Spinning Wheel Diner

The NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) proved that it can make a plan and stick with it. Having decided late last year to begin a tradition of monthly breakfast meetings, the Chapter successfully held its 3^rd consecutive breakfast meeting on Sunday March 10, returning to the Spinning Wheel Diner in Lebanon NJ, the site of our January meet.

The participant count was a little light at 6, and since we need to generate an excuse, we’ll blame that morning’s switch to Daylight Savings Time which caused all of us to lose an hour’s sleep. Winter was still very much in the air, so no classic Alfas made an appearance at breakfast. Instead, we were again treated to John’s new Tonale and Steve’s current-generation Giulia sedan.

One of the great benefits of these breakfast meetings is the chance to chat with each other about our cars. Tony and I shared the news about getting his Giulia TI going again thanks to the spark plug replacement; I mentioned that I got to drive John’s modern Giulia sedan, which was quite possibly the best performance sedan I’ve ever piloted; and poor Gene “entertained” us with his sad tale of spinning 180 degrees after the rear axle locked up on his ’76 Spider. Thankfully there was no body damage. His car is at the shop awaiting diagnosis and repair.

With food and drink done, we headed out early enough to enjoy the remainder of a brisk late winter day. But we also got to enjoy an extra hour of sunshine! The April breakfast meet will find us back at the Americana Diner in Shrewsbury, and fingers crossed, I plan to drive my GT Junior there.

The reinvigoration of the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC) has been ongoing since the middle of 2023. While progress has been slow and steady, the Chapter agreed a while back to institute something we have observed done by other Chapters, which is a regularly scheduled monthly meet-up at a restaurant or diner. The intention is to have an informal gathering where members can simply get to know each other better. There is no pre-set agenda.

The club officers decided to schedule breakfast at a diner on a monthly basis, with the dates and locations already set through April. January’s gathering took place on the 21^st at the Spinning Wheel Diner in Lebanon NJ. Seven intrepid Alfisti braved the 20 degree F temperature to arrive at the diner at 8 a.m.

While spring and summer meets will likely see a significant quantity of Alfas old and new in the parking lot, those of us (including your author) with “classic” Alfas are not about to drive them on our heavily salted roads. Two current-generation cars, a Giulia and a Tonale, made the trek, with the rest of us in our non-Italian daily drivers. (Tony quipped that he drove his “Alfa Ridgeline”!) It was a special treat to have John, the 13-year-old son of Steve, join us, and I learned that this young man is a fanatico of all automobiles from the great country of Italy. (When he told me “well, I do like one French car, the Bugatti”, I was delighted to inform him that Ettore Bugatti was an Italian who just happened to move to France.)

The food and coffee were great, the service was better, and as seems to happen at every gathering of this type, we managed to linger and chat well past the time when our bellies were full and the plates were cleared. I didn’t think that 7 was a bad turnout for A) a bitter cold January morning and B) our first event of this type, so I have high hopes that attendance will improve for the next few breakfast meets.