cyl super-

charged engine producing 195 HP.

Technological advancements ena-

bled the same motor to produce

300 HP during the 1950 season.

The other cars that day in May were

driven by Luigi Fagioli, Juan Manuel

Fangio, and Reg Parnell, British

driver chosen in honor of the host

country at this race; The Grand Prix

of Great Britain.

The next year as the Alfetta 159,

the car was tested with 450HP thanks to a two stage

supercharger and a few other tune changes. This helped

Fangio win the 1951 World Championship for Alfa Ro-

meo.

Alfetta’s Big Day in May

We all have those gatherings of leftover Alfa Romeo parts we know have value, but we don’t need anymore. This is a chance to get those in the hands of others who could use them. On June 27th we’ll have

a sunny warm Parts Swap, but to make it even more fun, it includes a drive, lunch, and tech session as a bonus.

To join the drive, meet on the north side of Barnes & Noble at Northgate Mall by 9 AM on June 27th. They have a café and restrooms, last time I checked. The drive will wander

north to Birch Bay via Chuckanut Drive to arrive at Via Birch Bay Café & Bistro at 7829 Birch Bay Drive, Blaine, WA 98230 around 11 AM. The Parking Lot will have a an Alfa designated area for our Parts Swap. There will be literature, books, sales brchures, 2L stuff, as well as Milano and 164 stuff. No need to starve as lunch space is reserved on the second floor of Via Birch Bay restaurant at Noon.

After lunch, there will be offered a Tech Session for this pesky adjustable shocks on the Alfa Romeo 164S. They are ei-ther unobtainium or painfully expensive to repair when they stop functioning… but when they work, they’re very cool. Our member, event planner, and Alfa dude, Richard Gray will lead a discussion on how to repair these yourself.

When you’re ready to head home, you can always enjoy the sights, and curves of Hwy 9 following past the small towns and lakes. This is worth the time by itself.

Parts Swap / Tech Session Alfas By The Bay June 27

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 13

Books For Sale: Starting with the first 4-cylinder races on abandoned

airports in the early 1950s and wrapping up with three big-time profes-

sional racing circuits in place at the conclusion of the 1961 season, Long

Straights and Hairpin Turns takes the reader through a wonderful decade

where skinny-tired cars and their t-shirt-wearing drivers raced for little

more than fun and trophies. The saga is continued with Long Straight’s

successor, Weekends of Glory, which covers the increasingly big time rac-

ing era of the 1960s. Long Straights and Hairpin Turns is a one-of-a-kind

record of a fabulous era sadly neglected until this book revived it for all

race fans, young and old. It is available from Martin Rudow at:

(206) 427-1124, email rsp@eschelon.com, as well as at selected

motorsports outlets and bookstores. Sold as a set with its companion

volume, Weekends of Glory, a $139.90 value, for $100 total.

Parts For Sale: Make an offer on Dellorto carbs with or without key parts, an oil pan

from something soon after 101, some starter motors, a generator, a fly wheel presum-

able from 101 series car and center console. Call Fred R at 425 308 6621 with your

wish list.

Parts For Sale: 3 new '78-79 Alfetta Sedan doors with factory stickers on them. Also

for sale- a 3L block for Milano/GTV6 new. Must sell-make offers. Call Peter in Seattle at 239-292-4838.

Wheels For Sale: 4 Alloy 5 spoke wheels from a 1985 Spider. These look really nice! $300

Call Jeff at 206 300 6468

For Sale: 1984 Alfa Romeo Spider The car has always been stored in a heated garage (the body is rust

free), and 2 years ago was sent

down to Alfa of Tacoma to bring

it up to good running condition.

The car now runs and drives

exceedingly well. Top and tires

are in very good, almost new

condition. Interior and body are

basically in original condition

with minor detailing required.

The car has been well main-

tained since I bought it in 1989,

and I have all the service rec-

ords. The odometer shows

128,000 miles. Asking price:

$6,000. Contact Priscilla at

206-282-6152

Classified Ads Cars & Parts For Sale!

NWARC June 2015 newsletter page 14

June 5,6 Mecum Collector Car Auction Seattle CenturyLink Field Events Center

June 6,7 SOVREN Festival of Speed Spokane, WA

June 10 NWARC 50th Birthday Party Jay Nuxoll’s G’rage Majal Bellevue, WA

June 13 NWARC Lambo Lab Tour Seattle (See page 1 for details!)

June 21 French & Italian Car Show Waterfront Park - Lower Lonsdale, North Vancouver, BC

June 24-28 AROC National Convention Warwick RI www.alfa2015.com

June 27 NWARC Drive, Lunch, Parts Swap, Tech Session (See page 12 for details)

June 28 MicroCar Gathering McMennemins / Forest Grove Oregon

July 3 NWARC Pre-Historics BBQ Patitz Home Auburn, WA (Info on page 13)

July 3-5 PNW Historics Pacific Raceways Auburn, WA (Info on page 5)

July 9-12 Portland Vintage Racing Festival Portland, OR

July 11,12 LeMons racing at The Ridge Motorsports Track

July 15-19 Fiat Freakout (National Convention) Monroeville, PA

July 25 All British Field Meet St. Edward State Park abfm.com

Aug TBD NWARC hosts Viva Italia Woodinville

Aug 30 San Juan Island Concours Friday Harbor, WA

Sept 5,6 SOVREN Columbia River Classic Portland, OR

Sept 13 PNW Concours d’Elegance LeMay Museum, Tacoma

Sept 19-21 NWARC Half Fast Lap Possible overlap with another CCA group tour.

Sept 26,27 Fall Finale Pacific Raceways Auburn, WA

Nov 15 Desert Concorso Palm Springs, CA

Dec TBD NWARC Holiday Gala

Event ideas? Contact: Earl Krygier webmaster@nwalfaclub.com

2015 Calendar of Events

Alfa Romeo 4C stretched is legs at Pacific Raceway.

Photo stolen from Mirko’s facebook page.