Celebrating 101 Years of Alfa Romeo at Westbury Gardens

“Celebrating 101 Years of Alfa Romeo at Westbury Gardens ” By Stuart Light              I can’t believe it’s already a year since Alfisti from New York /Long Island celebrated Alfa Romeo’s Centenary (100 years) at the Spring Meet hosted by the Greater New York Region/ Antique Automobile Club of America at Westbury Gardens .              This year, the AACA celebrated 100 years of Chevrolet, with Pre-World War II Chevrolets selected at this year’s Spotlight Car. It’s great to honor automobile companies now reaching a century in business. This year there were maybe 5 Pre-WW2 Chevys in attendance. I’ve taken a certain amount of “automotive abuse” over the years driving those “furrin cars” from Italy . However after last year…..I’ve acquired the reverence that comes with setting a Spotlight Car record of 51 cars.  I was on hand at 7:15 AM to set up the Alfa Romeo area. With 400+ cars expected, there isn’t much room to squeeze in extra cars. With cooperation from each Alfisti we eventually managed to squeeze in the 20 Alfa Romeos in attendance.  Crowds lined up next to the path to watch the cars drive to the registration table. I heard comments about Corvettes, DeTomaso Panteras, Mustangs, Challengers, Model A Fords, Packards etc as they drove by. However when the long line of Alfa Romeos passed there was a hush, people silently stared. It’s almost like dignitaries arrived.              With “free reign” with the Alfa Romeos display, judging etc., I decided this year to honor Team Shoestring. This was a group of Alfa Romeo GTV-6 and Milano owners who in the 1980s & 1990s drove to race tracks such as Lime Rock, Pocono, and Watkins Glen. With a lot of driving talent these relatively inexpensive Alfa Romeos beat brand new M3s, at times making it embarrassing for the BMW owners.             This year NYAROC Board Director Vic Cerami, and former Team Shoestring member, Iggy Focarino did the judging. The Alfa Romeo judging gets tighter and tighter each year. This year it got to the point where several cars were re-judged to break a tie.   The third place award in the Alfa Romeo class went to a 1964 GT owned by Dr. Dino Pappous. This Alfa Romeo model set a standard for style that remained for the next 10 years. Second place went to George Pezold’s TZ Series 1. With maybe 80 remaining in the world out of less than a total of 120 built, there are many Alfisti who have never seen one. Here on Long Island have the honor of having this one in the show. First in class went to a GTV-6 with a rare Blue Posilippo color. The owner…oh yeah… that’s me. Vic, the check is in the mail….only kidding.   I always have a great time at this show. It’s well run. The cars are all outstanding and there’s something for everybody. All I can say is that I hope to see more Alfisti in attendance next year. A photo gallery of the event is located HERE