Last month, between my trip to Hershey in early October and jetting off to Italy in mid October, there was an Alfa Romeo Club breakfast that fell through the cracks! However, better late than never, so here is the post about the NJ-AROC monthly breakfast from Sunday, October 12, 2025.
We met at one of our regular haunts, the Spinning Wheel Diner on Route 22 in Lebanon, NJ. I didn’t even get a table shot, which always helps me obtain an accurate head count, but from the photos I have, it looks like we had seven Alfisti plus one guest, my friend Doug from the NJ-AACA. He had been expressing interest in Alfa Spiders to me, so I invited him to join us for the morning, which he gladly did.
After breakfast, we did our usual hanging around in the parking lot. Jeff’s Spider was the only one there, so with Doug, that’s the car that got our attention. I sat in it and marveled at the seats, much more supportive with their more aggressive side bolsters than in an earlier car like mine. This group of Jersey guys are always great to spend time with, which makes me doubly glad that as a club, we have been able to keep to our monthly breakfast meets.
I’ve known about the Thursday cruise nights for a while, but did not get a chance to attend until this week, so there we were, my trusty Alfa companion and myself, on August 7, 2025. I arrived promptly at 5 p.m., the official starting time, to find very few parking spots remaining. I parked next to my friend John’s beautiful teal blue “retro-Bird,” and as cars continued to file in, they were directed to park on the grass behind the paved lot. More than one attendee was overheard to say that this was possibly the biggest crowd of the season at the Spinning Wheel, no doubt helped by the tremendous weather, with temps in the low 80s and low humidity.
Glancing around, I quickly surmised that my Italian mistress was the only furrin car there. In actuality, most of the cars were either ‘50s and ‘60s muscle cars, or street rods of one kind or another. I felt out of my element until a few other imports showed up. John and I walked the lot together, taking in the variety of vehicles on display, which included not one but two 1940 Fords, an assortment of Thunderbirds, a Triumph, an MG, a Miata, and Corvettes of various vintages. I’m sorry, but if you’re driving a C8 Corvette (and there were several) to a “collector car cruise night,” you’re just showing off. I get the appeal, but a C8 parked next to a C2 makes it blatantly obvious which I’d rather have in my garage.
My wife arrived to join me for dinner in the diner (and for which I had a 10% off coupon as a show participant), and after the meal, I was ready to head home. At about 7:30 p.m., I hopped into my car, started it up, and saw that the representative from Cars & Coffee of Central Jersey, who was hosting the event, ran up to my open window to present me with a trophy! I’m not sure what I won or how my car was selected, but it was a nice gesture nevertheless. The diner is only a thirty-minute ride to my house, so I was back by eight, which made for an easy night. All in all, it was a fun way to spend a Thursday evening.
1957 ChevyShelby MustangC2 Corvette1st gen Miata1963 Ford Galaxie’57 Chevy Nomad on L, ’55 Chevy wagon on RMy ’67 Alfa Romeo1st gen Mustang (which also won a trophy)1970 Olds CutlassMaserati coupe, the only other Italian thereMGBC2 CorvettePontiac GTODodge panel truck1964 Triumph TR41965 Mercury Comet1964 PlymouthIt’s nice to be recognized
The NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (NJ-AROC) returned to the Spinning Wheel Diner in Lebanon, NJ on Saturday, April 26 for its monthly breakfast. A total of ten Alfisti happily gathered for chow, coffee, and conversation. The weather could have been better (we could say that about the entire month of April), but two brave souls still drove their classic Alfas, while several modern Milanese macchine rounded out the collection in the parking lot. (Yr hmbl svt failed to photograph any vehicles, mea culpa.)
Better weather is on tap as we head into May. Bill reminded the audience that Somerville has responded in the affirmative to our request for special parking for the May 30 cruise night. We will have additional opportunities to exercise our steeds throughout the spring and summer. Meanwhile, these monthly breakfasts continue to provide a wonderful way for a group of enthusiasts with a common interest to enjoy each other’s company.
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 21st 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.
Above, L to R: Richard, John, Steve, Bill, John, Fran, Tony
Above: Steve with son John with Steve’s 2018 Giulia
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