The Alfa Earns Its AACA “HPOF Original” Certification

June 30, 2024 RichardReina Car shows, Events AACA, Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior, HPOF

When I bought my ’67 Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr. from my friend Pete in 2013, it was already wearing its HPOF badge from the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA). Pete had prepared the car for judging and was solely responsible for taking the car through the certification process. (We must also remember that he owned the car for 45 years, preserving it in its outstanding condition all that time.) Although I’ve been very involved in AACA activities over the last 2 decades, including showing both the BMW Isetta and the Mazda Miata at Hershey, up until now I had never entered the Alfa in an AACA National Show. It’s been in NJ Regional shows, but National judging is stricter.

The Saratoga Springs National which was held last week seemed to be the ideal place to enter the car for continued HPOF certification. I spent many hours during the spring detailing the car as well as attending to its maintenance needs to ensure a confident and reliable 400+-mile round trip. As you may have read in my most recent post, the car performed flawlessly in getting me there and back. Now, here’s the rest of the story.

HPOF, which stands for Historical Preservation of Original Features, is a judging class which rewards originality. Cars in this class are not restored. In fact, a car which has been restored would be deemed ineligible. Once a vehicle is certified HPOF, it is eligible for the next level of certification which is “HPOF Original”. The difference is in the number of allowable points which can be deducted. Put simply, an “HPOF” car may have X number of non-original components and still be certified, while an “HPOF Original” car will need to have a fewer number of non-original components.

Owners are required to complete a sheet, indicating exactly what on the car is not original. That sheet is then handed to the judging team. For me, I noted that the front fog lights, replacement alternator (generator was factory original), battery relocation from engine compartment to trunk, and added ammeter gauge were the non-original items. The judges only spent a few minutes examining the cars (the steady showers kept them moving quickly from car to car), and at the Saturday banquet, I was honored to be presented with an HPOF Original badge for the Alfa! I admit I got a bit emotional because my mind went back to my friend Pete, who passed away last October. He would have been thrilled to know this, and as I told my fellow hobbyists at the dinner table, Pete gets most of the credit for this achievement.

ABOVE: The HPOF badge on the left was awarded to Pete, probably around 2003. The “AACA Original” badge on the right was given to me last week, and mounts behind the existing HPOF badge.

HPOF cars are always eligible to the shown at subsequent National meets, where they will either continue to be certified at their current level of achievement, or have the certification reduced or removed. For example, if I were to repaint my Alfa and replace its 1300 cc original engine with a larger and more powerful Alfa engine, I would completely lose its HPOF rating. (And of course I have no intention of doing anything of the sort.) The plan, both short-term and long-term, is to keep driving the car, keep up its maintenance, and keep it as original as it is today!

The Miata Has Been Sold!

June 28, 2024 RichardReina Current events, Family cars Mazda Miata, NA Miata

Just shy of 28 years ago, in August of 1996, I was spending a long weekend at the Jersey shore. While driving around the neighborhood, I spotted a used white Miata on a Mazda dealer’s lot. (I’d say that it was a first-generation car, but in 1996, that’s all the factory had produced!) Having never driven one, I stopped in for a test drive. While I didn’t buy that particular car, the brief spin around the block had me hooked. Within days I began to scour the classifieds, and within a few weeks, I bought one: a black and tan 1993 Miata with 34,000 miles on it.

**1996: With my 5-year-old nephew Karl Jr. behind the wheel**

With plenty of summer weather still ahead of me, I drove my new-to-me Miata as much as I could, putting close to 10,000 miles on it within the first few months. I took it to work on nice days, and had it out almost every single weekend. The car was rust-free when I bought it and I intended to keep it that way, which meant that I’d never drive it in the winter. Since I was employed by Volvo and had a company car, the Miata became a toy car. We took day trips and week-longs trips with it, and it certainly got rained upon. But the exuberant feeling of being behind that wheel never faded.

Time flew by; the mileage continued to pile up; the car was serviced regularly by me; and almost nothing broke. In 2003, I had the top replaced. Sometime after that, the clutch secondary cylinder needed replacement (one of the car’s few known weak points). The power antenna needed repair. One headlight burned out! Oil changes, tires, and brake pads were attended to as needed, but the car was costing me very little to keep on the road.

Time continued to fly by; during the time I owned the Miata, I also cycled through an MGB, a Mustang, and of course, the Isetta. I joined AACA and learned that any car 25 years or older was eligible to be shown at an AACA event. Suddenly it was 2018 and the Miata was 25 years old. I decided to register (what was still in my mind a “newish” used car) for Hershey! The Miata was awarded its HPOF badge, and subsequently shown at AACA Nationals in Parsippany (2019) and Saratoga Springs (2021).

But something else changed. I was not driving the car much, through no fault of the car. I had purchased my Alfa Romeo in 2013 and drove that car a lot, including 4 times in the New England 1000 rallies. The Miata was still great to drive, but my older body was less tolerant of the heat. When I did drive it, the top tended to stay up. The Miata is low, and getting in and out of it wasn’t the easy affair it had been. I considered selling it. A funny thing happened after posting ads and taking prospects on test drives: I would ask myself, “Why am I selling this car? It’s so fun to drive!” In April of last year, I had a buyer all lined up, but at the last minute, the deal fell through, and I decided not to continue the ad.

Earlier this month, I thought I would try again, and for the first time with the Miata, placed an ad on Facebook Marketplace, where I have done very well selling items in the $20-$200 range. I placed the ad on Tuesday morning. A little more than 24 hours later, the car was sold. It has a little over 109,000 miles on the clock, meaning I drove it 75,000 miles in 28 years. The new buyer, a young man, had an NC Automatic which he sold, and seems thrilled to be getting into an NA stick. I have some seller’s remorse, while in reality, I know full well it’s time to let go. Will I replace it? Not right away. I have some shows lined up for the Alfa for the remainder of the summer. I’ll patiently wait to see if anything interesting pops up, but I’m in no rush.

AACA Eastern Spring Nationals, Saratoga Springs, NY, June 2024

June 23, 2024June 26, 2024 RichardReina Car shows, Events AACA Nationals, Saratoga Springs NY

The 2024 AACA Eastern Spring Nationals were held in Saratoga Springs, NY on Saturday, June 22. After enduring heat advisories in the metro NY/NJ during the week leading up to this event, the forecast for Saratoga Springs looked like it might bring some relief: Friday and Saturday were supposed to bring temperatures about 10 degrees cooler, with a 40-50% chance of showers. Indeed, when my wife and I arrived at the host hotel, the Gideon Putman, around 12:30 p.m. on Friday, it was noticeably more comfortable outside. We headed into town for lunch and tried to forget about the weather for now. (I should also explain that we handled this trip differently: for the first time, we took two cars, with me in the ’67 Alfa Romeo and my wife piloting her ’24 Volvo XC40. She ran interference for me on the highways, rode in climate-controlled coolness with Sirius-XM piped into the cabin, and used the Volvo to shop on Saturday during the show. We both agreed that this arrangement worked well.)

Back at the hotel on Friday evening, our host Region, the Saratoga Region of the AACA, arranged a chicken wings & pizza party, which provided an opportunity to meet some participants. (Saratoga Springs is only a 3.5 hour drive from my house in central Jersey, and I’ll express disappointment that I was the only member of the NJ Region to show a car on Saturday. Yet I met participants who traveled from CT, MD, and VA with their cars, either driven or trailered.)

Saturday morning, the weather forecast had changed and not for the better. Depending on which of 3 websites I consulted, the chance of rain was either 60, 70, or 80%, but all agreed that we would endure this chance all day. We had an early breakfast at the hotel, and when I stepped outside to move the Alfa to the show field, the skies were dry. Once the car was parked, I grabbed my camera because I sensed an opportunity to get some photography done in case it turned damp. Vehicles were still arriving but I was able to grab some shots. Back at my car, the showers started, and once they did, they didn’t stop for the remainder of the event. Actually, the showers got heavier and I had to resort to an umbrella I (luckily) remembered to tuck into the Alfa’s trunk.

It’s dirty work, but someone’s got to do it

My car was in the HPOF class, Historical Preservation of Original Features. There were perhaps 25-30 cars in HPOF, and the judges came around early. It was impossible for them to keep their judging sheets dry, and I felt a bit sorry for them, soaked through as they were. They spent about 90 seconds on each car; it was more a contest for them to keep moving! Many of the car owners had taken to huddling under a brick portico, out from the rain. At least the temps remained high enough to ward off any chill.

I noticed that as soon as the cars were judged, they were making their way toward the exit. Ironically, this was just about when the heavy showers began to subside. I took another loop around the show field and met up with my friend Dave B., who was showing his ’55 T-Bird. I had met Dave at this same location 3 years ago, and featured him and his car in my blog post from that event. A long-time high school friend, Vinnie G., drove up from Pawling and I enjoyed walking the field with him to take in the few remaining cars. It was probably close to 3 p.m. when I moved the Alfa back to the hotel parking lot (1/2 mile away) and covered it; of course, the skies were dry!

Looking at the Program, there were 236 vehicles registered, a decent number for a Regional show. I overheard an AACA member say that 175 cars were on the show field. If that’s accurate, about 60 cars stayed home, which is regretful. While I do my best to remain positive (I had made plans for this show about 3 months ago and we were attending regardless), the weather made it a disappointing day. Yet, I made new friends and reconnected with old ones. My car made the 425-mile round-trip without a hiccup, and even my wife seemed pleased with the weekend! (A/C and satellite radio obviously work to an advantage here.) Up next for the Alfa: Fort Lee in July, but before that, some deferred maintenance is on the agenda.

THE PARKING LOT BEFORE THE SHOW

THE SHOWFIELD

This Jaguar XK-140 was stunning:

Local Church Holds Inaugural Cars & Coffee Event

June 16, 2024 RichardReina Car shows, Events Cars & Coffee, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Three Bridges NJ

My wife and I belong to our local Catholic Church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, just 2 miles up the road, and I’ve recently befriended the husband of one of my wife’s friends from church. Andy is a ‘car guy’ in the sense that he likes cars and rather recently treated himself to a pre-owned BMW Z4 as a weekend driver. At my urging, he also joined the NJ Region of the AACA and has attended some meetings.

Andy is involved in various church activities and got the idea for something different. He approached the pastor about having a Cars & Coffee type event on a Sunday afternoon. He quickly got approval, and the word went out among the parishioners. The show was scheduled for Sunday June 2, 2024, and while he was initially hoping for around 15 cars, he got 11 owners to sign up; but then, 3 dropped out the day prior. He still had 8 vehicles, and a varied assortment at that.

To help him fill out the field, I promised Andy that I’d bring both my ’67 Alfa Romeo and my ’93 Mazda Miata. My wife was willing to drive the Miata there, and she got to hang out with some of her girlfriends, while the guys clustered together to talk about their machines.

Besides my two cars and Andy’s Z4, we had a BMW Z3, a C4 Corvette, a mid-90’s Camaro, and 2 late ’70s MGBs. I had not met any of the owners before, and this was a great opportunity to get to know some local car enthusiasts. Everyone was courteous and complimentary of each other’s cars, and at the end of the gathering, we promised each other that we would do this at least one more time this year, and perhaps even work in a little road tour. I would especially appreciate the tour, as the 4-mile round trip barely got my engines warm!

The Alfa Club at the Somerville Cruise Night

June 2, 2024 RichardReina Cruise nights, Events AROC NJ Chapter, Somerville NJ Cruise Night

The Friday night cruise night in my local town of Somerville NJ has been a neighborhood staple for decades. I posted blog stories about it as far back as 2004, when I put my Isetta on display there. I was also there, without a car to display, in 2015 and in 2022. In August of 2016, the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) appeared en masse, and we’ve now repeated that effort in 2024.

This past Friday, May 31, nine vehicles belonging to NJ-AROC members lined up on Main St. in front of the Somerville Courthouse, where parking spots were reserved for us. It was a night of gorgeous weather, which brought out the gearheads, both as attendees and as spectators. Our club was ably represented by a nice mix of classic (pre-1995) Alfas and modern (2017-present) Giulia and Tonale models.

For me, the Alfisti at the cruise night were a pleasant mix of old friends and new faces. It was a delight to meet some new club members, two of whom drove in their Giulia Quadrifoglios. (A friend recently asked how is it that the Alfa club seems to so easily accept owners of both older and newer machines. I responded that there is no sense of competition or superiority among the brand’s fans, all of whom embrace the full history of the cars from Milano.)

It was so much fun to hang with my fellow club members that I didn’t even get a chance to walk the rest of the show, which consumes about 5 or 6 blocks of Main St. The evening was topped off by the arrival of several pizzas from a well-regarded local restaurant, paid for by the club.

If I had to pick a favorite from Friday’s event, it would be the Junior Z, a rare limited production car which shares most of its mechanicals with Alfas produced around the same time (1970). The one at the show was equipped with the same 1300 engine as in my Junior. The greatest difference, of course, is the sleek and compact Zagato body. According to my copy of The Illustrated Alfa Romeo Buyer’s Guide, only 1,108 Junior Zs with the 1300 engine were built. (In 1972 the engine was upgraded to the 1600 version, but only 402 of those were churned out.) It was a thrill to see it up close and personal!

The Alfa Club plans to return to the Somerville Cruise Night in late August.