IniezioneIniezioneIniezione May 2009 The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club
All Italian Car Gathering… Triple X Drive In
In This Issue:
The Fiat Enthusiasts Northwest put on their All Italian Gathering once again. The place was the
Triple X Drive In located in Issaquah. The 80 +/- cars filled the parking area nicely. From Alfa Ro-
meo, Fiat, Ferrari, Lamborghini, DeTomaso, to Lancia.
One of the Lamborghini‟s had a wild paint job. Seems funny to take a wild car and add wild paint, but to each their own. There was a Fiat 500 Wagon… it‟s about 12” longer than a standard Fiat
500. The Pantera section had a number of very nice, scary sounding cars. The sound of a big V8 is really impressive from those cars.
The Alfa Romeo section had a great turn out of cars… from multiple Duettos, numerous Spiders,
Gordy‟s JrZ, Merril‟s GTV6, a few GTVs and even more Alfa‟s in the parking areas around the show.
When people thought they‟d seen it all Pasquale showed up driving the attention grabbing Alfa
8cCompetizione. That drew a crowd and sure sounded great. (Especially as he left you could hear him take off down I-90.)
The awards for each make of car are awarded solely on People‟s
Choice. They had a number of great cars
to choose from and in the end they chose Sharon
Crosetto‟s very nice Gold Spider. Nice day and nicely done Sharon! By Fred
Russell
* President’s Column..pg 2 * News…….……..…......pg 3
* Club Meeting……......pg 4 * Martin Rudow ..........pg 5 * Tulip Rallye……….....pg 6
* Villa d’Este.……….....pg 7
* Bremerton Track…...pg 8 * April Lapping………..pg 9 * Membership………...pg 11 * Classified Ads…..... pg 12
* Calendar………...…..pg 12
Next events... * Club Meeting ……...May 12 * Lapping Day...….....May 22 * Lapping Evening….June 17
Pasquale’s 8c and Cindy’s Spider look good together
Alfa Fun and unique!
The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club
Harry
President’s Column By Harry Reed
NWARC in Excellent Shape
As I pen this column I can see bright sunshine in the garden, such a deal. The LaConner Tulip Daffodil Rallye is upon us. My daughter (the naviga-
tor) and I are ready for a top down drive and a good tour. This will be our fourth Tulip Tour; each year seems to get better. We have yet to win the
gimmick rallye. Just being there among all the neat cars makes all of us who participate a winner.
John Gates has stepped forward to head up our tech inspections on track days. This is a very important function to the club and helps us ensure we
have a safe track event. Our thanks to John. I look forward to seeing John and his red Alfa on the track.
Our club has purchased twelve new radios for our track events. We put them to use for the first time at Pacific Raceway. Our communications were
much improved, which makes for a safer lapping day for both the drivers and the track workers. Greg Miller obtained three bids for radios. The Club
Board made a decision as to which radios to order and the purchase was made. Then the hard work began. Greg was able to fit the twelve radios,
headsets, battery chargers, hand mics and radio belts into two footlockers. Greg then installed a cooling fan in each footlocker to cool the batteries
during the charging cycle. The charging system is wired in series so that all twelve radios may be charged at the same time. All this is accomplished
by using just one standard 120-volt household outlet. This was a very labor-intensive project, THANKS GREG.
You may or may not know that our Track Events support all of our club activities. It is not unlike a College Football program, in that the funds from
football support the other student activities. Most of the club dues we pay go to run the National Alfa Romeo Owners Club. The dues that do go to
our club do not cover our annual expenses. Our club is in excellent financial shape, unlike some of the banks we know about. Our good financial
condition is due solely from the income of track events. Our outstanding Competition Committee, of course, puts on these events. Competition Di-
rector, Brian William‟s, and all his helpers have a full schedule of events the next five months. Please give them your support whenever possible.
Martin Rudow made a great presentation of Italian Racecar History, from the 50‟s, through the 70‟s at out last meeting. These Italian cars all had a
history of racing in the Northwest. Martin‟s enthusiasm was certainly contagious. Thanks Martin, for a great Italian evening.
We have had all winter to get our Alfas ready for driving. Guess what, its time. Hope to see all of you on the great Northwest back roads.
Ciao, Harry
Pasta Nova
17310 140th Ave NE Woodinville, WA 98072
(425) 483-3716 www.pastanovaitaliano.com
The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club News For The Drying Out Alfisti
Seattle Times wants you… for the Sunday paper: E-mail a photo of you
and your car (172-dpi, about 5 by 7 inches) plus your name; phone num-
ber; occupation; car's year, make and model; and complete the sentence "I love my car because...". Send to: [email protected] Our members are invited to show, or attend the Uptown Car Show May
30th in Gig Harbor. The show will be held from 10 am to 4 pm. All cars are welcome… even Alfa Romeos. To be together as a club, either phone Dorothy Brinz at (253) 534-9600 or indicate “Alfa club” on the registration form. You can learn more about the show at www.UptownCarShow.com.
Jon Shirley wins Trifecta at Villa d’Este in Italy.
See page 7.
Chrysler / Fiat deal still on, despite filing bank-ruptcy. The reorganization is one of the steps so it looks like the deal will still go through as planned.
We‟ll just have to wait and see what‟s next. Sunriver Festival of Cars at Sunriver Oregon: We
are invited to attend or display cars in this very popular car show in September. The event draws around 200 cars and is a casual, yet very nice show. The date of
the show is September 19.
For more info: www.sunriverfestivalofcars.com John Barchasch wins the Tulip Rallye for the second time in a row. See more on page 6.
Sharon Crosetto wins Best of Show / Alfa at All Italian Car Gathering in
Issaquah. See more info on page 1.
Online Newsletter Option The Iniezione is now online… the enhanced
(color, active hyperlinks, printable) version is now online at the club web-site. This issue has been loaded to the site, e-mailed to you (if you„re in
the club‟s e-mail directory) and mailed to you. Those who didn‟t get this as an e-mail may need to update their e-mail list-ing within the club.
To do so, send a message to: [email protected] If you want to keep getting the mailed copy, you don‟t need to do anything except read and enjoy. If you only want the e-mail version, make sure you‟re in the club e-mail list, send an e-mail to: [email protected]
that simply says “online only” and has your name showing.
Club Liaisons Board Members
Italian Car Club of British Columbia
Fritz Duernberger (604) 988 7904
Society of Vintage Racing
Enthusiasts (SOVREN)
Steve Schaeffer (206) 789 9317
Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Oregon
Dan Sommers (503) 274 0064
www.nwalfaclub.com
The Iniezione is the monthly newsletter of the
Northwest Alfa Romeo Club, a non-profit organi-
zation of Alfa Romeo enthusiasts. NWARC is a
regional chapter of the national Alfa Romeo
Owners Club (AROC). Chapter meetings are held
the second Tuesday of every month except De-
cember.
Membership dues are $63 per year, which in-
cludes subscriptions to the Iniezione and the
national publication, Alfa Owner. For information
about joining the club, contact the membership
director, whose name appears on the previous
page.
Opinions expressed in the Iniezione are those of
the author and do not necessarily reflect those
of the club. Publication of articles describing
technical procedures does not constitute an en-
dorsement 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.
Committee Directors
President Harry Reed 8111 184th St. SW Edmonds, WA 98026 [email protected] Vice President Tom Mous 595 SW Mount Cedar Drive Issaquah, WA 98027 (425) 391 6429 [email protected] Secretary George Gibbs 23326 55th Ave S Kent, WA 98032-2817 (206) 465 9415
[email protected] Treasurer Ron Calkins PO Box 33512 Seattle, WA 98133 (206) 403 3445 [email protected] Activities Merril Gordon (206) 290 4704 [email protected] Competition Brian Williams (206) 444 5115 [email protected] Membership Mirko Freguia [email protected] (425) 898 0232 x100 __________________________ Iniezione Editor Fred Russell
[email protected] Technical Editor Wes Ingram 15613 “C” Peterson Road Burlington, WA 98233 (360) 707 5701 [email protected]
The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club May Club Meeting in Bellevue! May 12, 2009
Tuesday - May 12, 2009
6:30—7:30 PM Showroom Wandering 7:30—9:30 PM Meeting / Presentation
Location: Park Place Ltd. www.parkplaceltd.com
13710 NE 20th Street Bellevue, WA 98005
Special Guest: Don Kitch, Team Seattle
http://www.teamseattle.com/
Please come join us for an evening at Park Place Ltd. in Bellevue, cour-
tesy of our host, Shannon Low and crew. The shop once again has of-
fered to host our monthly meeting and to tell us about their newest de-
velopments.
We will also be featuring Don Kitch, who will be racing with Team Seattle
at their first attempt at this year‟s 24 Hours of
Le Mans in France. Team Seattle has been rais-
ing funds for Children‟s Hospital for many years
at the 24 Hours of Daytona and has now
stepped up to Le Mans!
Don will tell us all about the teams new cars
(Ferrari 430 GT), the upcoming race, the fund-
raising programs like the “Your Face at Le
Mans” , as well as anything else we want to
know.
We will hold our general meeting around 7:30 and then hand over to our
hosts. They are certainly going to entertain us with plenty of racing and
new car stuff.
Monthly meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of every
month. See you there!
The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club
Martin Rudow Shares NW Racing History
Our April club meeting brought us a history lesson on the cars, drivers, and
tracks from the rich racing past here in the northwest. Martin Rudow, club
member and accomplished author, brought great photos and stories along
with his latest book, Weekends of Glory. This book covers local racing
through the years of 1962 to 1970.
Martin grew up in a family that was very active in the local race scene so
many of the stories included first hand accounts of racers and races. Each
car has a story, and each person a character. Martin focused on the Italian
cars to keep the meeting under 10 hours long. We heard about races at Pacific
Raceways, Westwood, and Portland, but also about Ft. Lawton, Tillamook, Bremerton,
Paine Field, and Golden Gate, among others.
The mix of cars was amazing with big budget cars on the track along with local garage built, low
budget racers. Often Martin knows who built the cars, how they ran, and where they are today.
Many of the drivers are still very active within the vintage race
clubs like SOVREN, and can be seen on the local tracks.
The setting for this “schooling” was the loft area of a great restau-
rant called Tutta Bella located in the Columbia City neighborhood of
Seattle. They served us great Italian food and pizzas while we hustled through our
meeting and then lazily listened to Martin. It was a great way to spend the evening.
Then, the great people at Books4Cars.com opened up late for us. They are located
less than a block away and we had our own late night
shopping for fun Alfa and other car related books.
I have shared a few of the pictures from the book,
but to really enjoy the depth behind this, make sure
you find Martin and buy his latest book… Weekends of
Glory. http://
www.rspubs.com/
(Just note, his previous book “Long
Straights and Hair Pin Turns” is out
of print and selling used for hun-
dreds of dollars so buy the current
book now for just $69.95 and be
ahead of the curve.)
by Fred Russell
1957 Abbotsford, BC
1954 SCCA Nationals Bremerton, WA
Lancia Flaminia
Alfa GTA
1953 Siata at Paine Field, WA
1960 SCCA Regional's at Pacific Raceways
Gary Gove in a Cheetah at Pacific Raceways
The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club Tulip Rallye Wrap-up April 25, 2009
The 28th annual MG Car Club Tulip Rallye was held
on April 25th with a record number of cars and peo-
ple. It serves as one of the funnest gimmick rallies
we get to drive. This year was no exception. Goofy
questions, great roads, outstanding scenery, and a
wonderful variety of cars makes for a great way to
spend the day with a bunch of like minded people.
The NWARC had a good turn out with approximately
10 cars! The other car clubs showed up, with 25
Corvettes, a few old Minis and 30+ new Minis. Of
course the MG club had plenty of great examples of British creativity including MGTC, TD and
TF models rattling their way around the course. In all, 306 cars were in this year‟s event… a
new record.
The weather was great for the day and the tulips were in perfect bloom… though the tough
competition didn‟t leave much room to stop and
enjoy them. At the start, they handed drivers one
of three different course instructions so you can‟t
follow the people in front of you. The paths lead
us through the tulip fields then down onto Whid-
bey Island as we answered the funny questions.
After Ebey‟s Landing, always a favorite place for
me, we stopped in Coupeville and dropped off
food and donations for the local food bank. When
the final scores where tallied, one of the most
amazing parts was that over 735 pounds of food,
and over $1400 of cash had been donated. It‟s
great to have fun with make a difference.
In the end, the awards were handed out to the
winning team from each car club. The NWARC
winner was a repeat by the John Barchasch team
driving their Alfa Spider! Nicely done and now
the pressure is on for 2010 for a threepete.
By Fred Russell
The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este April 24—26, 2009
One of the premier car shows on the planet is held annually on the shores of
Lake Como in northern Italy. Concorso d‟Eleganza Villa d‟Este! Jon Shirley
displayed his beautifully restored dark blue 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C2900B and
established a new high mark win.
The Concorso d‟Eleganza Villa d‟Este is perhaps the most significant of all
events celebrating the
mystique of Historic Cars.
It is undoubtedly the most
traditional event which
was held for the first time
as early as 1929. Over the years it wasn‟t always held, but was revived
in 1990 and has been a must see event ever since.
They award three top trophies; First is the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este
which is voted by secret ballot from the special guests, general atten-
dees, and actual entrants. Next is the Trofeo BMW Group - Best in
Show which is the vote of the event judges. Third, there is the Tro-
feo BMW Italia voted on by only the general attendees.
For the first time in event history, one car took all top three honors…
Jon Shirley and his Alfa 8C2900B. Congratulations Jon!
Trivia Question for May… Alfa Romeo built 2640 of the RLTF from 1921 to 1927. The question is… What key
thing was added for the first time in 1923? We still have this on our cars today.
Trivia Answer for April… What kind of household appliance did Alfa Romeo
manufacture just after WWII?
The answer is stoves… They were an odd Gas Electric stove. Half of the burner elements were gas and half
were electric. I‟m told that the reason was that so much infrastructure was damaged during WWII that nei-
ther power source was dependable. Logic was to simply have both so you could use whichever was avail-
able. If it burned oil it would have more in common with my current Alfa Romeo. Fred R
The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club Bremerton Track Day Coming Up May 22nd
Bremerton Raceway is a 1.25 mile temporary road
course.
Track layout for lapping day is delineated by cones
and varies slightly every event. The illustration
above is the general area used to layout the track
for our track events.
This NWARC lapping event is a great chance to
practice or perfect your skills and car settings. This
is also the place to learn what our lapping days are
all about for anyone new to this. To Register for
the day:
http://www.nwalfaclub.com/track/registration.php
Schedule
7:00 a.m. Gates Open
7:30 a.m. Registration & Safety Inspection
8:30 a.m. MANDATORY driver's meeting
12:00 p.m. Lunch
4:00-5:00 p.m. Track closes
Be sure to read and understand all of the NWARC
Safety rules posted at our web site.
The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club
April Lapping Day at Pacific Raceways Wrap up!
The weather tried to scare us away, but the number of
people signed up was higher than normal, and they all
showed up at the April 23rd Lapping Day at Pacific Raceways. For me, the day started with a swing past John Van Rensberg‟s (JVR) home to pickup his Alfa 75 to take him
to the track. It is always a great way to make friends with the neighbors when you start his fire breathing 3.7 ltr monster at 6:30 AM to drive it into the trailer. With a lot of noise and a little grunt work, the car inside,
strapped down, and on the way. The spotty rain showers had stopped while we were still
on our way to Pacific Raceways and held off all day…
though cold, it was fine for the track event. The track registration was a bit behind schedule, and
with higher than normal volume of cars, we ended up get-ting a late start. Once going Group A had a good session
that included a number of very fast cars… a black Lambor-ghini Gallardo, a twin turbocharged Cor-
vette, and a number of Alfas. Group B went well for
a while on their first
session… until one Race Mustang lost an oil line and dumped nearly 10 qts of oil on
the track, right on line
from turn 3B to just before turn 6. 100
pounds of grease sweep and 2 hours later we
were back to driving. (The Mustang driver was cool to apologize to everyone during the drivers meeting!) The unfortunate casualty
of the oil was a BMW that spun in turn 5 and hit the tire barrier hard enough to dent the entire side of the car. The afternoon sessions went well with a large
number of cars in each outing. Group C had one casualty in mid afternoon when a stu-
JVR setting up to pass a Mini.
Red Ryder Running Right
Chris Benny leading a Lamborghini
The newsletter of the Northwest Alfa Romeo Club April Lapping Day cont’d...
dent and instructor in a BMW M3 missed a shift, spun and took a hard hit on the wall in turn 9. Nobody was seriously
hurt, thanks to seat belts, airbags, and a good car. Turn workers, emergency response, and track crew all did a great job and we were back to driving quickly.
Great job to the Comp Committee for another well run track event even with a couple challenges. Great job to all the driv-ers and instructors who made it another successful and fun
day at the track. (oh, yeah… thanks to JVR for having the Alfa 75 monster at the track and to
Tom Nuxoll for spending so much time entertaining us with your car sideways and back-wards.) by Fred Russell
Ferrari tries to hold off an Alfa in turn 9 Fred Wright getting some fast laps
A pack of Porsches running from a fast Lamborghini
Alfa e’Alfa
Putting 500+ HP to good use!
Name:_________________________________________________________ Spouse:________________________________________________________
Address:_______________________________________________________ City/State/Zip:__________________________________________________ Home Phone:___________________________________________________ E-mail address:_________________________________________________ Work Phone:___________________________________________________
Do you wish to be affiliated with the local Alfa Club, NWARC? ____________ Please indicate your interests: Technical_____ Tours_____ Social______ Rally______ Vintage Cars_______
Cost: $60 annual + $3 to join NWARC
Make check payable to: ALFA ROMEO OWNERS CLUB E-mail:[email protected]
Mail to: ALFA ROMEO OWNERS CLUB P.O. BOX 12340 KANSAS CITY, MO 64116-0340
NWARC / AROC Membership Application
Welcome New Members!!!
On behalf of the entire NWARC, a warm and enthu-siastic WELCOME to our new member who have
joined the club within the past couple months. Brian Gillow, Everett
Thank you for taking the time and joining, we‟re very glad to have you as part of the group. We look forward to seeing you at monthly meetings and events, and to sharing our passion of Alfa Romeo.
The following members have volunteered to pro-
vide Alfa Mentoring!!! Ciao, Mirko Model/Series Member Name Contact GTV-6, 164 Randy Rumley [email protected] 164 Dan Jardine [email protected] GTV Dave Emerson [email protected] 70‟s Spiders, Series 4 Greg Miller [email protected] 70‟ Spiders, GTV Fred Wright [email protected] Spiders (101/105) George Gibbs [email protected] 80‟s Spiders Harry Reed [email protected] Everything! Fred Russell [email protected]
LL
C
The Alfa Club National Convention is coming to-
gether. The details are in the Alfa Owner and the
AROO / Convention Website is working. Either way,
do your planning and get signed up.
http://www.velocenelverde.org
AROO is looking for volunteers for many of the
events.
Contact Roger Dilts at [email protected] or
503 768 4437
AROC National Convention
July 15—19, 2009
Wanted: A set of 4 Campagnolo wheels for and Alfa Spider.
I‟m looking for wheels in Good Condition. If you don‟t have Cam-
pagnolo, but you have nice wheels, contact me (Marke). sim-
For Sale: After racing it only once a year for the last three years
I've decided to sell my RX-7 Pro7 racecar and free up the garage for
new projects. The car is straight, never crashed, turn key and
ready to race. It is fast in its class, and amazingly reliable! I built
the car myself from a straight, rust free, one owner streetcar. The
car still has the original engine but it is as quick down the straight
as the guys with their shop built $$ 'stock' engines, in spite of my
shift points being much earlier, and does not show any signs of old
age. The car has maybe 10 races since I built it, if that and I have
not even replaced the sparkplugs in that time! Obviously I've
changed the oil, brake fluid and brakes but that's it. Car can sit for
months and then fire right up. I even usually drive the car to the
track and many times don't even open the hood on a race weekend,
and the car is as quick as the ones that have been tinkered with all
weekend. Last fall I drove the car to the track, on the race tires,
skipped the Saturday practice and Sunday morning qualifying. Was
underweight in the Saturday qualifying so I had to start at the back
of the field, did not touch a thing on the car all weekend, except fill
it up with gas, and finished third in class (out of 6 Pro7 cars) and
20th out of 36 cars overall so the car is very capable.
$3500 for a quick and hassle free sale. The car comes with 3 sets
of wheels, Toyo RA-1 rain tires in great condition and used up
shaved RA-1s on the other two sets. Also includes a spare transmis-
sion, a locked rear end, extra carburetor and brake calipers and
misc other bits and pieces. Any questions please email me at:
[email protected] Thanks, Thomas Moll
For Sale: 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider Quadrifoglio Very nice origi-
nal condition. Excellent grey leather interior, no cracks. Red exte-
rior has a few minor nicks. Everything works, 49K original
miles. Factory hardtop. Recent clutch, exhaust, brakes, tires, and
rubber replacement parts. $8500.00 Call Gene in Port Townsend
at 360-379-0209 or [email protected] for photos.
ALFA Classified Ads Calendar of Events
May 12 Club Meeting Park Place / Bellevue
May 22 NWARC Bremerton Lapping Day
June 17 NWARC Pacific Raceways Lapping (Evening)
July 3-5 PNW Historics Pacific Raceways
July 15—19 AROC National Convention Portland OR
July 22 NWARC Pacific Raceways Lapping Day (TBD)
August 6-9 AROO NW Classic Rally XXI Oregon
August 27 NWARC Pacific Raceways Lapping Day (TBD)
Sept 6 17th Annual Italian Concours
Sept 26-28 Terry and Joan Larson 3 Day Fall Tour
October 15 NWARC Bremerton Lapping Day
Are you advertising in Iniezione? Why Not?
Many of us would prefer buying services from fellow Alfisti before looking
outside the “family”.
Advertisements in the newsletter are a win, win, win. 1. Ad
revenue goes to the club. 2. Members feel better about who they contact.
3. Your business gets added exposure during this very tight economy.
From contractors, attorney‟s, designers, printers, landscapers, etc… Spread
your word by placing an ad.
Advertising Rates
Full Page: $25 Monthly $175 Annually
Half Page: $20 Monthly $120 Annually
Bus Card size: $15 Monthly $ 90 Annually
E-mail a tif, or pdf file (300 DPI) to [email protected]
CC [email protected] to arrange payment.
Interested in placing a classified ad? E-mail to [email protected] with your text. Please include
name, phone, and preferably an e-mail address. Add in a photo
if you‟d like but keep it small. Your ad will run for sixty days or
two newsletters.
Want your ad to continue to run for another month? E-mail: [email protected] before the 15th of the month.