The Simeone Museum’s Demo Day, Featuring an Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A

July 11, 2026 RichardReina Events, museums Alfa Romeo 8C, Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

The Simeone Museum in Philadelphia, PA, is renowned for its collection of historic race cars. The late Dr. Fred Simeone, inspired by his father’s car collection of pre-war classics, started his own collection as a young man, focusing on unrestored racing vehicles. Decades ago, such “worn out” machinery could be acquired for very little money. Dr. Fred’s desire to keep the cars original also led him to insist that all his cars be drivable. To that end, the museum hosts a monthly “Demo Day,” when a select few cars are taken outside and put through their paces.

The Gullwing takes center stage during the slide presentation

Saturday, July 11, 2026 was such a day, the theme of which was “Car Detective: Defining the Simeone Museum from Alfa to Vauxhall.” As the museum’s website states, “Through research, intuition, and patience, Dr. Simeone gave voice to cars whose stories might otherwise have been lost. This is their story.” The chosen cars included a 1921 Vauxhall, 1926 Bugatti Type 35, 1933 Squire Roadster, 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A, and 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing. Members from both the NJ and Delaware Valley Chapters of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) turned out primarily to see (and hear) the Alfa 8C.

The presenter highlighted specs that would be impressive even for some modern cars

The event began with a slide show highlighting the technical features of each car, followed by an explanation of Dr. Fred’s approach to car collecting. During the slide presentation, the five cars were parked nearby, and it was a rare and wonderful opportunity indeed to get so close to this gorgeous piece of Italian machinery. You can read the details of Dr. Fred’s search and acquisition here: https://simeonemuseum.org/collection/1937-alfa-romeo-8c-2900a-mille-miglia-spider/, but suffice to say that this one was so rough that there was no choice but to perform a complete restoration. In what must have been a once-in-a-lifetime thrill for him, the restored Alfa Romeo 8C was driven by him and a co-driver in the 1991 Mille Miglia in Italy.

I’ve been to several previous Demo Days, and I recall crowds which made it almost impossible to see the action. Fortunately, the head count on this day was a little light, and I had mostly good sight lines. I’m not a videographer, but I still managed to capture some of the excitement as the cars circled the track. Three video clips are included below along with the photos.

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum (https://simeonemuseum.org/) is located in south Philadelphia, not far from the Philadelphia airport. It’s about an hour’s drive from central New Jersey. If you have not been there, it’s highly recommended. If you can be there for a Demo Day (and here is their 2026 calendar: https://simeonemuseum.org/2026-events/), all the better.

THE 1937 ALFA ROMEO 8C 2900A

THE 1926 BUGATTI TYPE 35

THE 1933 SQUIRE ROADSTER

THE 1955 MERCEDES-BENZ 300SL GULLWING COUPE

Replacing the Mazda3’s roof-mounted antenna

July 9, 2026 RichardReina Events, Repair sessions antenna replacement, Mazda3

While there are several decent car wash businesses near me, I have tended to favor a particular one that is a few minutes farther away than the others. They have had no issues with my manual transmission-equipped Mazda, and their drying technique always includes the use of compressed air to blow away water from the rear-view mirrors and tires. My experience has been that they do a more thorough job overall. I normally don’t stand at the windows to watch their machinery go through its paces, but I few weeks ago I did, and that’s when I saw it. The big overhead roller brush rolled right over my stubby roof-mounted antenna and ate part of the antenna’s rubber sheathing.

This was not their fault. The antenna easily unscrews with finger pressure only, and the business posts signs about potential damage to such items. I should have removed it. As I drove home that day, I was relieved to discover that the car’s radio reception was not affected. That was fine until I was waxing the car last week, using my new Griot’s Garage orbital buffer, and as I glided the machine past the antenna, I succeeded in snapping the spring-wrapped ceramic core. Now I had no radio reception, and it was time to source a replacement.

Google directed me to Amazon, where I had a plethora of choices, most of them from the aftermarket. Several companies offered a stubby version, but the reviews mentioned a loss of reception, an unworthy trade-off. I had to scroll down quite a bit to discover the Mazda factory antenna, which at $35 was twice the price of the elcheapo knockoffs, but I prized functionality over frugality.

Amazon delivered the part within a day, and thankfully, it was the correct item. (I had the Mazda part number, and checked that against several Mazda dealer websites.) The remove-and-replace took a minute, and everything is hunky-dory (yes, it’s in Merriam-Webster’s). I’m considering sticking a Post-It on the dash: “REMOVE ANTENNA AT CAR WASH!”

Although purchased from Amazon, this is a genuine Mazda part

Flemington, NJ, Cruise Night, June 13, 2026

June 22, 2026 RichardReina Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr., Car shows, Events Flemington NJ Cruise Night

The Flemington, NJ, cruise night was previously held on Main St. in downtown Flemington on alternating Saturdays. I last attended this event in 2023, and a few things have changed since then. First, the show has been relocated to Stangl Road, a supposedly quieter street for local traffic (more about that below). The second change is that it’s now held only once a month. What has not changed is the selection of a different “featured class or brand” for each cruise night. On Saturday, June 13, import vehicles were featured, and I made a late-day decision to hop into the Alfa Romeo and drive over (it’s only fifteen minutes away).

The cruise night was advertised as running from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and I planned my arrival to coincide with the start time. I was taken aback with how crowded the show was at 5 p.m. As I slowly motored down Stangl Road, I was directed to the “featured cars lot,” where I managed to secure the final available parking spot. Backing in between a Triumph TR-6 and a tricked-out Hyundai Veloster, I correctly surmised that the evening’s “import cars” would include a wide variety of automobiles.

Sharing space with the other “furrin” cars

No sooner had I exited my Alfa when two fellow NJ-AACA members, John P. and Jerry P. (no relation) sauntered over. John had his beautiful ’57 Chevy Bel Air parked down the street, and Jerry placed his ’64 Pontiac Bonneville next to John’s Chevy. The three of us proceeded to amble along Stangl Road together, admiring the machinery, when we ran into Dave, another NJ-AACA member (who didn’t have a car there). It was a nice mini reunion, with lots to talk about, surrounded as we were by classic cars.

Stangl Road is lined with restaurants and retail stores, which brings its own share of traffic, but you would not refer to it as a primary thoroughfare, the way you would Main St., the cruise nights’ previous location. During my visit, Stangl Road was so crowded with pedestrians that many of us (wrongly) presumed that the road was closed to through traffic. It was not. Most drivers had the courtesy to keep their speeds low, but several wise guys wanted to show off their muscle cars. The worst offender of the night was the driver of a FedEx truck, which was attempting to speed through the area until traffic slowed him down. At that point, Jerry, a Navy veteran, leaned into the truck and gave the driver an earful, scolding him for his carelessness while there were children in the road.

I eventually made my way back to my Alfa, where several spectators engaged me in conversation about my car. The cruise night is run by Fred Beans, a large multi-franchise series of dealers throughout NJ and PA, and around 7:30, they announced that if your windshield placard was missing from your car, that meant you won a trophy. Mine was missing, and a short while later, I was presented with my trophy! What was confusing, though, is that about one-quarter of the import cars won trophies, and no explanation was forthcoming regarding how or why certain cars were chosen. Oh well, it was an honor to win. Once that part of the evening was concluded, I headed home. The Flemington Cruise Night offers a very large number of vehicles, covering the spectrum of collectability: old, new, and everything in between. It was crowded, noisy (there were TWO live rock bands playing all evening), and I’ve concluded that I prefer Somerville’s cruise night. Still, I might pay Flemington another visit (without the Alfa) later this summer.

The local Jaguar Club arrived and parked together. Below is a sample of what they had on display.

NJ Alfa Club Alfresco Breakfast, June 14, 2026

June 16, 2026 RichardReina Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr., Drives, Events

Regular readers of my blog know that the NJ Alfa Romeo club holds a breakfast meeting once a month, rotating among several diners throughout central Jersey. We have been very consistent at maintaining this tradition for the past few years. Once a year, we break from that routine and treat ourselves to an alfresco breakfast in Colonial Park in Somerset, NJ, typically in June, and we again joined forces there on Sunday, June 14. Our event coordinator, Bill DiPrima, always does an excellent job by arriving with bagels, muffins, cookies, and most importantly, hot coffee. The perfect spring weather encouraged over a dozen club members to arrive in their Milanese machinery, old and new. My ’67 Alfa, which was so recalcitrant last month, got me there and back without missing a beat.

An accidental array of superlative Italian machinery

As seems to be typical for us, we spent as much time in conversation as we did in culinary consumption (I personally enjoyed smoked salmon on a multi-grain bagel with my java). Although there were bocce ball courts adjacent to us, we did not play this year, which speaks to the extent to which we were enjoying each other’s company. And as if the breakfast food couldn’t be topped, it was when V.P. Vic surprised his wife with a birthday cake. (Her birthday wish was that we talk about something other than car repair.)

Birthday girl Gail is in the middle, with hubby Vic and sister Dawn

Next month, it’s back to a diner, which I always enjoy, but there is something special about taking in the combination of breakfast foods, great friends and our Alfa Romeos in the spring air.

Bill is still setting up while others have already dug in

Above: we had classics from the ’60s and the ’90s

Above: the newer cars fit in just fine with the classics

Lorenzo’s car may not be an Alfa, but his Lancia Fulvia Zagato is welcomed just the same

The Somerville, NJ, cruise night, June 5, 2026

June 8, 2026 RichardReina Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr., Cruise nights, Events

Attending events with my ’67 Alfa Romeo has been a hit-or-miss affair lately. As I covered in an earlier post, I was unable to drive my car to the Carlisle Import Show (although I attended in a modern car). My NJ Alfa Romeo club gathered at the Somerville NJ cruise night the week before last, but I was out of town at a concert, so I missed that as well. We’ve had a spate of good weather recently, and I was itching to take the car somewhere, so last Friday I made a late-day decision to head off to Somerville, which is only six miles from my home.

The Somerville cruise night is held every Friday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and the special interest and collector cars always manage to fill up almost all of the parking spaces along Main St. The local businesses love the crowds, and the evening takes on a party atmosphere, with teens, families, locals, and out-of-towners joining the fun. I snagged a good parking spot in front of an Italian restaurant, jokingly telling one of the waiters that I parked my Italian car there to bring them more business! Several passers-by stopped to admire and chat about my car, which is always nice. I was out of there by 7:30 and home by 8 p.m., and it was a great way to spend the evening.

The photos below tell the rest of the story. I’ve always enjoyed the variety of vehicles at this cruise night, and last Friday was no exception.

4 p.m. and happy to have gotten a good parking spot in the shade.

A beautifully restored pre-war Plymouth.

Something I rarely see at shows: a Model T Ford.

The ’49-’51 shoebox Fords were revolutionary

Late ’60s – early ’70s Mercedes Benz. Note the German license plate.

This photo could have been taken in the 1960s

Main St. was packed with pedestrians all evening long

In Memory of Al Lanza

May 31, 2026 RichardReina Uncategorized

Last week, I drove to Ottawa, Canada, with a college buddy of mine to see a jazz band we like. During the ride, we reminisced about our fifty-two-year friendship. That’s a long time, but I have high school friends I’ve known longer. I’m in regular touch with at least a half-dozen of my high-school classmates, some of whom I’ve known for fifty-eight years. Many other friends I met during my years with Volvo, where I started working forty years ago. I have been blessed to have such long-term friends.

I’ve also been privileged to have made new friends later in life. My friend Pete, from whom I bought my Alfa, didn’t enter my life until 2001 (still a while ago, I realize). Belonging to several car clubs as I do, I keep meeting new people, and given our common interests, a bond can quickly form.

The New Jersey Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club (NJ-AROC) is full of some of the friendliest, most down-to-earth people that I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. I joined the club soon after buying my Alfa in 2013, and every breakfast meet, tour, and cruise night has been delightful. I heard a saying many years ago about automotive events: “You show up for the cars; you stay for the people.” It sounds hackneyed, but I have repeatedly experienced it. Without the owners and the enthusiasts, it’s just a bunch of automobiles. The people make the experience.

Our little Alfa club has seen a steady influx of new members, partly because Alfa Romeo is currently selling new models in our market again. Some folks have purchased new (or slightly used) Giulias, Stelvios, Tonales, and 4Cs, they catch wind of our club, and they join. One such person was Al Lanza, who bought a used Giulia sedan and signed up with AROC. Looking at my photos of previous events, it looks like Al came into our ranks early in 2025, and he immediately fit right in. He had both a Giulia and a Stelvio, and typical Alfista that he was, he showed more interest in talking about others’ cars than he did in talking about his own. When we first met, Al and I hit it off, and we often spoke about upcoming events that appealed to us.

Al Lanza with his Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan

The Carlisle, PA, Import Show was just two weeks ago, and Al drove out to join us. The NJ Chapter had six members in attendance, including spouses, and we all stayed in the same hotel, had breakfast and dinner together, and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. I commemorated the trip with a group photo along with individual shots of the guys with their cars. Just before Al and I parted company for the weekend, we spoke about our mutual interest in an upcoming tour hosted by the Delaware Valley Chapter. I was looking forward to seeing him there.

Earlier this week, I got an email that stopped me cold. It said that Al had passed away. I had to read it several times because I didn’t believe it the first time I read it. I had just seen him. He was happy. One of his sons and several of his grandsons had visited him on the showfield at Carlisle. When the news finally sunk in, I was so saddened to lose a friend. Here was someone that I had known for a little more than a year, and now he was gone. Al had become widowed several years ago. He leaves behind four children and several grandchildren.

I keep learning life lessons, and one of them is, it doesn’t matter how recently someone becomes a friend; when they pass on, the sadness and emptiness are the same. Al, it was great to know you. I’m honored to be able to say that we were friends.

The Reason My Alfa Romeo Was Not At Import Carlisle

May 24, 2026 RichardReina Events, Repair sessions Bosch blue coil, Ignition coil testing

Now it can be told. I was supposed to be at last week’s Carlisle Import car show with my car. I had planned for this, and had looked forward to it for months. I had driven the car numerous times this season without issue. But it didn’t happen, and here is why.

Friday morning the 15^th of May, at 7 a.m., I ventured into the garage, got into the car, pulled out the choke and hand throttle as always when making a cold start, and the car immediately fired up. I inched it out of the garage and sat in the car for a few moments while the engine slowly warmed, playing with the hand throttle to find just the right idle. (My dual Weber-carburetor-equipped 1.3L engine has always had a slightly fluctuating idle. The late, great Alfa guru, Pat Braden, has written several technical books which I own. He always preached: “If the car runs fine, don’t mess with the carbs!” So I haven’t. My car runs very fine, it runs excellently in fact, so I’ve tolerated an idle that can vary between 800 and 1200 RPM.)

I prefer to see the water temp gauge move at least partway toward its middle mark before driving the car, so, with the engine idling a little higher than 1200, I applied the parking brake and went inside to check on my wife, who was still enjoying her first cup of tea for the day. I was in the house for about 15 minutes and decided to head back out. As I got near the car, I realized that the engine was not running; the car had stalled, and the ignition remained on. I tried not to panic, but knowing that it’s not the best thing to leave the ignition on when the engine is not running, I quickly jumped into the car, turned the key off, and tried to start it again. With a healthy battery providing plenty of cranking power, the engine turned over without an issue, but made no attempt to fire. Now it was time to panic.

I didn’t know what to check first. I grabbed a spare coil I had and without removing the installed coil, switched over all the wires. No difference. I removed the distributor (a one-minute job) and hastily replaced the points and condenser with a new set. No difference. My wife sat in the car and cranked while I held the number one spark plug wire close to the valve cover, checking for spark. Nothing. After 45 minutes of this, we pushed the Alfa back into the garage, climbed into the Volvo XC40, and drove to the diner where I was scheduled to meet with two other club members so that we could caravan to the show. To say that I was bummed is an understatement.

Thankfully, the camaraderie of my fellow AROC NJ members cheered me up. I enjoyed Friday’s show, and we headed to our hotel to check in and relax before dinner. But I couldn’t relax. I spent an hour on my phone researching automotive 12V ignition systems. Was it the coil? The points? The condenser? Any of these could have overheated with the ignition on. But I had tried replacement parts for all three, without success. Perhaps in my haste I did something incorrectly.

Saturday’s show was even better than Friday’s, and as I headed home, I felt confident that under less stressful conditions, I could figure this out. I was too bushed on Saturday to tackle anything, but on the following afternoon, I took my sweet time as I installed a known good used coil, and pulled the distributor once again. Talk about a rush job! The point gap from Friday’s “repair” was about four times as large as spec. I doubt that the two halves of the points were even touching! I fixed that, and for good measure, threw in a new set of plugs, which the car was due for anyway.

After about two hours of work, it was time to try again. Somewhat nervously, I climbed in, inserted the key, pumped the gas, turned the switch to “crank”… and the engine started right up. WHEW!

So what was it? I don’t exactly know, and that doesn’t worry me, as long as it’s fixed. Something overheated, and it’s a good guess that it was one of the three items I replaced. Lesson learned: don’t walk away from my Alfa at idle for more than a few moments.

TESTING AN IGNITION COIL

As a healthy side-effect of last week’s failure, I investigated how to test an ignition coil, something I’ve never done. During my entire automotive career, I have never seen a coil fail, although colleagues have told me that they have. An internet search quickly taught me that a DMM (digital multimeter) can test for resistance, both at the primary and secondary windings.

This is a brand new Bosch “blue” coil, a very popular installation for classic European cars. I bought mine from my usual supplier, Classic Alfa in the UK, for $72.

The top of the coil has three places for connections to be made. On the left and right are the primary wiring connectors, for 12 volts of power. The plus symbol on the right indicates the positive connection (also marked “15”), and the minus symbol on the left indicates the negative connection (also marked “1”). In the center, marked “4”, is the secondary wiring which will feed high voltage (20,000 to 30,000 volts) to the distributor and spark plugs.

This is my DMM, which can test for AC voltage, DC voltage, amps, resistance, continuity, and dwell. I want to test for ohms, or resistance, so I will be using the scale on the right. I’ve drawn a bright green circle around the infinity symbol, indicating resistance. My first check will be in a very low range, so I will be using the ‘200’ range, which has red circle around it. The two probes are connected to the DMM and are indicated by the blue arrows. The red probe, for positive, is connected where the infinity symbol is. The black probe, for negative, is connected at “COM”, for “common”.

To test the primary windings, the positive and negative probes are connected to the positive and negative connections on the coil. In this case, either probe can go to either connection. With the DMM’s scale set to 2oo, our result is 2.9 ohms. Spec for this coil, depending on which website I read, is between 3.0 and 3.4 ohms, so I’m not concerned about this reading, as my machine may be slightly inaccurate. An important point: this result indicates that there is an internal ballast resistor in the coil, so an external ballast resistor is not needed! A reading closer to 1.0 to 1.5 ohms would indicate lack of an internal resistor, requiring installation of an external one.

When testing the secondary windings, I am expecting a result closer to 7,000 to 8,000 ohms, so I have changed the scale to “20k’, indicating 20,000. One DMM probe is moved to the center, secondary, coil connection. The screen shows 6.41, which is read as 6,410 ohms. Again, this is a little lower than what I’ve found on the internet, and this could be attributed to my DMM.

Even if I never have the need to test a coil again, this was a useful exercise, and helped remind me to focus on the basics first when performing automotive repairs.

Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals, May, 2026

May 18, 2026 RichardReina Car shows, Events Alfa Romeo Owners Club, Carlisle Import and Performance Show

Carlisle Events held its annual Import & Performance Nationals show this year on Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16. The weather cooperated, with Friday starting out quite cool (45 degrees F) and breezy, but warming up by mid-afternoon. Saturday was as perfect a spring weather day as we could have hoped for.

Although not as large a show as Spring or Fall Carlisle, much of the Fairgrounds was taken over with cars, a flea market, and a car corral. A Facebook post claimed that over 2,200 vehicles were in attendance, a record for this event. As I have observed from previous visits to this show, it’s the car clubs which help drive much of the participation, as you will see below when we cover some of the specific makes.

A small contingent of members of the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) caravanned to Carlisle, departing early Friday morning and spending one overnight locally so that we could enjoy both days. This worked well for us, as Friday’s turnout was light, but Saturday brought out the crowds. I saw cars continue to stream into the Fairgrounds well past noon.

I last attended this Import show in 2008, when I trailered my Isetta there. (I was also there in 1990.) It has certainly grown in the ensuing years. My seat-of-the-pants guess is that the brand with the largest turnout of cars was Volvo. Other brands with large showings included BMW, Saab, and happily, Alfa Romeo. One of the biggest surprises was the number of Opel GTs there. Asian brands taken as a whole were well-represented, including Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Acura, and Hyundai. My biggest disappointment was the poor showing from British marques: a scattering of MGs and Triumphs, a handful of Rolls Royces, one Morgan, and one Jaguar E-Type! Maybe there was a competing British car show nearby.

Another overall observation was the age of the cars. Many of the vehicles were newer and/or modified. There is nothing wrong with that; in fact, it was obvious that owners of newer cars are joining their makes’ clubs and participating in events, which is great for the hobby. Personally, I prefer seeing the older machines.

The photos below are segmented by make, with further commentary included.

VOLVO

There were a lot of Volvos, and a wide variety of models and generations as well. I saw a few each of 544s, 122s, 140s, and 240s. Many of the half-dozen or so P1800/1800E sports cars were modified. The numbers grew once we entered the decade of the ‘90s and beyond, with 850s, 900s, S/V/C 70s, and the P2 cars (S60, S80, V70, XC70). Even the newest generation of Volvos happily joined their older relatives. These Volvo owners are a loyal bunch, much of it driven by membership in the Volvo Club of America (VCOA).

BMW

The oldest BMWs that I saw were the 2002 models (sadly, no Isettas). The majority of the Bavarian Motor Works models were perhaps no more that ten years old. The BMW Car Club of America (BMWCCA) is very active and likely had a hand in bringing these German cars out.

ASIAN

There was no one outstanding Asian make at the show, although the Datsun 240Z stood out for its iconic styling and its place in history as a hugely successfully model for Nissan. I was surprised, but perhaps should not have been, to see quite a few Hyundai vehicles at the show.

OPEL GT

This model launched when I was a teen, just before obtaining my driver’s license, and with its “baby Corvette” looks and attractive sticker price, I thought it might be my first car (but alas, that did not happen). Fast forward to 2026, and I was shocked to see what looked like two dozen of these lined up at Carlisle. Frankly, I would have guessed that there weren’t two dozen Opel GTs still running in the entire country! Yet here they were, and it looked like they were drawing more than their fair share of crowds all weekend. Several nice Manta coupes were there as well.

MERCEDES-BENZ

While there were not a lot of Benzes here, the few that were on display were interesting examples of the marque.

Unique color on this Mercedes Benz 230SL (Hi Mike and Barry!)

BRITISH

I don’t know if this was an aberration, or if the owners don’t think that the Carlisle Import show is for them, but the turnout was light indeed.

FRENCH

It’s always a special treat to see these quirky French cars, whose owners are as passionate as anyone else.

ALFA ROMEO

My primary reason for attending was the promise that the total number of Alfa Romeos on display would top last year’s figure of fifty, and indeed, that occurred, as it was announced that over sixty Alfas were on the field. From viewing videos of previous shows, I was prepared for the reality that, similar to some other makes, the “modern” Alfas (Giulia, Stelvio, Tonale, and 4C) would dominate, and they did. Still, we had a good turnout of classic Spiders, and some other infrequently seen models. As has become tradition, the local dealer, Faulkner Alfa Romeo, hosted a free lunch on Saturday for all Alfisti.

The caravan from the hotel to the fairgrounds

Alfa Romeo 155, a model not sold in the U.S.

OTHER ITALIAN

Fiats dominated here, which was no surprise. There were a few Lancias, a deTomaso, but no Ferraris, Maseratis, or Lamborghinis.

NJ Alfa Romeo Club Breakfast Meet, May 9, 2026

May 11, 2026 RichardReina Uncategorized

Fourteen hungry members of the New Jersey Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) converged for our usual monthly breakfast on Saturday, May 9, 2026, but this time, our selected diner was new to us: the High Point Diner on Route 18 in East Brunswick was the lucky recipient of our company. Despite the potential precipitation, six of Milano’s finest made the trek. In addition to my trusty ’67 GT 1300 Junior were a 164 sedan and four modern Giulia sedans, two of them the highfalutin Quadrifoglio model.

The wait staff were expecting us, and set us up at a large table in the rear of the diner. We had loads of room, but the live acoustics made it necessary to raise our voices to be heard. The food and coffee were excellent, and as always, we found plenty of topics to chat about, mostly automotive related.

Under increasingly threatening skies, I beat it out of there at 11 a.m. pronto, and despite an hour’s ride home, arrived with nothing more than light sprinkles decorating my windshield. The car has been running very well, and good thing, because we are departing this Friday for an overnight trip to Carlisle, PA for the annual import show. Over fifty Alfa Romeos are preregistered, so it should be an exciting event. Stay tuned and you’ll be able to read all about it next week!

Giulia Quad #2 (note the different wheels)

Four red, white, and blue Giulias, almost in a row

The 2026 NJ Region AACA Spring Meet

May 4, 2026 RichardReina Car shows, Events, Uncategorized Annual Spring Meet, NJ Region AACA

The New Jersey Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America (NJ-AACA), which is celebrating its 75^th anniversary this year, has held its annual car show on the first Sunday in May for almost as long. The show’s location for an incredible fifty-three-year stretch was at the Automatic Switch Company in Florham Park, but when that business was shut down about ten years ago, other venues were sought. The club has had some difficulty finding a new “permanent” home for the show, but this year, we were able to use the grounds of a Vo-Tech school in Denville. Most everyone agreed that this location was possibly the best of the half-dozen we’ve tried since losing Automatic Switch. Let’s hope it sticks.

Another variable, and one completely out of our control, has been the weather. The annual Spring Meet has always been a rain-or-shine affair, but two of the last three years have been virtual washouts. This year, we had the desired sunshine, but it was accompanied by temperatures in the 40s and 50s, with wind gusts up to 30 MPH. Most of us were dressed for the occasion, and the show went on. I’m happy to report that I would estimate that we had close to 100 vehicles in the show, a very healthy number. (Also know that there were at least three other car shows being held at the same time within a thirty-minute ride from our show, so car owners had choices.)

The show’s variety was impressive. For those who think that the collection of, and interest in, pre-war cars is dead should attend an AACA show. There were many four-door sedans, a body style often considered “uncollectible,” and the sports car crowd would not have been disappointed in the number of domestic and import vehicles in that class. Unlike a National AACA show, the NJ Region opens its shows to both “Modern Classics,” cars 2002 and newer, and modified cars. This is done in order to encourage enthusiasts who would otherwise be shut out by AACA’s requirement that show cars be twenty-five years of age or older, and in stock condition.

I was on the judging team, paired up with another AACA member and assigned to judge the sports car class, which we enjoyed immensely. The MGA coupe took 1^st place in that category, with 2^nd place going to the Saab Sonnet. The awards ceremony started promptly at 2 p.m. and was finished in twenty minutes. With that, the 2026 edition of the NJ Region’s Spring Meet was a wrap.

PRE-WAR AND IMMEDIATE POST-WAR

FOUR-DOOR SEDANS

FULL SIZE CARS OF THE ’50s, ’60s, & ’70s

MUSTANGS

OTHER PONY CARS

SPORTS CARS

MODIFIED CARS

This year, in honor of the Region’s 75th anniversary, the show included an award for the “best 75-year-old car,” meaning, from the year 1951. But there was only one vehicle from that year at the show, and it was this heavily-modified Ford truck. So it got the award.

The newest AACA-eligible car was this 2001 Mercedes-Benz CLK convertible, owned by my friend Bob. He won an award in this class.

richardscarblog

All automotive, all the time