Iniezione - Alfa Romeo · The Iniezione is the monthly newsletter of the NorthWest Alfa Romeo Club,...

Iniezione The newsletter of the NorthWest Alfa Romeo Club

W hen we set the dates for our semi-annual Driver

Skills / Car Control Clinics we can never be sure

what the weather will provide. Fortunately, this

November 18 event (sponsored by Prova Motorsports)

turned out to be crisp, cold and as sunny as we've ever

seen - a real bonus! Here are reports from a couple of the

participants.

Alfa Fun Day!

O n a cool, clear November day, Mirko and his ex-

pert team

once

again put on a

terrific drivers’

skills course for a

full audience. This

class was special

because of the

guest speaker,

Kathy Rude. She

was a fun instructor with practical applications as well as

sage advice. We then split into 2 groups and jumped into our

rides with enthusiasm!

I don’t remember much about the other car makes and

models except that there were 4 Giulias! One was a quad

and it sounded soooo healthy! Several young drivers were

there too – poor Belle even had her dad (Mirko) jump in the

car with her! LOL

Driving our new Alfa Giulia was a perfect way to test its

limits and capabili-

ties. I was sur-

prised at how re-

sponsive it is in

emergency drills,

especially the

braking!

Lots of car talk

ensued for the

certificate awards,

then the hot shots

went out for fast laps. We scooted out (I was

driving to show off my newly-practiced skills) to

lunch and to enjoy the remainder of a lovely

Sunday in the northwest.

Thanks to all of the volunteers and staff who

made this another great

NWARC event.

- Lynn Faherty

Skills School

W ith 25 students ready to go, coffee and

donuts on the table, the classroom was

the starting point. To make this really

special our guest instructor greeting the class and

teaching the morning session was Kathy Rude, the

famous race driver from the late 70's and early

80's. Kathy made a name for herself racing in For-

mula Fords and IMSA races, driving Ford-powered

Lolas, and Camaros, Mazdas, Toyotas and

more. Teamed with the legendary Australian Allan

Moffat, she took the GTU

Fun in the Sun at the Driving School Great Weather helps Drivers Learn and Speedsters… Speed!

(continued on page 4)

December, 2018

In this issue…

* Driving School/HPDE... .. pp 1, 4

* President’s Column .............. p 2

* Holiday Party ….... …….…… p 3

* New Year’s Day Drive…….....p 3

* IMPORTANT - Giulia/Stelvio

Recall …..……………………...p 5

* Books4Cars ……….……….. p 5

* Holiday Party Details …...….p 6

* Tanks/SPICA/Distributors …..p 7

* T33-based Concept Cars ..

………………………...……pp 8-10

* Membership Update ……... p 11

* Classifieds ……….………... p 12

* Membership Form …..……. p 14

* Calendar ……….......……... p 16

Next club events…

* Holiday Party …………..... Dec 9

* New Years Day Drive …... Jan 1

* Club Meeting …………..….Jan 8

Joe Faherty

Joe Faherty

Joe Faherty

Iniezione page 2 December 2018

Appreciation

I n a couple of days we’ll be sitting down for our club’s an-

nual holiday gathering, which this year we’ve dubbed

“Raccolta per Apprezzamenti”, as a gathering of apprecia-

tion for all the work that went into this year’s hosting of the

national convention in Olympia. The effort started over a year

prior with a small core group making tentative plans, checking

possibilities and putting a proposal together. Once rolling,

there were negotiations and contracts, and the volunteer

group began to grow and they started to create our web pres-

ence and online registration tool.

Sea-to-Summit tours required multiple trips to create routes,

check out roads and test route guides well in advance. Nu-

merous hotel visits to plan and cost the space for vendors,

support, hospitality, banquet, check-in, meals, tech sessions

and concorso, with options since all of this is prior to knowing

the attendee numbers. Food planning required making choic-

es, sampling offerings and being sure they could feed a few

hundred people all at once. There were plenty of offsite

events to plan for like LeMay Museum / Museum of Glass,

self-driving tours, Gimmick Rally and track events. Each of

these took time and many road miles to make happen. We

even had to be timely, as, for example, the Audi National

Convention in the NW wanted the same wonderful track on

the same day.

To ensure that Alfisti outside of our area attended we had to

get the word out. Many people wrote articles about our

planned events, which were edited to sound like one voice

and submitted to the Alfa Owner with appealing photos. The

AROC leadership team and Alfa Owner staff were great to

work with and supportive. We created the event program,

worked with advertisers and created welcome packets. After

the event, the Alfa Owner process was repeated with numer-

ous people writing great stories capturing the fun and getting

it all into the Alfa Owner on time.

Identifying a good key-note speaker and arranging expert

talks was both fun and challenging. All our speaker options

were good, and our final choice of Garth Stein couldn’t have

been better. Thanks, Garth! Roping in Jon Shirley and Da-

vid Smith when both had schedules pulling them far from

Olympia… another big thank you to them. The bonus of a

live musical performance on the RL Living Stage by Cindy

Akana was another special gift. Thank you, Cindy!

Planning was stressful as the team had to estimate how

many attendees there might be. Once opened, registrations

started slowly and the team had to create backup plans in

case they were needed. As the attendee numbers grew we

expanded some plans to accommodate them, such as dou-

bling the Sea-to-Summit tours to include more than previous

conventions.

The guest’s view is often

different from that of the vol-

unteers. That was true to

some extent for sempre-

verde2018, but not entirely. A

few core members - Gordy

Hyde, Dolly Samson, Debi &

Tony Schmid, Doug Zaitz -

carried the largest load of all

to make sure everything went

well. They were often too busy to enjoy every minute, though

they still seemed to enjoy how it all came out. From my an-

gle, almost every other volunteer and attendee was able to

enjoy all the activities. Behind the scenes our club treasurer

and the convention treasurer quietly kept the books and

made sure the paperwork happened.

Every step of the way people went out of their way to help,

from task ownership to support, but the appreciation doesn’t

stop there. None of these events happen without attendees.

We celebrate the enthusiasm each of us has for the marque

we love and the friendships we have within AROC and

NWARC, and in sharing the NW with all our guests at sem-

preverde2018.

Though the convention was our largest event of the year we

have many other efforts to appreciate as well. Our VP, Gordy

Hyde, helped arrange numerous monthly club meetings.

Debi Schmid put together another fantastic Garden Tour.

Mirko Freguia ran multiple driving schools and lapping days.

We had plenty of driving tours. Every month Earl Krygier up-

dated our website including moving us to a new site host, up-

dating the landing page and adding videos. Meanwhile Jon

Inge created and edited outstanding newsletters and found

new advertisers. Numerous people came forward with arti-

cles sharing their view of events for all of us to enjoy. We

had a fun pasta sauce competition, membership grew, new

logo designs were submitted and meeting minutes tallied.

Our treasurer, Ken Case, kept the books, invested our sav-

ings, and handled insurance and paperwork. It is their efforts

that keep all these events and this Alfa Romeo chapter work-

ing so well.

I personally appreciate everything these people provide so

willingly for all of us. My request to all of you is to keep me

honest on this. If I’ve forgotten to express my appreciation for

efforts you or someone you know provided, let me know. In

fact, I’d like an email ([email protected]) or a note

(654 Jefferson Ave NE, Renton 98056) from every one of you

letting me know what you appreciate about the people,

events and services provided by NWARC / AROC. I’d love to

share your words and it’s a wonderful way to start the new

year.

- Fred Russell

President’s Column By Fred Russell


AROO (Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon) Doug Zaitz

509-768-4312 [email protected]

FEN (Fiat Enthusiasts NW) Gordy Hyde

425-241-9307

MGCCNWC (MG) Ken Bottini

425-883-9615

Pacific Coast AROA (BC, Canada)

Don Best 604-939-5056 dlbest@telus

President Fred Russell

(425) 308-6621 [email protected]

Vice President Gordy Hyde

(425) 241-9307 [email protected]

Secretary Joanie Vivaz

(206) 420 8161 [email protected]

Treasurer Ken Case

[email protected]

Activities Directors Judy & Bill Gehring 425 822-4231

[email protected]

Chief Driving Instructor Mirko Freguia 206-795-0861

Membership Chairs Paul & Kristy Affolter

206-523-8534 [email protected]

[email protected]

Newsletter Editor Jon Inge 206-355-3111

[email protected]

Webmaster Earl Krygier 206-349-3913

[email protected]

Technical Wes Ingram 360-707-5701

15613 “C” Peterson Road Burlington, WA 98233

[email protected]

http://nwalfaclub.com

www.aroc-usa.org www.alfabb.com

Facebook: NWARC

Board Members

Committee Leadership

Club Liaisons

The Iniezione is the monthly newsletter of the NorthWest Alfa Romeo Club, a non-profit organization of Alfa Ro-meo enthusiasts. NWARC is a regional chapter of the national Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC). Chapter meet-ings are typically held the second Tuesday of most months except December. Membership dues are $65 per year, which includes subscriptions to the digital and/or print versions of the Iniezione and the monthly national publica-tion, Alfa Owner. For information about joining the club, contact the Membership Chairs listed in the right hand column. Opinions expressed in the Iniezione are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the club. (The authors 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?

Commercial advertisements in the newsletter are a win! Give your business added exposure while supporting the NWARC. Ad rates are: Fullpage: $110/Qtr, $275/Yr Half Page: $90/Qtr, $220/Yr Qtr Page: $65/Qtr, $170/Yr Business Card: $50/Qtr, $120/Yr. E-mail a color .jpg, .tif or .pdf file (300 DPI) to [email protected]

To subscribe to the digital newsletter, please sign up using the form at the lower right corner of the Club Web-site’s home page, www.nwalfaclub.com..

Informazioni Generali

Next Club Meetings

O ur annual Holiday Party, always a

Festa di Amici, is this year also a

Raccolta per Apprezzamenti, a

gathering to appreciate all the hard

work and volunteer

effort that went into

making sempre-

verde2018, the

AROC national con-

vention, such a huge

success in August.

Part of the apprecia-

tion comes in the

form of a club subsi-

dy towards the cost

of your meal!

You really won’t want to miss this wonder-

ful evening, which includes a recap of the

year’s activities and presentation of the Alfisti

of the Year Award. Full details are on page 6

- book your seats and entrée choices now!

- Judy Gehring

December 9 Holiday Party, Seattle

S tart your day and your New Year

by enjoying a drive in your favorite

Alfa Romeo. This year we'll gather at

8:30 am in the Starbucks at 17196 Red-

mond Way, Redmond, near the back of the

Safeway parking area. After a short social

gathering and driver/navigator

talk, we’ll head out for back

roads to Snoqualmie Falls for a

stop and viewing. Next, we’ll

continue on back roads, wan-

dering south through Ravens-

dale then west to the North-

shore area before dropping

down into Tacoma.

Our end point will be the LeMay

- America's Car Museum, arriving

at noon; we’ll park our Alfas on

the plaza just in front of the mu-

seum entry. Entry as a group is discounted

but you must have the $10 in cash. For

lunch, choose either Pacific Grill inside the

museum, or Alfred's Café about 2 blocks

north of the museum; both are similarly

priced and have similar menus. Pick a favor-

ite after we purchase our entry tickets /

wristbands for the museum.

We’ll be on our own schedule to en-

joy the exhibits. The key displays are

the 125 Honda motorcycles on display

from the Brown Maloney Collection,

the Tuners display and the Heroes of

Bavaria BMW display. Of

course there are other cool

things to see, but those are

new and amazing.

- Fred Russell

January 1 New Year’s Anti-Football Drive

https://hangouts.google.com/?action=chat&pn=%2B12064208161&hl=en&authuser=0

http://www.nwalfaclub.com


class win in a Mazda RX-7 at the 1982 24 Hours of Daytona.

Her race career ended in 1983 after a serious crash during a

Camel GT IMSA race. Kathy had the students’ attention

throughout the classes and set them up well for the driving

exercises.

The students took turns learning car control in a variety of

vehicles in four different exercises. Slalom, braking, smooth

steering, crash avoidance, eyes

up... all were key to their efforts.

The many volunteers did a won-

derful job of advising and explain-

ing the techniques being prac-

ticed. The skid pads went well,

with plenty of dry pavement for

drivers on the figure 8 and oval

routes. As the exercises ended,

students learned a lot and only a

few cones died a painful death.

- Fred Russell

HPDE

W ith a sunny afternoon and dry

track, Pacific Raceways was

a great place for our last lap-

ping event of 2018, and club chief driv-

ing instructor Mirko Freguia organized

another outstanding High Performance

Driving Education (HPDE) session.

With a good crew of instructors, our

rookie group did well learning the track

during their sessions. The novice ses-

sions had lots of people out setting

down smooth, consistent laps and improv-

ing on their sport-driving techniques with

the help of our generous instructors. Unfor-

tunately, a couple of sessions were delayed

due to two single-car incidents which our

friends at

Race Res-

cue handled

quickly and expert-

ly. With the help of

our experienced cor-

ner workers, and af-

ter a mid-session

“refresher” drivers

meeting, the track

went green again for

the remainder of the afternoon.

The lessons learned from these

incidents are simply that practice,

coaching, details, technique and expe-

rience are key. Also, that safety prep

is important and we're glad we prac-

tice those things well. Lastly, remem-

ber to be fully aware of the limitations

of your car insurance; we strongly en-

courage considering the options for 1-

day or event-specific “track" insurance if your existing cover-

age doesn't cover "on track" or "HPDE" events.

We ran until it got dark around

4:45 PM and started picking up

our cones from around the track.

Thanks go out to all the many

setup/cleanup people, turn work-

ers, instructors and registered

drivers for making it such a good

day overall.

Next year, we have a total of 4

events penciled in, the first

one is on March 10th. Watch

for your chance to be part of

the fun, to hone your skills

and to learn the capabili-

ties of your car!

- Fred Russell

and Mirko Freguia

Fun in the Sun - continued

Ben Shinmori

Fred Russell

Fred Russell

Fred Russell Fred Russell

Joe Faherty

Joe Faherty


D o you own a 2017 -2018 Giulia or Stelvio? Did you

get an "Engine Misfire" recall notice in the mail in Oc-

tober?

Even if you didn't you're

going to want to have the

dealer check, update, and

confirm the fix. Keith Will-

son, one of our chapter

members in Olympia, just

had the failure happen on

his Stelvio and the car

burned. Thankfully he's

okay but the Stelvio - still

under warranty - is a total

loss.

DO NOT DELAY - make

sure this has been or is tak-

en care of immediately!

- Fred Russell

T here are only a few people in this world who manage to

surround themselves with their favorite things and find

a way to turn it into a career. Our host for our Novem-

ber 13 club meeting, Alex Voss, has done just that. Hosted in

the Columbia City neighborhood, Books4Cars.com is Alex's

unique book store. Alex has run this special business for

many years, with the vast majority of his customers being

online, so having a crowd inside his store makes for a snug

fit.

This book store is focused on the tech-

nical books about cars. Think of the sales

reference, service manuals, parts books,

service bulletins, and owners manuals.

These, for every car you can imagine, can

be found on Books4Cars shelves. They

also have historical books, coffee table

books and many fun collectible books as

well. If they don't have a book you need,

they'll do the searching for you. On staff,

Alex Voss has good help from Alex

Sargeant.

For our club meeting the crowd gath-

ered for Alex and Alex to share info of

how things are inventoried, book types, and much more. Alex

V. told us how sometimes it's lawyers that buy owner’s manu-

als to compare details during what must be a legal case.

Feeding our addiction, Alex directed us toward the shelves

filled with Alfa Romeo books. Unsurprisingly the attendees all

seemed to find good choices, as nearly every club member

walked out with a few more books for their libraries.

Prior to the meeting more than 20 of us met a block away at

Tutta Bella for a pleasant dinner and some social time. The

restaurant provided us with its upstairs loft dining space so we

could all sit together and enjoy the usual banter we seem to be

quite good at.

- Fred Russell

WARNING - Check Your Giulia/Stelvio For Recall Compliance

November 13 Club Meeting - Topping Up the Library


Raccolta per Apprezzamenti Holiday Party!

LAST CALL!

T his year’s holiday party will be a special gathering of

appreciation to celebrate all the many contributions our

club members made to the successful Sempreverde

convention in August. In recognition of those efforts, the

dinner price will be reduced from the usual $50 to just $40,

subsidized from the con-

vention proceeds. Sign Up

Now!

The party will again be

held at Marianna Ristorante

in Renton (starting at 5:30

pm), but this year we have

reserved the entire restau-

rant and lounge. Join your

fellow Alfisti for an appetiz-

er buffet, beverages and

the ever-popular silent auc-

tion. Then enjoy a sit-down

dinner and dessert, followed

by a presentation including

the introduction of new club officers, the Alfisti of the Year

award, and a look back at the convention and all our other

2018 activities.

The silent auction has always been fun and successful be-

cause of the generous donations made by sponsors and club

members. Auction items might include Alfa books, miniatures,

art, services, gift baskets, wine, homemade treats, vacation

getaways, dinners…be creative, and let us know what you can

offer! It’s very helpful to us to have your descriptions and esti-

mated values of donated items when we make up the auction

forms. Auction proceeds go to charities chosen by the club.

To donate, contact Judy or Bill Gehring at 425-822-4231.

The cost for members and guests is $40 per person. You can

register online at MotorsportsReg at https://bit.ly/2q5KrdI,

or by calling Bill or Judy Gehring at 425-822-4231.

There are 6 Entrée Choices this year:

New York Steak * Alaskan King Salmon * Lasagna

Chicken Marsala * Linguini with Fresh Seafood

Ravioli with Aurora Sauce (vegetarian)

Coffee and soft drinks are included. A full bar has draft beer,

espresso drinks and wines available for purchase. If you

have questions or special dietary requirements, please con-

tact Judy Gehring at 425-822-4231.

Raccolta per Apprezzamenti Holiday Party

Sunday December 9, 5:30-10:00 pm

Marianna Ristorante

310 Wells Avenue S

Renton, WA 98057

Please Register by December 3rd!

- Judy Gehring

Sunday, December 9 Holiday Party, Marianna Ristorante, Renton

Upcoming Events

https://bit.ly/2q5KrdI


F rom disassembly and attempted cleanup I learned inter-

esting details about the fuel tank in a 2000 Berlina.

Part of what makes cleaning out these tanks a bit of a

challenge is an anti-slosh baffle in its sump to help keep the

fuel pick-up covered in turns pulling Gs. An interesting and

valuable feature. Later tanks worked on different principles,

but that was the practice, apparently, during the Spica years.

Centerline Alfa sourced a suitable replacement tank, saving a

great deal of difficulty and effort. I can only guess how they

were able to offer this newly-made tank at a reasonable price;

it’s not a catalog item. This may have resulted from the efforts

of others, later taken over by Centerline. I understand that the

tanks for carburetor-equipped Alfas do not include this fea-

ture. Spica only.

Fuel starvation is real, but my own view is that it can take

some time and Gs to bring about. Nevertheless, Alfa would

have tested for it. This aerial view

shows Alfa’s Centro Sperimentale

Balocco, situated west of Arese.

The layout is instructive; it reminds

us of the commitment, resolve and

determination shown by Alfa Romeo

designers through the years. At left

we see what looks like the largest

carousel turn in the world. At right a

skidpad worthy of a king. Testing at

this facility tended to drive out prob-

lems with production cars that would

only come to light in such setting.

These folks knew well what Alfa owners were going to do

with their new cars straight away. I remember distinctly in the

1970s that Alfas had the reputation of being built from the fac-

tory for driving at the limit. The Spica cars in particular evi-

denced a wonderfully linear throttle response, even at mid-

range, making the car very easy to drive, whether cruising or

at speed. Foot on the floor? Not a problem.

Cam tuning, intake and exhaust geometry, and mixture con-

trol from the Spica system combined to give the engine an

amazingly broad power band; I think factory literature claimed

90% of maximum torque from 2500 to 5500 rpm. Peak torque

at 3700 rpm. You could really work with that. The engine was

not high-revving and never came up lacking.

The Marelli distributor used with the Spica fuel system differs

considerably from common practice at that time. Wes Ingram

advises that the reason Alfa had Marelli produce the larger

diameter distributor was related to cross fire, where energy

intended for one spark plug crosses over to wires for another,

denying the intended cylinder its appropriate spark energy.

This is common enough in domestic V8s and well-understood

by drag racers, thus the 8mm silicone-insulated wires and ele-

gant wiring looms you see on street rods, which also address

the similar problem of spark energy loss to ground.

Alfa encountered the same problem because the Spica cars

could operate at higher mean effective pressure than the car-

bureted ones. Fuel injection (with other tuning changes) im-

proved mid-range torque but at the cost of higher ignition volt-

age, which takes its toll on deterioration of distributor parts and

high voltage wires. Alfa requested a larger distributor to gain a

larger distributor cap to reduce cross fire.

In the 1970s you could get a sense of this challenge by run-

ning up the engine, hood open, in the dark. With the engine

hot (to stress the electrical insulation) you then ran up the

throttle quickly to generate high cylinder pressures, briefly.

You’d usually see some corona and arcing. Then, back at

idle, you sprayed the engine from a spray bottle of water. On

repeating the throttle exercise you’d see far more electricity,

usually concentrated in problem spots. Engine safely powered

down, you could check the problem

areas, fixing minor imperfections or

places where the wires ran across

metal, such as the cam cover.

The Marelli distributor itself was a

marvel of simplicity. In this era Alfa

did not see value in adding vacuum-

retard to the distributor. So stub-

bornly did they stick to this that in

the Alfetta Spica era they commis-

sioned a dual points distributor. A

vacuum switch determined which

set acted to fire the plugs. One set

of points was retarded, apparently to favor emissions at low

rpms; the other set was timed for speed. The vacuum switch

could fail, leaving you with a car that ran poorly.

Wes indicates that the MarelliPlex unit, developed in late

1980 or 1981 for European cars, was built around the smaller

diameter distributor because the European cars were still fitted

with carburetors at that time.

My sense is that the Bosch Jetronic spiders do better, with

the added technology of variable valve timing and a spark am-

plifier. These allowed the engineers to return to traditional

high performance cams and timing favoring duration and over-

lap, but only at speed. At low rpms the system retards the

intake cam to improve drivability and idle. The Jetronic cars

gave up their advantage in added weight and a 4.10 rear axle

ratio. The 1974 Spica car runs 4.55. Alfa enthusiasts felt that

the change to 4.10 was made in the interest of fuel economy

and managing noise at cruising speed. On the Berlina the

4.55 gears are about right, matching the engine to the car’s

top speed, which I understand is common enough driving on

the motorway in Italy.

Here in Seattle, not so much.

- Mark Thornton

Fuel Tanks, Spica Injection and Distributors


It’s coming up to Christmas and our minds naturally turn to-

wards toys… and pretty baubles… In that spirit, here are a

few delectable things to dream of. Adapted from an article

by Alex Sobran, Petrolicious, December 29, 2017. Photog-

raphy by Rosario Liberti - Editor

---------

G lance at the 1967 Tipo 33 Stradale below. Now the

white and orange Cuneo on page XX. Pretty stark

contrast, right? Franco Scaglione’s beautifully bulb-

ous Stradale is arguably the zenith of contoured ’60s design,

one of the best ever blends of function and sculpture, while

“Cuneo” literally translates to “wedge.” Yet only four years

separate these two cars.

Very few cars can rival the influence the Tipo 33 had on au-

tomotive aesthetics. Not only did the chassis evolve into a

dominant force in motorsport but six unabashedly angular

coach-built concepts laid over the mid-engined V8’s tube-

frame by the great Italian design houses set the tone for the

first generation of supercars and the ankle-slicing era of the

Countach. Let’s take a look at the five surviving cars.

1968: Carabo, designed by Marcello Gandini/Bertone

S peaking of the Countach, Marcello Gandini is also

credited with the most well-known of the re-bodied Tipo

33s: the Carabo. Named after a beetle and debuting at

the 1968 Paris Motor Show, the car was a wide departure from

the muscular radii of the Stradale it was based on, and it creat-

ed a new zeitgeist. Gandini, working at Bertone at the time,

was simply ahead of his time with this concept.

The use of the contrasting black and grey composites inte-

grated with the traditionally painted panels, a liberal application

of louvers, the hidden headlights, the flat planes that make up

the cockpit, the way it eschewed round fenders for low box-

cuts in the rear, the buttressed inlet behind the door (look at

LaFerrari and so many of the other cutting-edge hypercars

in profile to see what I mean), the list continues. The rear

end alone contains heaps of inspiration for the styling move-

ments that followed this car. The grid-like taillights predate

the ’80s love affair with them by more than a decade, and if

you squint just a little bit, you might notice a touch of silhouette

race car in the way the transom is encased by the quarter pan-

els and that pert, sharp wedge of a wing.

1969: Iguana, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro/Italdesign

A year after Gandini’s masterpiece came another pre-

cursor for the ’70s: the Iguana. And if anybody had a

better portfolio than Gandini back then it was Giugiaro.

Like the Carabo, the Iguana was a peek into the future. There

are clear elements of Maserati Bora, Lamborghini Urraco, and

even a bit of Espada if you stretch it just a tad, but what’s most

interesting in terms of tipping the ’60s into the ’70s is the way

this bodywork reinterprets things.

Though it was a decidedly new look, the Iguana didn’t com-

pletely cast off the curves of its predecessors, and it wasn’t an

anachronistic mess either - it kept some elements of the past

Curves to Wedges - The Impact and Legacy of the T-33


but presented them anew. The best example of this can be

seen in the front end, where the pontoon fenders embraced by

cars such as the 911 were reimagined and rebuilt with ruler-

straight lines. In-

stead of cylindrical

elements leading up

to the headlights,

the effect is

achieved via a wide,

hard-cut inlet that

extends the length

of the hood.

Another and more

innovative feature is the novel rear spoiler. Aerodynamics as

a whole was sort of a nascent concept at the time, let alone an

electronically controlled wing that could change the handling of

the car at speed.

1969: 33/2 Coupe Speciale, designed by Leonardo Fio-

ravanti/Pininfarina

T his car is the most unique of the bunch for a few rea-

sons. For one, despite using a 33 Stradale chassis it

began life as a Ferrari. Further, it can be viewed more

as an alternate timeline, a more natural progression than the

severe angles of the two cars above, retaining plenty of the

svelte curves amidst the sharper cuts in its bodywork.

Fioravanti originally drew it for Ferrari as a way to research

the increasing importance of aerodynamics on race cars. It

featured a few differences in its first iteration - most notably a

bank of lights set between the pronged front

end - and it was originally called the 250 P5.

If you don’t see connections to the P3/4 at

first, check the canopy design and that quarter

panel intake. As the story goes, Enzo thought

the front end looked like a suppository(!), and

as the company was already at work on the

car that became the 512 the project was given

to Alfa Romeo when they asked.

Atop the 33 Stradale chassis, the car was

further refined to become the 33/2 Coupe

Speciale. Though it ditched the funky strakes

on the rear end that it wore as a poten-

tial Ferrari, it also lost the odd bar of

lights at the front, in exchange for a

classic Alfa grille and a pair of pop-ups.

As an aerodynamic study, the design

offered an alternative to the increasingly

popular wings, spoilers and dams, and

the resulting shape was far prettier and

more organic than its protruding con-

temporaries, a masterful blend of nega-

tive space and aggressive convexities.

Curves to Wedges - continued


1971: 33 Spider Cuneo, de-

signed by Paolo Martin/

Pininfarina

I f the Carabo was a little too

severe for you, you probably

won’t find the Cuneo attractive

in the slightest. It’s stark, exceed-

ingly simple, and looks more like a

Jetson’s background drawing than

a car bodied by Pininfarina. The head-

lights look like an afterthought, the or-

ange stripes seem to exist simply so it

doesn’t look like a wedge of cheese,

and the rear end looks like it was cob-

bled together from the blandest parts

bin they could find.

All that said, I love this thing. How

can you not? It’s an Italian UFO with

just enough room for you and Sofia

Loren to bomb down the autostrada listening to the velocity

stacks sucking air into the mid-mounted V8. And it’s still basi-

cally a T-33!

This car actually began life as a different 33-based concept,

the 33 Roadster, which looked like a cross between this one

and wakeboard boat. The Cuneo is a purer interpretation of

that design; it’s not as busy, and in its simplicity comes its

striking presence. Call it minimalist, call it an 8-bit Batmobile,

but there’s no denying this car’s capacity to captivate.

1976: Navajo, designed by Nuccio Bertone

T wo more concepts were built on the Tipo 33’s underpin-

nings - the aforementioned Roadster (which no longer

exists) and the very last of the breed, the 1976 Navajo.

Making its debut at the 1976 Geneva Motor Show, Nuccio Ber-

tone’s penmanship gave the Navajo a fiberglass body that

foresaw both the

character and color of the Colonial Vipers from the sci-fi series

Battlestar Galactica two years later.

Taking the Cuneo’s wedge profile one step further, Bertone

added active spoilers. Both the front splitter and the top sec-

tion of the rear wing would adjust automatically according to

speed, and the inner of the Navajo’s two rear trapezoids

is used to draw hot air away from the 2.0-litre V8 mount-

ed behind the passengers. And, just for fun, the Navajo’s

pop-up headlights actually pop out, sideways, from the

front fenders.

If only we could see these shapes spinning on the floors

of today’s auto shows instead of yet another 1,000hp full-

size kid’s toy…

Curves to Wedges - continued


Anniversaries

Congratulations to all these worthy members celebrating

their club membership Anniversaries this month!

James Sullivan - 33 years

Dale Hoff - 11 years

John Sells - 6 years

David Ely - 3 years

David James - 2 years

Malcom McClaskey - 2 years

David Nudelman - 2 years

John Carden - 1 year

Dieter Creitz - 1 year

Nelson Foote - 1 year

Christian Johnson - 1 year

Daron Walker - 1 year

New Members

We have 3 new members in the month of November, each

with a new car.

Please welcome:

- James Buskirk from Bainbridge Island, with a 2017 Giulia Ti

sport

- From Bothell we have Jens Enzo Christensen with a Giulia.

- And please welcome Richard Colburn from Vancouver, WA.

with a Stelvio.

- Paul and Kristy Affolter

Membership Update


FOR SALE - 1974 Alfa Romeo Berlina 2000. 5-Speed,

96K miles, sunroof, Spica injection. Rusty but runs.

Bought at 25,000 miles in 1978 from original owner,

driven until 1996; garaged about 50% of the time and

continuously since 2009. Engine replaced in 1995 with

19,000-mile one from a 1979 Spider. The original motor

is included; it runs but has a cracked head.

Started every month from 1996 to 2003 to warm it up.

In 2018, I changed the oil, filter, and put in fresh gas. It

starts readily and it seems to hit evenly on all four; the idle

creeps up once fully warm. Moves under its own power

but the brakes are dragging so I did not take it for a ‘spin’.

The differential whines; years ago the axle

tubes loosened from the 'pumpkin' letting

the oil out.

The floor-

boards seem

solid when

tapped with a

hammer. Some

rust/rot on the

trunk lid, rockers/

doors, minor

rusting else-

where on the

body. Driver’s

seat split, other

seats fine. Front

end collision

damage in the

early 80s fully

repaired and the

car drove fine

afterwards.

Clean title.

I had been saving this to be a project in my retirement, but I

am just too busy with other priorities. So it's time for this clas-

sic 1974 Alfa Romeo Berlina to go to a loving home! Hope

you enjoy it as much as I did!

Asking $2,000 but will consider any reasonable offer. Car is

located in 98155 (Shoreline).

Keith Landis, (206) 817-0338, [email protected]

______________________

FOR SALE - 1993 Spider Veloce. 35K miles. One owner. 5

Speed. Red with black leather interior. Bra and tonneau cov-

er. Always garaged. Nice car! $13,500, or any reasonable

offer. My Ex and I would love to see it go to a good home.

Many thanks!

Sheldon Hunt, 425-310-2191 [email protected]

Classified Ads - Cars & Parts For Sale/Wanted

mailto:[email protected]


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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BARBARA C

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The following members provide Alfa Mentoring!!!

Contact any of them for good Alfa info!

Model/Series Member Name Contact 164 / GTV-6 Dan Jardine [email protected] GTV Dave Emerson [email protected] Spiders, GTV Fred Wright [email protected] 80’s Spiders Harry Reed [email protected] Almost Anything! Fred Russell [email protected]

Member Mentors

Member Recommendations Have a parts or service provider you have found to be highly satisfactory? Share your wisdom with us all at [email protected]. With your help, we can all be better auto-motive consumers.

Burien Upholstery, Burien - Upholstery, carpets

Convertibles Only - Convertible top repair/replacement

Dent Solutions, Mobile - Paintless dent removal

Mark 2 Collision Center, Lynnwood - Collision repair

Muffler King - Kirkland Custom exhaust services

North Kitsap Auto Rebuilt, Poulsbo - Collision repair

Professional Glass Company, Seattle - Windshield Re-placement

NW Crafted Interiors (was S&S Custom), Everett - Auto Upholstery & Interiors

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

Sound Wheel Works, Bellevue - Wheel repair

Tire Rack Internet - Tires, wheels and parts

Vancity Plating, Burnaby BC - Chrome plating and polish-ing

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

1965 GTA Corsa, 2017 Monterey Motorsports Reunion (Sports Car Digest)


Northwest Alfa Romeo Club 9301 236th Street SW Edmonds, WA 98020

2018 Carmel Concours on the Avenue - Sports Car Digest

• Dec 9 Raccolta per Apprezzamenti Holiday Party / Marianna Ristorante, Renton

• Jan 1 New Years Day Anti-Football Drive / Redmond

• Jan 8 NWARC Meeting / Authentic Motorcars, Redmond

• Feb 12 NWARC Meeting / Prova Motorsports, Seattle

• Mar 10 Car Control Clinic (provisional)

• Mar 12 NWARC Meeting / tba

• Apr 9 NWARC Meeting / tba

• Apr 25 High Performance Driving Experience (provisional)

• June 19 Twilight Lapping Evening (5 pm - dusk) (provisional)

• July 5-7 SOVREN Historics / Pacific Raceway, Kent, WA

• July 6 NWARC Historics BBQ / Gary & Marie Patitz’ Home, Auburn, WA

• Aug 31 Crescent Beach Concours d'Elegance / White Rock BC

• Nov 17 Driving School/HPDE (provisional)

2018/19 Calendar of Club & Local Car Events

Iniezione - Alfa Romeo · The Iniezione is the monthly newsletter of the NorthWest Alfa Romeo Club,...

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Transcript of Iniezione - Alfa Romeo · The Iniezione is the monthly newsletter of the NorthWest Alfa Romeo Club,...