The 2023 New Hope Auto Show

August 14, 2023 RichardReina Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr., Car shows, Events AROC, AROC NJ Chapter, New Hope Auto Show

The New Hope (PA) Auto Show has been a mainstay of eastern Pennsylvania for over 60 years. (I was somewhat shocked a while back, when perusing some old copies of Car & Driver magazine in my library, to stumble across a story about the show they published in the mid-1960s.) It is ironic to me that despite my decades-long attendance at other relatively nearby shows in Macungie, Carlisle, and Hershey, I had not ever heard of the New Hope show until I joined the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC). It was then that I learned that AROC members tended to turn out in support of it, and by 2015, I was invited to join the fray. The Alfa was there that year, and came back for more in 2021. My 2023 appearance makes it a triple play for my Milanese macchina.

According to our AROC NJ Chapter president, who also served as Chief Judge for our marque, there were 14 Alfa Romeos, which he felt was down in count compared to recent years. It was no surprise that Spiders comprised the most popular bodystyle there, which is almost always the case, given the model’s long production run. (Alfa made this final version of the US Spider from 1966 to 1994.) I counted eight Spiders, two Giulia coupes, one Milano sedan, two 164 sedans, a 4C, and a RHD British-spec Spider from the 1990s, a bodystyle never sold in the states. So my count is 15; it’s possible that the 4C was part of the “exotic car” class and was not counted among the Alfas.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the two-day New Hope show is two car shows in one, with domestic vehicles on Saturday and imports on Sunday. (This is how the Greenwich Concours used to be organized, which I preferred over what I experienced there this past June.) Alfa Romeos were far from the only brand on display, as my photos will attest. There was a wonderful assortment of British, Japanese, German, Swedish, and other Italian cars, liberally spread out in the paved parking lot and on the lawn of the school on Bridge St. which hosts the event.

For me, the best part of the show, any show really, is the willingness of spectators and other show car owners to engage me in conversation. I no longer try to count the number of people who point to my car and exclaim “I used to have one like it!”. Such comments are frequently laced with twinges of regret over having let go of their prized vehicle. I’m also asked for advice about parts, service, and vendors for the brand, which I’m always happy to discuss. But the most popular topic is the originality of my ’67 GT 1300 Junior, likely because it is so unusual to find a 56-year-old Italian car with 67,000 miles on it which has never rusted and has never been disassembled for restoration. The honor for this achievement goes to owner #2, my friend Pete, who was the car’s steward for 45 years. My 10 years of ownership have mainly focused on keeping the status quo.

The day was very warm but with low humidity and a surprising breeze. Still, sitting and standing in the sun non-stop from 8 a.m. was taking its toll. The Alfa judging team emerged around 2 p.m. to award ribbons. Unlike previous years when “closed cars” and “open cars” comprised separate classes, for 2023 all Alfas in attendance were judged as one class. First place went to a gorgeous violet 1971 GTV, 2^nd place went to a red 1991 Spider, and 3^rd place was given to my ’67, for which I was flattered and honored.

Once that part of the day was over, it was time to hit the road. New Hope is an easy 25-minute drive each way, and after baking in the sun all day, it was time to put both the car and me back into the shade for the remainder of the afternoon. I’ll make every effort to show the car at New Hope again next year.

SWEDISH

ITALIAN (NON-ALFA)

GERMAN

BRITISH

This 1935 MG P-Type was one of my favorite cars at the show. From my observation, pre-war MGs are rarely seen in the U.S.

JAPANESE

ALFA ROMEOS

Spiders

Giulia coupes

164 sedans

Milano sedan

4C coupe

A British-spec RHD Spider from the 1990s, never imported here:

Concours on the Palisades, Fort Lee NJ, July 23, 2023

July 27, 2023 RichardReina Car shows, Events Concours on the Palisades, Fort Lee NJ

The 2^nd annual “Concours on the Palisades” was held in Fort Lee NJ on Sunday July 23, 2023. The show reverted to this rain date when threatening weather on the original planned date of July 16 made it imprudent to hold the event on that day.

The postponement was a wise move, as the weather on the 23^rd was sunny and warm, with low humidity and a slight breeze. If there was a downside, it was the observed possibility that a number of registered cars didn’t show up because the owners were unavailable on the new date. Still, turnout was strong. I would estimate that there were close to 150 show vehicles on site, and a varied assortment they were. The featured marque was the Chevrolet Corvette, celebrating its 70^th anniversary in 2023. Several blocks of Main St. in downtown Fort Lee were closed to outside traffic to allow the Corvettes to take over. There were 50+ Corvettes in attendance, from all 8 generations, from the C1s through the new mid-engine C8s.

The remainder of the show cars were arranged in a parking lot surrounding a large parking garage, just up the block from Main St. Classes included American, British, Italian, German, Japanese, and Swedish cars, plus ‘exotic’ and ‘vintage’ automobiles. Similar to what many towns have done during Cars & Coffee and Cruise Night events, the local restaurants and shops threw open their doors and hopefully were able to drum up some business with all the spectators milling about.

I was there to do more than spectate; I was also judging the show! (See sidebar.) Judging gave me a chance to converse with owners, which is always fun, but I then needed to race through the classes I didn’t judge so that I could take in the rest of the show. The event officially opened to the public at 10 am, and the awards ceremony was held at 1 pm, with everything wrapped up by 2 pm, so it was not an all-day affair.

I’m not familiar with any similar show in the northeast part of NJ (The “Ramapo Concours” ran for only one or two years and seemed to have petered out), so we shall see if Fort Lee can work their magic and have a 3^rd consecutive show in 2024.

EXOTIC

One of two first-gen Ford GT cars in attendance

VINTAGE

’57 Chevy; those are NOT whitewalls! The 18″ wheels have white outer edges!

JAPANESE

This Honda S2000 looked showroom new, had 180,000 miles on it

SWEDISH

BRITISH

ITALIAN

GERMAN

BMW 6-Series; note the license plate (body style was known as the “shark”)

AMERICAN

CORVETTES

C1:

C2:

C4:

C6:

C7:

SIDEBAR: JUDGING A CONCOURS

My very good friend Sal, whom I know from our now-discontinued Sunday breakfast drives, found himself invited to be a judge at the inaugural Concours on the Palisades last year. He invited me to also participate in judging, but I had a personal conflict in 2022 and could not join. Sal repeated the invite this year and put me in touch with the Chief Judge, someone I’ve known for decades: Bob Austin, a Volvo corporate colleague whom I met in the late 1980s. Bob signed me up and the emails began to fly.

I’ve judged a number of car shows, mostly AACA events. AACA has a rulebook chock full of specifics. Overall, AACA rules require that cars be judged based on how they would have appeared when new and about to be delivered by an authorized dealer to the car’s first customer. In essence, this means the vehicle being judged should be 100% stock with no factory deviations. In addition to shiny paint, sparkling chrome, and pristine glass, the colors, materials, and equipment must match what was used in the year the car was built.

As Bob explained it to us judges in Fort Lee, we would be judging by “French rules”. He explicitly gave these examples: “I don’t care if the color is one that was never original to the car, and I don’t care if the engine or the upholstery has been changed. We are judging cars on condition, of course, but the ultimate question you might ask yourself is ‘would this be the car that I would want to take home with me?’” Put another way, how did the cars impact us emotionally? We were handed outlines about exterior and interior judging, and also told that our judging would not include the engine or trunk. Bob said “be consistent. If you knock a car down because the glass is dirty, you need to be sure to objectively judge the cleanliness of the glass for all the cars.”

The French rules were 180 degrees from AACA judging, but we judges would be on teams that needed to reach a consensus, and no matter how many (or how few) cars were in a class, we had to select 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place. As my fortune would have it, I was teamed up with Sal, with 4 smaller classes to judge: exotic, vintage, Japanese, and Swedish. There were few enough cars in each class that choosing the 3 cars was easy; we then had to rank them, which involved a bit more back-and-forth between us, yet it didn’t take us long to create the final lists.

I’m going to avoid the “how and why” of our choices, for several reasons. One, under French rules, it’s likely that any other team of two would have chosen completely different cars; two, if you weren’t there to see them in the metal, it could be very difficult to explain why we chose the cars we did; and three, I think it’s unwise to reveal any of the process should show car owners be reading this.

Judging can be fun; it can also be time-consuming, frustrating, challenging, and if one is not careful, inconsistent. The last point might be the most important. My own cars have been judged multiple times, and you want the judges to be fair. I believe we were, and I’d like to see Sal and I end up on the same judging team next year.

NJ Alfa Club Visits Alfa Dealer in Englewood Cliffs NJ

July 9, 2023 RichardReina Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr., Car shows, Events Alfa Romeo of Englewood Cliffs, AROC NJ Chapter

Members of the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) were again invited to be guests at the Alfa Romeo of Englewood Cliffs NJ dealership, on Sunday July 9, 2023. The dealer opened their doors on a day when they are usually closed, provided breakfast food and coffee, and had several of the new Tonale SUVs on display.

Several Tonales were staged in front of the showroom

About 10 Chapter members showed up with their Alfas (and one Fiat Abarth); several other members drove to the event in modern iron. The number of vehicles was down slightly from our previous visit, and all the club vehicles were from the “classic” era. There was a nice assortment of Giulia coupes, Spiders, and one beautifully-modified Berlina sedan. We had a total of three 1300 Juniors: two coupes, including your author’s, and one Spider. Keep in mind the relative rarity of these Juniors, as it is a model which was never officially sold in the States.

Several dealer sales and service people gave us a walkaround of the Tonale, a PHEV with a 1.3L gas engine up front, and two electric motors, one front and one rear. The vehicle to my eye looks like a junior Stelvio, which is not a bad thing given that I consider the Stelvio to be one of the better-looking SUVs on the market today.

NJ-AROC members check out the new Tonale

The sky was grey all morning, and we were all aware of the pending thunderstorms in the forecast, which likely played a role in keeping the overall numbers down. The event was scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. I scooted at 10:45 to try to beat the rain. Aside from driving home in two very brief showers, I did make it back before the skies opened their taps.

I had missed the previous two NJ Chapter gatherings, only because of other commitments, so I was glad to attend this one, and it was good to see some Alfa friends again. On behalf of the NJ Chapter of AROC, I want to thank Alfa Romeo of Englewood Cliffs for their hospitality.

Dealer personnel and Chapter members at the Tonale presentation

Close to what you would have seen in an Alfa showroom in ’66-’67

Breakfast supplied by our gracious hosts

Sunday Morning “Cars N’ Caffeine”, Quaker Bridge Mall, June 11, 2023

June 16, 2023 RichardReina Car shows, Events American Collector's Insurance, Cars & Caffeine, Quaker Bridge Mall

My good friend Mike introduced me to this event: American Collectors Insurance sponsors a series of Sunday morning cruise-ins in and around the Delaware Valley Region. The closest one for me is held at the Quaker Bridge Mall on Route 1 in Princeton NJ. There are two other locations, and the three are on a rotating monthly schedule. The June 11 cruise-in was the first one I was able to attend, and Mike and I were both there.

I showed up precisely at the announced start time of 8 a.m. to discover about a dozen cars already in place. The mall has a huge parking lot, and the designated spot for the show is in a corner at the rear. I staged my Alfa next to Mike’s beautiful ’66 Corvette roadster, and after exchanging pleasantries, I was on the hunt for caffeine, hoping there would also be something resembling breakfast food. A rep from the insurance company had complementary Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and donuts, so I made do with a cruller to accompany my brew. Next time, I’ll stop for a proper meal on the way down.

Within minutes, a fellow car owner named Harry ambled over and introduced himself. He drove a stunning Chevy Nova which had been born with a 6-cylinder and now sported a 396 big block. Both Mike and I spent a good deal of time chatting it up with Harry, who proved himself to be a real “car guy”: knowledgeable yet humble.

The vehicles on display ran the gamut of old and new, stock and modified, domestic and imported. The oldest vehicle was a ’38 Buick (but restomodded, with a modern drivetrain) and the newest was possibly the Mazda RX-8. As seems to often be the case, my Alfa Romeo was the only Italian car.

Although advertised to run from 8 a.m. to 12 noon, both Mike and I scooted a little after 10. First, I was famished; second, there were no bathroom facilities! (The mall would open at 11 a.m. for those willing to wait for food and restrooms.) This was an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday morning, and weather permitting, I’m going to try to make it to the next Quaker Bridge Mall event on Sunday July 9.

A Falcon and a Beetle (no, this is not the zoo)

One of the newer cars there, a Honda S2000

Another ’66 C2; owner claimed it was all-original

(Above): I don’t know when I last saw one of these; in fact, I had to look it up to write about it. The Chevy Monza was built from 1975-1980, on the Vega platform. Standard engine was the Vega 4-cylinder, but a V8 was optional. The fastback 2+2 is the one I remember, but this “Town Coupe” came later. I think this design has held up well.

E-body Barracuda; note the “billboard” quarter panel treatment

1940 Ford brought by “Carl” who remembered me from last year’s Glidden tour

The Back To The Future Car, aka DeLorean DMC-12

(Above) The most unusual car at this show, this 1956 Canadian-spec “Meteor Rideau” wore a grille treatment and side trim unlike any U.S. spec FoMoCo product. The owner told me that “Rideau” is a river in Canada.

(Above) I featured this same Pontiac when it was at the Neshanic Station Car Show in 2021.

The 2023 Greenwich Concours, Part 4: Domestic Cars, and Some Final Thoughts

June 11, 2023 RichardReina Car shows, Events Greenwich Concours

One of the nice things about Sunday’s show (and I presume Saturday’s as well although I wasn’t there) was the variety of cars. Perhaps it was too varied, but more words about that below. I have so far posted photos of Italian and British cars, as well as cars from classes not dependent on country of origin. To finish this off, here are photos of some of the American cars on display that day, primarily consisting of personal luxury cars and muscle cars.

AMERICAN MUSCLE

One class consisted of “American muscle cars in high-impact colors”, some of which you see here:

PERSONAL LUXURY 2-DOOR COUPES:

HAGERTY, THE SHOW OWNERS AND HOSTS

The Greenwich Concours d’Elegance began in 1996, when husband-and-wife team Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom decided to host a true Concours in the area. When Bruce and Genia passed away, their children continued the tradition. It was always a two-day event, with domestic cars on Saturday and import vehicles on Sunday. When it was a family affair, I showed cars there 6 times, an honor which I don’t take lightly. Attending the show was always an easygoing and relaxed day.

Hagerty bought the Greenwich Concours from the Wennerstroms a few years back. My 2023 participation was the first time under the Hagerty umbrella. Overall, Hagerty puts a tremendous amount of effort into organizing, arranging, and hosting an event like this. It’s still a two-day show, but now the classes are more varied. This year the Saturday show was billed as “Concours de Sport” and Sunday was the “Concours d’Elegance”. Sunday’s show consisted of a total of 19 different classes! From my observation, there was no overriding theme or sense of unity to the displays.

As a participant, I felt that Hagerty crossed the line from “organization” to “control”. Innumerable emails told me everything from what time I must load in on Sunday (“6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., and we reserve the right to turn away entrants who arrive later”), to how I should park (“place the left front tire of your vehicle on top of disc hammered into the ground at your parking spot”), to what time I could leave (“show gates will be locked until 4:30 p.m., and no one will be permitted to exit before then”). I was told that absolutely no signage of my own was permitted on, in, or around my car, which didn’t stop me from putting informational posters I had created on top of my dash and rear parcel shelf. We had passes for an included lunch, which was nice, but were sternly told that “you may only enter once; once you leave you cannot reenter the luncheon area”. It was difficult to converse with showgoers at times because the MC blared incessantly through the too-loud PA all day long.

What was a relaxed, low-key, fashionable, reasonably-sized and well laid-out classic car show set in a verdant water-lined park has been turned into a mega-event. The communal spirit which flowed through every aspect of what the Wennerstroms had created has been displaced by a big-business approach as would be taken by a major corporation. It’s still a great show; it’s just not as great as it once was.

The 2023 Greenwich Concours, Part 3: The People I Met! Plus, the European Cars

June 8, 2023 RichardReina Car shows, Events Greenwich Concours, Rich Taylor

The Greenwich Concours d’Elegance is more than just the cars; it’s the people, of course: fellow car owners, judges, spectators, and really anyone who wants to chat about interesting cars. Below are capsule summaries of a few of my encounters.

Ed Welburn

I had seen in the program that an honorary judge for the event was Ed Welburn, who recently retired as GM’s Vice President of Global Design (a position previously held by a couple of gents named Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell). As I strolled among the show cars, there was Ed, walking along by himself, so I stopped and asked “are you Ed Welburn?” When he replied in the affirmative, I shook his hand and told him it was an honor to meet him. You can read about his professional life here.

Fellow AROC members

It was nice to catch up with several AROC (Alfa Romeo Owners Club) members, especially those from the NJ Chapter whom I recently met on a Zoom call and had never met in person. Thanks for stopping by, Lambert and Vic!

Ian Kelleher from Broad Arrow Auctions

In 2013, when I finally decided to go with RM/Sotheby’s Auctions to sell my Isetta, I still had a bit of trepidation about the particular arrangements. My RM ‘rep’ was a fellow named Ian Kelleher, and I have not forgotten about his patience and graciousness as he walked me through the particulars. Ian now works for Broad Arrow Auctions (owned by Hagerty), and when I saw him on Sunday, I took advantage of the opportunity to again thank him for his help. BTW, Bonhams Auctions used to be the in-house auction company at Greenwich, but since Hagerty bought Greenwich, they won’t allow an ‘outside’ auction company to operate there. The same thing happened at Ameilia Island, as RM was told “you’re out” and Broad Arrow was told “you’re in”. So it goes….

Richard with the Riviera

I’ve seen this same green ’64 Buick Riviera so often that I’ve gotten to know the owner. Rich drives his car up and down the East Coast attending car shows. I featured him and his car in this blog post about the 2021 AACA Nationals in Saratoga Springs NY.

Erich from the Boca Raton Concours

The gentleman patiently stood there waiting while I finished up speaking to a spectator. He quickly introduced himself and handed me his business card. He said, “I see that this Alfa is all original. Because it has been so well kept, I want to formally invite you to enter your car in the Preservation Class at next year’s Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance, in February 2024. Besides, it’s a nice time of year to be in Florida!” I thanked him for the invite and told him I was honored that he would consider my car for it. Of course, getting the car there and back is on me, which makes it very unlikely, but it was still very nice to be recognized in this way.

Rich Taylor

On occasion, I will pull random copies of old Car & Driver magazines from my library and leaf through them. About two weeks ago, the July ’73 issue ended up in my hands, and lo and behold, the cover told me that there was a review of the “new” Alfa Romeo GTV. I sat down to read it, and as I turned the page to the full-page photo, I immediately said to myself, “that guy looks familiar”. I scanned the page, printed out an 8×10 glossy, put a Post-It note on the pic which said “guess who?” and at the show on Sunday, placed the photo on top of the Alfa’s dash.

When judging started, who came around to judge my car (actually, the entire class of Alfas) but Rich Taylor himself. After we exchanged pleasantries, I directed him to check out the photo. He grabbed it and said “let me pose like this again!”. I got into the shot holding up the glossy (which he signed for me). Anything for a chance to have a little fun with that “famous automotive journalist Rich Taylor”.

BRITISH & ITALIAN CARS

Below is a sampling of the European cars which I found to be photo-worthy.

Lambo 12-cylinder engine with 6 Weber carbs

The 2023 Greenwich Concours, Part 2: My Invitation, Plus Some Special Classes

June 6, 2023 RichardReina Car shows, Events Greenwich Concours, New England 1000, Rich Taylor

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this blog series, the Greenwich Concours is an invitation-only event, so it is an honor to show a car there. My Alfa was there in 2013 and again in 2017; however, the Wennerstrom family was still running the show in those years. Bruce Wennerstrom knew of me because I had shown the BMW Isetta at Greenwich 4 times (2001, 2004, 2007, and 2010), and he had always been gracious and welcoming to me and my little bubble car, surrounded as it was by machinery worth 5 or 10 times its value. Hagerty bought the Greenwich Concours a few years ago (and I will elaborate on my impressions of Hagerty in a later post). For 2023, Greenwich was not necessarily on my radar until an email arrived in March from Rich Taylor.

I know Rich from the New England 1000 rallies. He knows of my Alfa because I drove it in 4 of those rallies (2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018). He wrote to tell me that Alfa Romeo would be a featured marque at Greenwich this year, and he was “in charge” of assembling both pre-war and post-war classes. He continued “I would like to include your rare GT Junior”. Of course, I replied in the affirmative. (There’s lots more to the Rich Taylor story from Sunday. Stay tuned.)

A few weeks later, an email arrived from Hagerty confirming my acceptance at the show. That set off a slew of follow-up emails from the show sponsors about what was expected of me. My wife decided to accompany me, and although we had originally planned to depart very early Sunday morning (show cars were required to be on the field no later than 8 a.m., and it’s a one hour, forty-five minute drive from our house), we made a very late decision on Friday to head up during the day on Saturday. I’m glad we did because we got to the hotel early Saturday evening, had a relaxing dinner, and had a simple 3.5 mile drive on Sunday morning.

When I wasn’t busy hanging around my car to field questions (there is certainly something about the “Giulia coupe” which draws people; let’s acknowledge that it is a near-universally-loved design), I managed to walk the field several times to photograph the rest of the show. It was a wildly varied mix, with plenty of domestic and European brands (but no Asian brands), pre-war and post-war generations, and production and concept cars. For this post, I will feature 3 classes: The Ghia concept cars; the Woodies; and the “Class of 1963”.

THE GHIA CONCEPT CARS

I didn’t have time to read all the explanatory signs around these gorgeous concept cars which Ghia built for Chrysler in the early-to-mid ‘50s. One or two I’ve seen before, and others I’ve only seen in photographs. To see them in person was breathtaking.

THE WOODIES

Wood was originally used as a vehicle body material out of necessity. Station wagons up through the first half of the 20^th century used wood because there weren’t yet presses large enough to stamp the big sheets of steel needed for the wagon’s body panels. Once domestic station wagons switched to all-steel, which happened by the end of the 1940s, there was some nostalgia for woodies, so Detroit continued to trim their wagons with wood. Eventually, as a cost savings, vinyl sheets with woodgrain patterns were used. The 1961 Ford was the newest woody wagon on display. The Nash Rambler, with its minimal fake wood treatment, was a vehicle I can’t recall ever seeing before.

THE CLASS OF 1963

I’ve often fantasized what it must have been like to have been a young person of driving age in 1963, with money in one’s pocket to buy almost any new car available. It was a banner year for new vehicle introductions, which included the Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray in both split-window coupe and roadster forms; the Buick Riviera, GM’s first real competition against the Ford Thunderbird in the personal luxury coupe class; and the Studebaker Avanti, an all-fiberglass coupe which, in a last-ditch effort by Studebaker to stay alive, was radically designed by Raymond Loewy. Other choice offerings included the Chrysler 300J, the Lincoln Continental 4-door convertible, and the Pontiac Grand Prix. If you were willing to consider “foreign cars”, you could check out the Jaguar XKE, the Austin-Healey 3000, the Fiat 1200 Spider, the Iso Rivolta, the MGB, the Porsche 356, the Triumph TR4, and the Volvo P1800, among others.

I don’t know if Hagerty chose “The Class of 1963” because it was an iconic year or because it was 60 years ago. Either way, there was a delightful and eclectic variety of 1963 model year vehicles lined up, ranging from Volkswagen to Cadillac, and some interesting things in between. .

AN ALFA ADDENDUM

Thanks to my new buddy Lambert from the NJ Alfa Club who took this shot and gave me permission to use it, here is that class-winning 1900:

For Part 3 I will have plenty more photos plus more stories about some of the personalities I met.

The 2023 Greenwich Concours, Part 1: The Alfa Romeos

June 4, 2023 RichardReina Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr., Car shows, Events Alfa Romeo, Greenwich Concours

My wife and I just got back from a whirlwind 25-hour up-and-back trip to Greenwich CT for the 2023 Greenwich Concours. My Alfa was on the lawn again this year, and given that this is an invitation-only event, it was a high honor indeed. Alfa Romeo was a featured marque on Sunday, divided into pre-war and post-war classes. My ’67 was in the post-war class, of course, and although we didn’t win anything, it was an exciting and event-filled day. This first post about the show will focus only on the Alfa Romeos. There is much else to cover, and I will put up additional stories about the rest of the show during the week.

THE POST-WAR CLASS

There were 8 vehicles; in model year order, they were a ’56 1900, a ’59 Giulietta Spider, a ’63 Giulia Spider, a ’67 4R Zagato, my ’67 GT 1300 Jr., a ’71 Montreal, a ’78 Series 2 Spider, and a ’93 RZ Zagato. Right off the bat, note the strong representation from THREE iconic Italian design houses: Pininfarina, Bertone, and Zagato.

THE MONTREAL

This car is so-named because Alfa Romeo exhibited a concept car at the 1967 Montreal Expo. That design study went into production and was therefore named after the city where it was first displayed. It remains Alfa’s only road-going V8-powered automobile.

THE 4R ZAGATO

I’ve read about this car but never saw one in the metal before today. The woman representing the car (she’s wearing the scarf in the first photo) told me that only 92 were ever produced, only 3 are in the U.S., and the other two are on the west coast. That kinda explains why I haven’t seen one before this. The chassis and all mechanicals are 1967 Alfa. The factory commissioned Zagato to build a “pre-war style body” on top of the Guilia chassis. Viola!

RZ ZAGATO

Another Zagato oddball (is that redundant? 😉 ). I know very little about these except that the Italians nick-named it “The Monster”, which in Italian is “Il Mostro”. Ergo the license plate.

THE EARLY SPIDERS

I think that the ’63 Giulia is the blue car and the ’59 Giulietta is the red car, but I’m not certain. Someone will correct me if I got that backwards.

MY GT 1300 JUNIOR

Spending the week prior to the show detailing it did it wonders. We drove it 192 miles round-trip, mostly at 65-70 mph, and it performed flawlessly. Interestingly, it was the only Giulia coupe in the show.

’78 SERIES 2 SPIDER NIKI LAUDA EDITION

I have no recollection of being aware of this special model before. Phil, the owner of the car, parked next to me so we spent a bit of time chatting. He said that in 1978, when Lauda left Ferrari and joined the Alfa racing team, Alfa created this special model. Included were the headlight covers, body-painted rear spoiler, pin striping, and fender badges. Phil said that the Turbina wheels would be correct for this model, not the 5-star ones on it now. Here, Phil clowns with a leather racing helmet on his head.

MEA CULPA

Each car in our class was judged, and the winning car was the 1900. Unbelievably, of the 8 Alfa Romeos in the class, it is the one car I did not photograph. although you can get slight glimpses of it in the background of some of the photos above. My excuse is that as class winner, the car spent a good part of the day on display elsewhere on the show field. That’s the best I can do.

THE PRE-WAR CLASS

For whatever reason, the 3 Alfa Romeos in the pre-war class were arranged in a different area of the showfield, nowhere near us. I managed to get only one photo of the group of cars. When I went back to take additional photos, I couldn’t get near them as the area was roped off in preparation for the awards ceremony.

Future posts will cover many of the remaining show cars; there were about 140 vehicles on the showfield, and a nice variety it was. I also met some amazing people and I have stories to tell about those encounters.

NJ Region AACA Spring Meet Car Show, May 7, 2023

May 7, 2023 RichardReina Car shows, Events AACA NJ Region, Annual Spring Meet

The New Jersey Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) held its 70^th annual Spring Meet on Sunday, May 7, 2023. The show, traditionally hosted on the first Sunday of May, was in a new location this year: Nielsen Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep/Ram on Route 10 in East Hanover NJ.

The last few years for our Spring Meet have been rocky, to put it mildly. After literally 60 years at the same location, the club was forced to move, and we spent a few years holding our show at the Mennen Arena in Morristown NJ. (These links will take you to those shows in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.) But between unbelievably bad luck with the weather, combined with Covid shutdowns, we never had a good show there. Last year, we were at a school (link here), which had its positive points, but many didn’t care for the parking layout. This dealer offered us a spacious lot emptied out for us, and we finally had the weather on our side, with a sunny, warm, and slightly breezy day. There was a great turnout of show cars (my extremely unofficial count putting it at around 150), and a large number of spectators helped by our location along a busy 4-lane Jersey thoroughfare.

For reasons having nothing to do with the car, I was unable to bring the Alfa to the show, even though I had registered it. I did drive up in modern iron, though, because I had volunteered to be a judge. This task needs to be completed because many owners still are in love with the concept of placing 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd, and bringing home a trophy (what I’ve come to call a dust collector). All cars are placed in classes based on decade of manufacture, vehicle type, or make/model, done at the discretion of the club. There are 4 areas of the car which are examined: exterior, interior, engine compartment, and undercarriage. Each of those areas is scored on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best. Maximum score is 40. Ideally, the judging team consists of 4 judges, with each judge taking on the same area for all cars in the class. In reality, we only had enough judges to form teams of 2. I was teamed with a club member who said that he is an experienced Hershey judge, although he also said he knew pre-war cars better than post-war. I thought we made a good team as we balanced each other out. He took exterior and interior, and I took engine compartment and undercarriage.

Not as many pre-war cars this year; this is a ’29 Packard

First class we judged: 2-seat sports cars. We had quite a few Corvettes (C1 through C4), a few 2-seat T-Birds, a Triumph TR-6 and a Porsche 912. We are judging to AACA standards: the car should appear as it would have when delivered as a new car by a dealership. The 912 had a number of mods to it, which knocked it down. All the Corvettes were nice, but the ’54 C1 was close to perfect and took first place.

’54 Corvette which took 1st in its class

Next class was a tough one: “pony cars”, which in this case was 5 Mustangs and a ’70 Cougar. Mustang owners tend to be meticulous in their attention to detail, especially if they have ever been judged by the Mustang Club, where the judging is much stricter than it is at AACA. My personal fave was a ’67 Shelby GT-500 fastback with inboard lights. As stunning as that car was, it only took 3^rd! Two other Mustangs were that much nicer.

My co-judge and I tallied our scores and handed our sheets back to the Chief Judge. I sat down for a quick lunch, thinking we were done. We were not. Somehow, “Class 6” got missed and some of the owners were peeved. We were asked if we could tackle it and we said yes. This too was a tough class, as it was American cars of the 1960s. First place went to a ’67 Cadillac convertible, and 2^nd place to a supercharged Studebaker Avanti. But my personal favorite which came in 3^rd was a ’63 T-Bird convertible with the roadster package, in triple black. With gleaming wire wheels and white walls, it was gorgeous. But again, the competition can really be challenging.

To give you some further insight, most cars that we judged scored somewhere between a total of 25 and 38. It would be very rare indeed to score any one area below a “5”, and even if we did, another area might still score an 8 or a 9. No car that we judged scored a “40”, although 2 or 3 did score “39”. Provided there are at least 3 cars in the class (and for us, there always was), we need to deliver a 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place score back to the Chief Judge. What if there was a tie? That happened twice. In those cases, my co-judge and I looked at our judging sheets, and one of us adjusted one score either up a point or down a point. We did it as fairly as possible, although we also thought about the overall impact that the vehicle made on us.

ABOVE: Baby Bird parade: a ’56 and two ’57s

Again, I thought I was done. The Chief Judge, Ed, whom I’ve known for 20 years, asked me to accompany him as we still needed to judge cars for “Membership Trophies”. Let me explain: these awards, open only to NJ Region members, are for special categories, including the 3 best unrestored cars in 3 different year ranges. During registration, owners must request that their cars be considered. There are only 2 or 3 candidates in each category, and truthfully we were just giving them a quick eyeball. The problem was that these cars were in their respective classes, and therefore, scattered from one end of the show field to the other, so we had a lot of walking to do to locate them. But we eventually did, and finally, judging was done. Looking back at my photos, I see that I was not able to take as many shots as I would have liked! Including my brief lunch break, I was walking the field and judging cars (four different classes in total) for about 4 hours! I’m sorry that I missed photographing some of the stunning cars that I judged.

This mostly-unrestored Imperial took a Membership trophy

ABOVE: Two of the many Cadillacs at the show: a ’58 and a ’73

The awards ceremony started a bit late, probably around 3pm, but most owners stuck around, and I must admit that I did enjoy seeing their grins of satisfaction as they collected their trophies. It takes many, many volunteers from our club to make this show happen, and I was happy to be part of the team which pulled it together. I overheard that the Region hopes to use the same location next year, so my fingers are already crossed that the weather will cooperate in 2024.

The 2023 New York Auto Show

April 9, 2023 RichardReina Car shows, Events New York Auto Show, NYIAS

With Covid shutdowns in their rearview mirrors, the organizers of the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) were back on track this year. As has been their scheduling regimen, there were two press days on the Wednesday and Thursday before Good Friday, with the public days running from Good Friday through the Sunday after Easter. I was again able to attend on a press pass (issued to “Richard of Richard’s Car Blog” for the first time), and unlike my previous experiences, the show was completely set up on Wednesday. (Previously, attending on a press day meant dodging cars and displays being maneuvered into place by NYC union workers.)

As was noted in the blog post from the 2022 NYIAS, the traditional in-person auto show is dead, but only for some manufacturers. Notable by their absence were BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Mazda. Surprisingly, some corporate nameplates were there while sister brands were not. So we had Chevrolet, but not Buick, Cadillac, or GMC; Honda, but not Acura; Nissan, but not Infiniti; VW, but not Audi or Porsche; and Ford, but not Lincoln. Yet big splashes were made by Stellantis (Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo), Toyota (including Lexus), and Subaru. The Koreans were there in full force, with cars from Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. (It is worth noting that Audi and Porsche each had a small four-car display provided not by the manufacturer but by a local dealer.)

Compared to last year, there was a dearth of EV start-ups. INDI and VinFast, both with vehicles on display in 2022, were MIA this year. However, both the main level and lower level had more real estate devoted to EV test tracks, where willing attendees could hitch a ride in an EV. It is, of course, their lack of an emissions-spewing tailpipe that makes it possible to run them indoors.

The show was a case of extremes, with a significant segment of the wares devoted to our EV future, while large pickups and SUVs were also dominant. Many of the trucks showcased the outdoor lifestyle, equipped as they were with tents, cargo boxes, and bike carriers. Subaru was the leader this year in promoting this theme, as their press conference began with an overview of Subaru’s dedication to AWD, enabling owners to take their cars far off the beaten path.

Additional detail from the show is included as part of the photo displays below.

FORD

The F-150 Lightning was a large part of Ford’s display, as were both Mustangs: the ICE coupe, and the EV SUV. Various Broncos and pickups showed off their rugged, off-road personalities

CHEVROLET

Chevy did their best to make it look like it was the domestic EV leader, with many soon-t0-be-released EV trucks on display. The problem: these vehicles are not for sale yet. The EV Silverado was there, same as last year, but still isn’t in any showrooms. However, the one Camaro on the floor represented an end to an era, as the Camaro pony car will soon be no more. Not to be outdone, the Corvette E-Ray was there, looking identical to its ICE siblings. For those who crave maximum size on a body-on-frame platform, the Suburban continues to exist.

STELLANTIS

As the only domestic manufacturer with a full lineup of its brands on display, Stellantis stood out. It helps that the Ram and Jeep brands have great products and are selling well. A surprise to me was the Dodge Hornet, which I knew to be a brand-engineered version of the Alfa Romeo Tonale. The Hornets on display looked great, and even better, had impressive interiors with inviting seats I hadn’t expected to find in a Dodge. I predict that the Hornet will do well and will handily outsell the Tonale, especially given how little Alfa seems to market its cars in this country.

The RAM REV EV pickup is a disappointment, looking almost nothing like the stunning concept truck which had been shown at the CES a few months prior.

My vote for best-looking vehicle at the show: the Charger Daytona EV concept:

HYUNDAI

The Hyundai Ioniq 6 is a striking-looking four-door sedan in a world full of SUVs.

VW

The I.D. Buzz, looking like the same one I saw last year, was here again. One of the more clever displays was the lifted I.D. 4, exposing the EV battery “skateboard”.

JDM DISPLAY

A large section of the bottom floor was devoted to what looked like a club-sponsored display of JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) cars, perhaps three dozen in all. They were segregated by decade, and it was clearly some of the older ones which grabbed my attention.