What a turnout! With 10 Alfa Romeos of various vintages parked outside, 19 Alfisti parked inside, and an infinite amount of camaraderie, the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC-NJ) held its 4^th consecutive breakfast meet on Sunday April 21, 2024, at the Americana Diner in Shrewsbury NJ.

My GT 1300 Jr was a no-show as it is still suffering from braking woes (breaking woes?), but with 2 new remanufactured rear brake calipers in place, I’m hoping for an end to this latest saga soon. Instead, I drove to fellow Chapter member Tony’s house and hopped into the navigator’s seat of his 1967 Guilia TI. Tony ably piloted us along Route 287 and the Garden State Parkway, easily keeping up with Sunday morning traffic. (His car was born with a 1300 and now has a 2.0L transplant for extra con brio.) We arrived a few minutes before 9 a.m., and I was happily surprised to see a respectable turnout in the diner’s parking lot.

Of the 10 cars, 4 were classics: in addition to Tony’s blue TI was a white Giulia TI, and two Spiders, one red and one white. The 6 other Alfas were modern: 2 4C’s, one red and one white; 3 Giulias, in grey, bright red, and dark red; and one Stelvio in blue. Together, it was an impressive display of incredibly fine Italian styling and engineering.

The staff at the Americana welcomed us warmly and had our table ready for us. Eggs, pancakes, home fries, and plenty of coffee to wash it all down were on the menu, as was the usual chit-chat about the states of our hobby cars. While the late April weather was cloudy and cool, the climate did nothing to deter us from continuing our conversations outside amongst our Alfas. Tony and I were motoring out of there sometime after 11 a.m. and his Giulia got us home without incident.

With 4 successful breakfast meetings completed, I’d say that we have a strong tradition underway. The May breakfast date and location are yet to be chosen, but there is a Chapter meeting during this upcoming week when those facts will be decided. My Alfa better be ready by then!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two cars (the white Giulia TI and the white Spider) feature significantly reworked engines with Twin-Spark heads:

All photographs copyright © 2024 Richard A. Reina. Photos may not be copied or reproduced without express written permission.