National Alfa Day UK

["Tim Hancock" <timhancock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sunday 22nd June was AROC (UK) National Alfa Day held at The Motor Heritage
Centre at Gaydon near Warwick. I am a distant not very involved member of AROC
(UK), but I did at least put a few faces to names at the East Midlands Section
get together at the Hostility Suite, and promised to try harder this year! The
weather was approaching 30c and very muggy and humid, but sunny. It was nice
to escape from the cavalcade of what must have been about 800 Alfas into the
slightly cooler exhibition hall and look at some of the highs and also some of
the very low points of the UK motor Industry. I patted the Mini Cooper S that
won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally on the bonnet and said ' well done little car'.
I merely gazed in wonder at the MG streamliners including the one that topped
200 MPH in 1939 with a 1250cc supercharged engine. There is the yellow Jaguar
E type with 340 miles on it as it spent most of its life in the hold of the
Queen Mary liner. There are the Rover Gas Turbine cars, but not the Le Mans
Rover BRM car that came 8th in 63 and was rebodied managing 10th the following
year. If you are in the UK its well worth the visit as there is lots to see.

I have to say that modern Alfa 156s out numbered all others. There were only a
couple of prewar Alfas including a Monza which sounded great when they were
run, but I am reluctant to try to give numbers for the various types (even my
800 total estimate is probably low). I grabbed a few small bargains at the
autojumble where one determined fellow was seen departing with an almost
complete brand new airconditioning system for a 164 for well under #100
($150).

As ever cam belt failures seem to cause the most disquiet from Alfa owners I
spoke to. 156 TS engines are not reliable enough, though Its too early to
comment on the single spark JTS engine. One chap I spoke to had his 2 litre TS
engine backfire, which stripped the cam belt, wrecked the valves, and less
predictably blew the composite inlet manifold apart in spite of assurances it
had been designed to withstand this type of occurrence. The fly by wire
throttle units are frankly not good enough. You hear of too any people having
trouble with them, and in some cases the replacement unit fails too. All the
same the 156 is undeniably popular for what it does do well, not least because
there is nothing that looks half as good on the road at almost any price. The
face lifted 156 has been launched, but does not arrive here until september.It
promises better build quality...for the umpteenth time. The inability of Alfa
to actually build enough cars and deliver them is another moan I heard from
dealer and prospective buyer alike.They lose a lot of sales over unkept
delivery promises.

On a slightly bizarre and certainly sad note I noticed a dead wallaby by the
road side on the way there. Now wallabys come from Australia I hear you all
say in chorus. Well they are increasingly common here too having escaped from
private zoos. They thrive too, but not on the west bound carriageway of the A
45 I regret to say.

Finally it is plainly obvious that Alfa is as healthy as it has ever been in
the UK with much loyal support ( not always deserved ), and membership of the
AROC (UK) is at an all time high. If the quality gripes are dealt with then
the US can really look forward to these cars, or more likely the next
generation of Alfas.

Tim Hancock  Boston UK

164TS
164Super
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