newsletter join the fox run! · chipex discount nobody is immune from stone chips, and it’s a...

Alfisti is originated by

John Griffiths AROC East Midlands Section Secretary

0774 8881317

Email: [email protected]

See our website for all the latest . . .

AROC-UK.com/EastMids

The final Alfa 4C Spiders for the UK are captured

here at Portbury awaiting delivery inspection.

Coming up ...

AGM & Alfa Quiz George & Dragon Thringstone

Weds 10 October from 7.30pm

Our only remotely formal meeting of the year.

We will be electing our committee, reviewing the

year’s events and looking forward to 2019, all

followed by a fun multiple choice quiz set by last

year’s winner Brian Smith. Nice prizes too. The

formal bit starts at 8pm. New ideas for events

and activities are always welcome at the table.

(Please arrive early if you intend to eat.)

Sunday Scramble

Bicester Heritage Centre

Sunday 7 October (9am-2pm)

The specialist businesses of Bicester Heritage

will be open to the public, and it’s a great

opportunity to see inside the workshops,

showrooms and buildings there and to catch a

glimpse of their latest projects, restorations and

stock. Meet at M1 J15A services to convoy in,

leaving at 8.15am. More info on page 3.

Please let John know if you’re going.

@AROCeastmids

We’ve had lots of enjoyable navigational and

convoy runs in our group over the years - pioneered

by Section Chairman Bryan who christened them

“The Fox Run”. Last year’s autumnal edition saw us

travel around west Leicestershire ending up at the

Bosworth Battlefield centre and was enjoyed by all

who took part - and nobody got (badly) lost either!

Well this October we’re off on another one...

Start the day with a FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST at

our regular haunt, the George & Dragon in

Thringstone. It’s £7 a head including tea or coffee.

We will gather from 9:30 with breakfast from 10am,

so no big rush to be early. Suitably fuelled, it’s then

a simple navigational rally with full instructions

including ’Tulip’ diagrams NOT designed to get you

lost! All that will be explained to the uninitiated. The

route covers around 50 miles or 90minutes, with

cars leaving at 2 minute intervals from about 10:45.

Navigators are required if you want to enjoy the

Tulip style run but if stuck you can ‘convoy’ behind

someone.

Cars will arrive at the finish between 12:30 and

1:30. That is a SECRET popular venue in the south

of our region which is FREE to enter bar a small

parking charge, The venue has a café for snacks

and drinks around lunchtime and you could bring a

picnic if you fancy, (OK, being a bit hopeful there in

late October!) and people are free to stay as long

as they like in the afternoon. For those interested it

is a ‘dog friendly’

finishing point too.

The day is designed

to appeal to all ages

and is great for kids too. Friends and family are free

to join in as there is no real restriction on numbers,

and in any car too. It doesn’t have to be an Alfa

Romeo - French cars may be wheel clamped, don’t

push it. ;0)

I do need to know numbers of cars so I can

organise things at start and finish and produce the

right number of route packs, so PLEASE contact me

to book. A quick email is all I need. Also,

VEGETARIANS, please let me know if you’d like a

veggie brekkie so we can advise the G&D. Now, it is

October and the weather could do absolutely

anything of course and the roads may be muddy in

places, so please be prepared! Anyway, it should be

a lot of fun, so do please ‘sign up’.

So, Autumn begins but we still have good stuff to

enjoy in the run into Winter. The NEC Classic Motor

Show is a big favourite for many in November and

we’re planning a special talk night in December too,

plus some more things. I hope you can make it to

the AGM as well when we can discuss ideas for next

year. The Section has been really well supported

this year, thanks to everyone who’s

contributed - even be it just bringing

their lovely car along. Cheers! John

Join the Fox Run! Sunday 21 October - please BOOK via John

THE OFFICIAL

ALFA ROMEO

OWNERS CLUB

EAST MIDLANDS

NEWSLETTER

■ October 2018 ■ Issue 213

Gazetta

NERO EDITION COMING SOON

Giulietta Giulia and Stelvio ranges will get a

special Nero edition, featuring gloss black

mirrors, grilles and wheels. No word yet on

engines and other trim specification, only it

is “coming soon” according to Alfa UK.

They will first appear as the B-Tech Edition

in Europe, the concept following the

pattern of other manufacturers’ black

editions, e.g. Audi, Jaguar and BMW.

CHIPEX DISCOUNT

Nobody is immune from stone chips, and

it’s a great idea to get them repaired

before the salt gets on the roads. ChipEx

offer an amazing colour match, with a

clever kit too to prepare and level chips, or

simply apply the paint with the supplied

‘sticks’. Note the small-size is more than

enough for most cars. You will just need

your Alfa’s colour code number which will

be located on a label somewhere in a

door/boot jamb or under bonnet. AROC

members get a 10% discount too - the

code is on the member services area of the

AROC Forum, or drop a line to John.

FERRARI / ALFA DRIVER SWAP

Charles LeClerc will be swapping F1 race

seats with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen for the

2019 season, the young team Alfa Romeo

Sauber driver having really impressed this

season. At nearly 40 years of age, former

World Champion Kimi will be bringing a

wealth of experience to the Swiss-based

team too. It will be fascinating to see how

both get on, meantime, LeClerc has helped

Sauber amass twice as many points this

season than the last 2 put together!

Sign up to get

latest news, info

and chat. See

www.facebook.com/groups/

arocukeastmids

News Snippets Date Activities

Friday 5

October

Curborough Circuit Track Day – Our Section returns to the

Nurburgring of the Midlands. £30 non-returnable deposit required

to book your car’s place via John. See information in the panel

below. (There still maybe a spot left!)

Sunday 7

October

Sunday Scramble – Bicester Heritage Centre. The specialist

businesses of Bicester Heritage will be open to the public, a great

opportunity to see inside their workshops, showrooms and buildings

and catch a glimpse of their latest projects, restorations and stock.

Lots of attending classics to see too. See page 3.

Weds 10

October from

7.30pm

AGM & Alfa Quiz at The George & Dragon in Thringstone We will be

electing our committee, reviewing the year’s events and looking

forward to 2019, all followed by a fun multiple-choice quiz with nice

prizes to be set by last year’s winner, Brian Smith. Expect something

a bit off-beat, but with multiple choice answers!

Sunday 21

October

The Fox Run – A scenic Sunday morning run to an attraction. With

Tulip-style navigation for added entertainment! We had a great run

around west Leicestershire last year, finishing at the Bosworth

Battlefield centre. It will be somewhere different this time. More

details nearer the time.

9-11 November

Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham, AROC display featuring

superb historic Alfa Romeos and something new. Our Section

members will be helping on the stand so do come and say hello!

Special ticket discount available for AROC members on the Sat and

Sun. See AROC publications or contact John.

Weds 14

November from

7.30pm

Monthly meeting at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at

7.30pm. The meeting will include the infamous ‘What’s it worth’

quiz, with nice prizes! Nothing strenuous, it’s all multiple choice

guesswork and a good laugh too!

Coming up . . .

The Small Print: Alfisti is the newsletter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club UK East Midlands Section. Alfa Romeo Owners Club UK ltd cannot endorse or recommend services or products advertised in its publications. Any opinions published in ‘Alfisti’ or its sister website, Twitter account and Facebook Group are personal ones. Alfa Romeo Owners Club Ltd Registered Number 01106134. Please contact John Griffiths if you have any queries about the Club or our active local Area Section. See cover for contact details.

ALFISTI’S CONTENT, IMAGES AND DESIGN ARE SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT. PLEASE ASK PERMISSION BEFORE ANY RE-USE.

ALFISTI - AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter October 2018 - Issue 213 - P2

TRACK DAY TIME! Curborough Circuit Track Day No. 2

Friday 5 October

After a great track day back in April we’ve

rebooked the Curborough Sprint track near

Lichfield for Friday 5 October. At time of

writing we can still fit in one or 2 latecomers

if you are up for it.

As always the hire cost will be divided by

the total number of drivers - so cost will be

around £60-£65 each.

It’s terrific fun, great for expert or novice.

With one car on track at a time for 4 lap

stints, taken as fast or slow as you like, and

as many goes as you like. We are there

from 9:45 to 5pm with a lunch break. It’s

not hard on the cars being the track work

done in such short bursts. Cars other than

Alfa Romeos are allowed too. (Note - the full

day is at your own risk.)

You can bring passengers and spectators

are free. It’s great for photography as I hope

you can see here with a shot

TO BOOK just drop me an email. I will

require a £30 non-returnable deposit to

formally secure it. You can PayPal that to

me - email me and I will give you the details.

It’s BRILLIANT fun - don't miss this great late

season opportunity. John

(Pics - suitable for ANY Alfas, here Dave

McFarland’s GTV and to John V’s Bertone…)

Join the Sunday Scramble Bicester Heritage Centre

Sunday 7 October The specialist businesses of Bicester Heritage will be open to the public

making a great opportunity to see inside the workshops, showrooms and

buildings there and to catch a glimpse of their latest projects, restorations and

stock. There are always a load of visitors’ classic cars to see too, including

Alfa Romeos. Several THOUSAND cars expected.

The event is open from 9am to 2pm.

CONVOY MEET UP

Meet at M1 J15A services from around 07:45am ready to leave at 8.15am.

We will then drive down to the centre, based at an old aerodrome, taking

the A43. On site, classic Alfas may be directed to park around the buildings,

otherwise those of us in newer Alfas will park up together in the public

parking area. (All types of cars are welcome.)

TICKETS

Good idea to buy tickets from bicesterheritage.co.uk in advance at around

£7 per adult, and a bit less if you are in in a classic car (over 25 years old)

THE ADDRESS

Bicester Heritage, Buckingham Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire.

For Sat Nav purposes please use OX26 5HA

Importantly, please let John know if you’re going.

Matt Cox is going again in his Bertone 1750 GTV. Thanks to him for the

photos here, bar the one bottom right which is off the Web.

Stelvio 24 Hour Test Drive

In early September Dave Atkins was contacted by

Research Garage (Nuneaton) to have a Stelvio on

a 24hr test drive. The time arrived and the car

was a Speciale 2.2 JTD 210hp 4x4. Dave and

Chris covered close on 290 MLS in the day, going

from Nuneaton to Wales, specifically Lake Bala.

Lake Vyrnwy then on to Barmouth. It was a

proper test drive with four up, The car drew

positive comments from all on board being very

comfortable all-round.

Dave owns a Giulia Super 2L turbo which he

enjoyed a trip to Italy in this summer, He says he

likes the Stelvio equally. It would be even better

to fit his flying model aircraft in too of course!

Meantime, the same car featured on the new

series of Fifth Gear recently too, and absolutely

trounced the 2-Litre diesel Jaguar F-Pace on

performance and handling, being over 3 seconds

a lap faster around the Anglesey circuit, Being

over 150kg lighter than the ‘all-aluminium’ Jaguar

helps a great deal of course on all things

dynamic. The Stelvio is selling well in Europe,

and deservedly so, with things beginning to pick

up here. John


Our September Meeting always plays host to the

Twilight Drive, and this year we had another nice dry

evening meaning a good attendance Alfas again at

around 40 cars.

A few people took the opportunity to ‘blag a ride’

so not every one of them took part in the run

itself. Relatively warm weather meant Brian Smith

lead the way in his 4C Spider sans-roof, Jason Hood

err, hood down on his white 939 Spider too,

matched by Geoff and Pam Cavers in their 3.2

version and Roger Smith in his 916 V6 Spider..

Brian’s route took in several local villages again,

mainly using left hand turns to keep cars together,

and was all linked up by some really good roads so

it was nice and brisk too in places. He’d supplied a

few copies of the route for cars nearer the back in

case people got split up, but as ever with these

things we lost a couple - but all ultimately made it

back. (The lure of the pub!)

We were delighted to welcome along several new

people including T in his stunning Maserati MC

GranCabrio (he has a Stelvio QF on the way lucky

chap! His car being the one which won ‘Best Exotic;

at MITCAR in August too, Then there was Marc in his

really tidy 159 2.4 Ti which he’s just bought; then

Katie Barker in her very shiny Giulietta 2 litre, Jimmy

Hall at in his smart grey Brera 2.4 and Jake Atkinson

in his eye-catching Misano blue Giulia Veloce. The

selection of other Alfas was fab too – the oldest out

this time being the relatively young 145 Cloverleaf

of Graham Paris. We think the classics are

becoming wrapped up in various garages now.

After the run and people had got neatly lined up

again in the car park and paddock we had a natter

under the floodlights before several retired indoors

for food and drink.

Inside we were delighted to welcome back Dale

and Karen Lowe who were Section regulars back in

the 1990s before emigrating to Australia in 2003.

They were over in England for 6 weeks so had to

come and see us! Great to see them both.

Anyway, a very enjoyable evening again, thanks to

everyone who came along and again to Brian for

working out such a fun route. John

(As ever, see more photos are on our website.)

Twilight Drive George & Dragon, Thringstone

Above - a nice variety if cars—including Graham Whiteside’s Giulia QF, Roger’s Spider, Dave’s 155 Q4 and Jason’s Spider 939. Above - Salvatore reverses his Giulia QF into place .

Above - Mark Gunston’s 4C LE tucked in between Leah and XX’s Giuliettas Above - Roger Smith arrives—hood down of course!


Brian Smith leading the way, complete with new black graphics on his 4C Spider. Dave McFarland zooming by in his GTV V6 track weapon

Lukas’s 159 Sportwagon Salvatore’s Giulia Quadrifoglio (needs the soundtrack really)

Jimmy’s Brera Colin’s GT V6

Leah’s Giulietta Speciale ….. Then Geoff & Pam’s Spider V6 (Apologies I didn’t get every car in the ‘fly-by’ in focus. More on our website though.


Jason Hood in his Spider LE Brian leads the convoy back in

T brings in his mighty Maserati MC GranCabrio Deb & Liam in Deb’s Giulietta Speciale

Above; Graham Whiteside’s fabulous Giulia QF in flight. Below, Chris Child’s GT under the lights Below - Katie Barker’s Giulietta brings up the rear - all got back!


Karting Night At the Sutton Circuit

Another We were back to The Sutton Circuit near

Broughton Astley again this year, where after a very

wet event in September 17 we were delighted it

stayed dry!

We had 8 teams of 2 this time with four ‘first

timers’; Steve Weston, Liam Jones, Phil Gunn and

Alex Black. All of whom soon got to grips with

things. Happily, teams get 15 minutes of practice/

qualifying which at very least gets you used to the

layout of this challenging track. It has a great

variety of bends, 2 good braking zones, a flat-out

double apex corner and a tight hairpin too. The long

straight lets you relax a tad – before that ‘exciting’

sharp right hander!

Geoff Deacon the circuit owner had invested in

another big fleet of new karts so there were no

arguments over the equipment, and all had very

good tyres on so there was plenty of grip to be had.

There were very few ‘offs’ this year, though a few

of the new comers had to get to grips with things

(they are not all THAT easy to drive), and the odd

spin happened – but that’s really all part of the fun.

We had a reverse-grid rolling start this year which

was just brilliant fun. For a change I took the first

run in my team (with Phil Gunn), and those first few

laps were just brilliant fun as we often had 5 or 6

karts all going for the same bit of the tarmac! I had

one short-lived moment of glory then getting into the

lead – before the flying twins of StJohn Krog and

George Bunney flew past! It was great trying to

keep up with them then anyway…

We had done a draw to decide the teams so it was

all a bit of luck how teams finished up - bar the

obvious sensational kart control of course! Anyway

by the end of the hour first across the line was Mark

Gunston and George Bunney – winning by a scant

11 seconds from Alex Pope and Steve Weston. A

lap down came Paul Jones and son Liam – the latter

learning SO fast. We joked afterwards that we

should never have told him how to take that bottom

corner at the change over time! A great job anyway.

In the envied ‘Fastest Lap’ contest, StJohn Krog

pipped Alex Pope (41.09 v 41.24) – but looking at

the time sheets many drivers were putting in loads

of consistent fast laps, there was little in it.

So another super race night – and we enjoyed the

de-brief afterwards in the pub too!

Next year we are thinking of a challenge against

another car club. Keep an eye out for that in the

coming months. Thanks as ever for all who took

part and made it such great fun. John

This year’s victors - Mark Gunston & George

Bunney. Well done guys!


Matthew Manners exits the pit

Above - Getting set in the paddock. (Matthew did get his helmet on at he back!) Above - Alex Pope gets aerodynamic...

Above - Beth and Alex B observe the action Above - one of the brand new karts we had to race in. Above - Sal , being a tad tall, has the opposite of DRS… (DAS?)

Above - Matthew just ahead of Dave Atkins approaching the hairpin. Above - after sunset the floodlights add more drama. Here Sal (nearest) eyes a hairpin challenge...

Above - 3RD;- Paul & Liam Jones 2nd :- Alex Pope and Steve Weston WINNERS:- Mark Gunston and George Bunney

Left - Some of our cars at the track. Left to right; John’s Giulia, Dave’s 155 Q4. StJohn’s flying Punto Abarth, More photos in the gallery on our website.


AROC membership is, very pleasingly, continuing to grow this year. At

the start of 2018 in my item in Alfa Driver I stated that it would be a

challenge to grow at the same rate we did in 2017, ending the year on

3,600 memberships. Well, at time if writing we’ve passed 3,700 -

actually still 10% up month on month versus last year. The challenge is

the ‘drop out’ rate - the core reason people leave the Club is that they no

longer own an Alfa (which is fairly logical), though you don’t HAVE to own

one to be in the Owners Club - we’re really an ‘enthusiasts’ Club of

course! The Club’s main Facebook group grows steadily at 5% a month -

now 6,000 strong, and there are lots of sub-groups too for models and

selling items and area Sections. A small proportion from those join as full

members but the majority are coming in via the main website directly

having searched online, or join up at car shows Club Manager Nick

attends with the AROC Events Van. (People even joined up at MITCAR in

the monsoon!)

This is all against a back drop of a continued

decline in the number of Alfa Romeos on UK

roads, illustrated well in the graph on the right.

At end Q1 this year there were 90,740

registered Alfas in the UK, a year ago 93,052.

In August Alfa had to hurriedly shift pre-WLTP

emissions-spec cars (they sold a batch of

Stelvios to some Hire companies for example),

yet still the overall sales only matched 2017 so

they are on track for a similar 5,000 car sales

this year. But the old cars, with more stringent

MOT tests for example, are dying out faster than

that. The new models - notably the promised

‘small’ SUV, and the refreshed Giulietta, can't

come soon enough.

Back on our Club, and in the East Midlands

Section we’ve grown by 10% in the past 12

months, with 267 members now on the books,

and 6 or 7 joining up in the region each month - and a lower level of drop-

outs. It’s also most noticeable that those who do not renew are in almost

every case people who’ve never attended one of our events. I’d argue

they’ve then not caught the bug properly. John


Stats Corner

AROC National Alfa Day in July. (Pic Guy Swarbrick)

The graph above is from howmanyleft.co.uk which uses DVLA data. Pre-2005 is

to be taken with a pinch of salt, but it gives an indication of growth driven by the

wide model range in the 00’s. The 2008 economic downturn and the infamous

‘scrappage’ was off-set by the MiTo and Giulietta’s arrival.

Giulietta Range is Reduced

As mentioned in Gazetta on page 2, the Nero Edition Alfa Romeos are

expected in the UK this winter, mirroring the ‘B-Tech’ edition in Europe which

is pictured opposite. They feature special black trim (wheels, grilles, mirrors,

badging) and added technology, like reversing camera on the Giulietta.

Meantime, perhaps pending the expected major make-over of Alfa’s 8 year

old, the Giulietta range is being substantially cut back….

Just 2 engine variants will be offered, the old T-Jet 1.4 with 120hp and the

1.6 JTDm 120hp which is available in manual and TCT auto. That means the

Veloce 1750 is no more of course too. The range of models is cut to Giulietta

(i.e. ‘base’), Super and Sport. A new optional Tech Pack option has been

introduced with 7”touch screen, reversing camera and additional connectivity.

More details of the car’s promised major update (possibly in 2019) should

be out this winter. The rumour is there will be no major under-skin changes

bar the probable introduction of the new and highly efficient ‘Firefly’ engines,

in 1.3 4cyl and (possibly) 1.0 3-cyl guises, with potential power to 180hp in

the bigger unit. Otherwise changes are likely to the nose, lights and

dashboard but that is still conjecture.

Only around 1,300 Giuliettas were sold last year in the UK boosted by a

number of limited editions and various incentives like generous deposit

contributions. That rate of sales has been decelerating this year quite

markedly so an update is clearly overdue. To many the Giulietta is still a good-

looking car, practical and nice to drive if not right up there with the class

leaders. I’d argue its problem is it tries to be all things to all men, neither

being extremely fast (Civic Type-R), nor top-quality (Audi A3, A-Class), nor high-

value (Seat Leon) and pitching in the middle as it does it doesn't have the

range of versions nor perceived quality of - wait for it - the VW Golf. It was

close to that around 2014 but in the past 4 years it’s slipped as the Golf has

had its numerous updates. Now, I’m not bashing it here; I owned 2, my son

one too, and I did about 80,000 enjoyable miles in them with no real issues - I

still think they are really good machines and a 1750 Veloce is, to me, a very

desirable car in particular. The thing is in 2018/19 things have moved on

fast with the class leaders, even ignoring electrification, which it seems many

private buyers now want. That is at least 2 to 3 years off for Alfa Romeo.

An all-new Giulietta is still not confirmed. There’d been rumour of it being

based on a shortened RWD Giorgio platform but still no decision is made. The

small SUV - expected perhaps late 2020/21 will be the logical market

replacement, but still we don’t all want SUVs. Who’d be Mike Manley. John

BTCC - Silverstone

Rob Austin’s Giulietta charges through the pack.

Rob Austin was hopeful for a good outing in the 3

rounds at the BTCC Silverstone meeting. Carrying no

weight penalty, the Alfa’s slippery shape (for a

hatchback) should have been helpful on the fast

straights of the National circuit too, and as the FWD

cars go it’s relatively kind on its tyres. A brand new

engine had been fitted for the previous round too

(the Swindon-built 2Litre standardised engines are

capable of lasting a full season, but problems

had been detected before Knockhill, where

he’d had some consistent mid-fled finishes in

atrocious conditions. (MITCAR day!!)

Despite setting really fast laps in practice he

could only qualify 13th out of 32, meaning

row 7 for Race 1. Lap 1 completed, he was

hanging on in 12th, it all ‘elbows out’ as ever in this

most competitive and ‘equalised’ of motorsports

series, (15 different winners this year!), Lap 2—

BANG—he was clipped going into Brooklands and

triggered backwards across the track, taking out

multiple champion Matt Neal in his Hinda in the

process! After an agonising minute waiting for the

electrics to reboot, meaning a lost lap, Rob got his

Giulietta going again to re-enter battle. Despite a

later Safety car he just couldn't make up enough time

to get into any points, coming in a rather wayward

26th, the car sporting a very bashed-in tailgate and

rear bumper. (I called Paul Jones at that point who

was over with the HMS team on an AR UK Jolly to see

if he could lend them his off his Stoneacre Giulietta

he was over in!

Race 2 started with the cars in their finishing

positions. Rob’s car appeared all fixed, but without

any silver panels! From the flag BOY was he on it!

He scorched past 6 car in the first 2 laps, working

steadily up the field with some great cornering lines

and passing manoeuvres, crossing the line in 9th, up

a full 17 places. Some going in just 25 laps.

Race 3 saw him starting from 9th. Paul called me

before that to say Rob had got the softer tyres on and

was really up for it. Over in the Woodcote grandstand

where I was with Mrs G the excitement was building.

From flag drop the action was intense—

Championship all still to go for for many, though

sadly not Rob! Into the first corner Rob took a daring

outside line and despite a 15kg weight penalty for his

previous points finish he charged into 7th, then

outpacing Championship challenger Ingram’s Toyota

on the straight, so 6th by Luffield. Lap 3 saw him in

an absolute melee, surrounded by 5 cars, but his

fresh tyres dug in and he barged through to 5th. Rob

Collard’s BMW then in his sights, he drafted him at a

paint-thickness, all the time fending off overall

Championship leader Colin Turkington in his BMW.

Then—a stroke of luck! Ahead, Jack Gough had to

serve a drive-through penalty for an incorrect start,

so that made him 4th, then a stunning overtaking

move on Collard’s BMW saw him 3rd! Lap 9 of

10 saw a VW CC off in the gravel and the safety

car was deployed, closing up the pack. Lap

13—half distance, it all kicked off again, a

brilliant nose-to-tail fight from all the top

contenders. There was just nothing in it right

through to lap 20 when Turkington finally got

his nose inside Rob, pushing him off line and back 3

places. Once you’re off line you’ve had it. Rob then

had a titanic scrap with the Astra of Josh Cook and

Tom Chilton’s Focus but the laps ran out and he

crossed the line ultimately in 5th, but boy was it

exciting!

All in all it had been a brilliant day’s entertainment

with rib in the thick of the action—real underdog stuff.

Just one meeting left at the end of September - the

Brands Hatch GP circuit. He led race 3 there on the

Indy Circuit in April, let’s see if he can get back up

there. John

(Photos by John unless marked.)

Fighting through the pack!!


Above—Rob Austin’s HMS Racing Giulietta showed it ahs some real speed at Silverstone

You can see Rob’s bashed in tailgate at the end of Race 1 Jason Plato in a spot of bother in his Subaru LeVorg

Typical action at the end of the back straight! Rob punches past the VW A report on the final rounds of the 2018 British Touring Car Championship held at Brands Hatch GP Circuit will be in the next edition of Alfisti.


It is quite possible for the happy home Detailer like me

to blend their own wax, indeed some operations like

Dodo Juice will sell you the full kit do DIY. Car waxes

(rather than synthetic sealants) use natural ingredients,

the core part normally being a blend of Carnauba,

Beeswax, Montan Wax and solvents to make the harder

elements spreadable (products like Acetone, White

Spirit (Naptha) and other petroleum distillates,

including lighter fluid, which will ultimately evaporate

away. Then there’s a carrier element, normally oil-

based, to transport the wax: Almond Oil, and Coconut

oil being good examples. The approximate blend is

around a third of each; the blend of waxes, the solvent

and the carrier. If you’re brave you can buy these and

melt them together in a Pyrex jug sitting in a pan of

boiling water. When blended you then decant into nice

sealable plastic or aluminium pots ready to set and

then use. People have great success at this too,

creating some good end products at a fraction of the

cost of the premium waxes out there. At one point I will

have to have a go, meantime, I’ve started blending

liquids. Bear with me here…

I’ve become quite a fan of ceramic coatings,

especially after discovering Gyeon One (via son) - which

is available for a very cost effective price of around

£40. It will last around 2 years when maintained with

Ceramic-infused cleaners. Now, investigating these I’ve

come across products from UK company CarPro, who

also make a range of Ceramic coatings. Two I have

purchased are proving to be brilliant. Firstly, a

waterless wash and quick detailer spray - ECH2O - the

name a play on Echo and H2O I believe. This costs @

£15 for 500ml, however the best bit is it is dilutable,

so you can make litres of the stuff for that! For best

results, dilute with de-ionised water (very cheap) and

get a quality spray bottle. I’ve been buying aluminium

ones on eBay that are normally for hairdressing

salons—really good for a fiver, and you can swap the

trigger spray heads readily for your preferred as they

have a universal thread. For a Waterless Wash spray

where you want top lubricity, you go 10:1—so your

500ml will make a whopping 5 litres, and for the lighter

Quick Detailer (basically for adding more for ‘bling’),

you go 15:1 so that’s 7.5L! Now 7.5 litres of an

average QD like Autoglym’s Rapid Detailer would cost

you about £70!! Now that IS great value. Even more

surprising is the product contains cleaners, gloss

enhancers and genuine SiO2 silanes for added

protection and, the best bit, can be used on ANY

surfaces: any paint finish, any plastics rubber, and even

glass. It will not blacken tyres or plastics though, but it

can do enough! I’ve been using it mostly at 10:1 and

the gloss is terrific with a lovely smooth feel. It lifts dust

really well and being such great value you never feel

shy of using loads of it! It is great as a drying aid as

well down at 20:1 ratio. (Spray your drying towel, it

really helps, similar to using AutoGlym Aqua Wax.)

The other CarPro product, Reload, is more expensive

at £25 for 500ml. It’s a Ceramic spray sealant, applied

like a QD spray. Mist an area, then gently wipe away. It

leaves a slick layer which repels water extremely well

and leaves a stunning highly-reflective finish. Reload

(as its name sounds) is designed to boost a Ceramic

coating base layer but it will add protection to anything.

To use it as a quick detailer spray you mix it 1:1 with

Deionised water. The best bit though? You can add it

to your aforementioned ECH2O mix to create something

really special. Now I’ve been experimenting with blends

here just with these 2 products: 40ml ECH2O, 30ml

Reload and 430ml distilled water gives you a brilliant

end result. You can add to this with other clever

cleaners (Koch Chemie Fse, Bilt Hamber QD etc) all of

which being water-based… and the fun goes on.

Safest? Stick with just the CarPro products, but my

latest secret blend…. Oh boy!! Brilliant results and,

quantity for quantity it’s way cheaper than mainstream,

non-Ceramic Retail stuff. And Matthew, so far, no

explosions! (But I’ve not got on to the wax!).

I hope you like the new featurette below too. I can

see a series of these coming…. ;0) John

Concoct your own coating!

Of course, when you’ve sprayed the QD on you’re best using a 360gsm

Korean microfibre wiping in straight lines, lifting any dirt as you go. . .

When wiper blade judders drive you mad . . .

I thought I’d cleaned my front screen really well - then driving in a sudden downpour the

little-used wiper blades started to skip and judder like crazy. I gave the screen a good

few squirts with washer fluid, which helped a bit, but didn’t stop it. Back home it was

time to attack it! It was almost certainly as some stray chemical had got on the screen

and bonded to it, possibly a sealant spray for example, or simply a blob of oil chucked up

from a car in front. Anyway, I thought I’d try a tip I’d read and use some clay. I used a

weak solution of car shampoo as its lubricant rather than any QD spray and with a good

blob of clay (some old Autoglym stuff I had in its tin box) I wiped away. Well I was

amazed at the muck that came off! Lots of old bonded contaminants which came off

just like you get if using clay on paintwork.

A good wash down later, I applied glass sealant (AngelWax H2GO), buffed with a

waffle-weave glass towel and then gave the blades a good clean with screen spray

(AngelWax Vision). Once done I could immediately notice improved glass clarity against

a low sun and testing with water, no judder. Very satisfying that! John


Potions!

Claying glass.

CarPro

ECH2O

- SCOOP! -

P13

MiTo QV Adam Bowman

Adam is one of our younger members at just

20 years old. His MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde was

surprisingly cheaper to insure than a TwinAir

when he enquired. That must be something

due to the car’s record, who knows, but

nonetheless Adam is absolutely delighted with

its 170hp performance of course! It has the

slick 6-speed gearbox too and looks great with

the dark grey Turbine alloys against the white

paint. The QV manual is expected to be the

one many people will be after in future years,

they certainly are an absolute hoot to drive,

the rasp at the top of the revs in second being

particular fun.

Local Members’ Cars

Our Alfas Bertone 1750 GTV Matt Cox

Matt has been steadily improving his Bertone

since he got it—a thorough suspension rebuild

having been carried out earlier this year, and

the new GTA style wheels being added with the

race roundels added some other great touches.

To celebrate him having had it for a year, in

August he and Lorraine took it back up to see its

previous owner in Northumberland as a bit of a

road trip. Needless to say he was impressed!

As we reported last year, the car was originally

painted silver but really the racing red does look

the business.

Giulia Super TBi Chris Chinn

Chris has been along to 2 or 3 of our meetings

this year with his lovely Giulia in Bianco,

pictured here back in April at our first outdoor

evening meeting of the year - in the fog! He

loves driving the car but sadly is having to have

6 weeks off now as is going in for an Op. He’s

particularly saddened to be missing the Fox Run

of course. Anyway, a hearty ’get well soon’ for

all of us Chris and we hope to see you behind

the wheel again very soon.

Mito Veloce Liam & Debbie Pepper

Liam and Debbie had a very smart blue Mito

TwinAir Junior, but seeing this red Veloce at

Beechdale they just had to have it. Collected

ready for the new ‘plate at the beginning of

September in looks resplendent in Alfa Rosso

with the dark 5-hole alloys. Bellissima.

Safety Camera Group

on a new high

This speed camera in Kegworth near

East Midlands Airport has reportedly

issued over 2,000 speeding tickets

in the past month. Ryan Air, EasyJet

and Jet2 are all writing to complain

159 2.4 Ti Gavin Childs

Gav’s in that crazy Club of detailing

perfectionists - his 159 is just spotless with a

number of tasteful upgrades too including new

halo-style fog light surrounds as DRLs. His car

was runner up in this year’s Fun Concours as

car of the night, pipped by Paul Cooper’s green

1750 S1 Spider. Paul has now sold that, so

you never know what might happen next year!

Anyway as it stands it’s a fabulous car and one

he does really enjoy driving too.

145 Cloverleaf Graham Paris

The Alfa 145 is definitely on the endangered

species list, and Graham’s early example has to

be one of the best left. There are just 150 145s

of all types road registered and about 300 on a

SORN. Of those, 90 are Cloverleafs with 190

on SORN. That’s from a peak in 2001 of 1,900.

The quirky ‘breadvan’ styling is unmistakable,

and with the singing 150hp Twin Spark is a

genuinely rapid machine with 60 coming up in

8 seconds. The key problem area is the floor,

but with lots of underseal hopefully these last

ones can be preserved.

Giulia Veloce Jake Atkinson

Jake brought his Misano Blue Giulia over to our

September meeting to join in on the fun of the

run. It was another car sold via Paul and team

at Variava’s last year and looks terrific with its

tan interior too and yellow callipers.


Don’t miss

The FOX RUN

Join in on Sunday 21 October

Starts with breakfast around 10am, George & Dragon Thringstone. Just let John know if you’re taking part

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