AROC NJ Chapter

The New Jersey Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) sponsored a combination dealer visit/drive event on Sunday October 30, 2022, which saw a significant turnout of older Alfas along with some newer vehicles. The dealership, Alfa Romeo of Englewood Cliffs (NJ), located on Route 9W, graciously opened its doors to us on a Sunday morning, providing coffee and breakfast treats while we owners took advantage of the opportunity to mingle under sunny and unusually warm late October skies.

The size of the group was impressive; aside from six Spiders, there were five Bertone Giulia Coupes, a Milano, a 4C, and modern Giulias and Stelvios. A Fiat 500 Abarth rounded out the Italian entries. As the owner of a GT 1300 Junior, it was most interesting to me that there were four 1300 Juniors present, 3 Coupes and a Spider, incredible given that the model was never officially imported to the U.S.

After our morning soiree, some of us joined our tour leader Scott Klion and followed him in his red Giulia on a scenic ride up the Palisades Parkway and around Storm King Highway in NY, ending with a lunch at the charming Painter’s Tavern in Cornwall-on-Hudson. I’ve always admired how Alfa owners love to drive their cars in a spirited fashion, even if I in my 90-HP Junior struggled to keep up! My wife and I had a long ride back home from the restaurant, but it was good to get out, put some miles on ‘Junior’, and see some of my old Alfa friends again.

Hard to tell, but this Spider is dark green

’73 GTV, with GT 1300 Junior in nero behind it

Your scribe’s GT 1300 Junior in Muschio Verde (musk green) next to a Spider

This ’68 GT 1300 Junior in Bluette was recently restored

A 4C in a shade of blue I’ve not seen before

The New Jersey Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) held its first official event of 2021, a Saturday morning Cars & Coffee on June 5. Our generous host for the day, club member Martin M., invited members to his home, where bagels, Danishes, and coffee were available on the rear deck. We served ourselves while enjoying the perfect morning weather: sunny and warm with low humidity.

Above: A Spider is cornered by 3 modern Giulias, while a newer Spider looks on

And do car people hang out on the deck near the breakfast spread? Of course not. Food and drink in hand, we wandered among the dozen or so Alfas driven to and parked in the yard, comprising a nice mix of older sedans and Spiders along with an assortment of new Giulias. We also got to enjoy eyeballing Martin’s eclectic collection, only some of which are of Italian origin.

Above: cars like this Renault 4CV are easily tucked away; you never know when you might need a spare engine for one!

Best of all, with COVID restrictions finally relaxing, this was the first chance in a long while for we Alfisti to get reacquainted with old friends while making new ones. I belong to a number of different clubs, and I was reminded again that Alfa owners really are the friendliest. I’m already looking forward to other events this year with AROC’s NJ Chapter.