Michael Davias

1963 2600 Sprint - in restoration, 1967 Duetto - in restoration
1971 1750 GTV - in restoration, 1976 Alfetta GTV, 1991 Spider - FUN driver!

First up for discussion is the 1991 Alfa Spider. Our Spider has been very reliable since purchase on eBay in 2004. Originally sold in Ohio,CarFAX show s it quickly was moved to the Carolinas. A former owner had the engine rebuilt and repainted in a gorgeous black finish in 2001. Maintenance demands were initially quite light, although I did install a new windshield and a new fuel pump & filter early on. At the three year-mark, the instrument pod was sent out to Palo Alto Spedos for a freshening up. The addition of a windscreen was a blessing for the long ride out to the Detroit convention and the 1000 km tour around Lake Huron. Summer ‘08 fixes: Replaced door panels, spark plug wires and power steering hoses. A shop noted that one trailing arm bushing was a bit soft, so that started a chain reaction that saw most front and back suspension bushings replaced, along with the shocks (Koni Classic) and Springs (IAP). Everything removed and powder coated. She now has a iPod-interfacing Sony radio. The latest addition was a proper factory hard top, which I bought on eBay - again, from North Carolina!

Bertrand Wong

My first Alfa encounter happened when I was around 10 years old. A family friend picked up my father in his brand new beige GTV. The image of the low tapered tail, the 2000 badge and the exhaust note remain fresh in my mind. Ten years later, at the Toronto International Auto Show, I saw a spider quadrifogio. Unfortunately, it was beyond my budget as I just graduated from University and there was no room for golf bag. I came close to buying an Alfa in 1994 when my wife and I test drove the 164. We loved the car but were turned off by the sales person’s attitude. After Alfa left North America, I have pretty much given up the idea of owning one as I know very little about auto mechanics. In 2008, I saw a red GTV6 in my neighborhood and that was enough to ignite my interest again. Thanks to the internet, I found out about the New York Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club, Alfa specialists in Long Island and web sites where I can find parts. Equipped with these resources, I finally purchased the 73 GTV on the internet. When I am not driving the Alfa, I like to build and collect models. I am a regular at the Sunday breakfast. This is a great opportunity to talk about cars and other recent events in the community.

Lou Grasso

After sending my TR6 to the rust graveyard with over 250M miles on it, I didn't get the "bug" for another sports car until September of 1990, when I saw an ad for the 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce on the back of a magazine. I ran right down to the dealer and test drove it. It was amazing compared to the TR6... what a ride. I ordered it and joined the AROC as soon as I took delivery. My first event at the NY Chapter was a rally. It was great fun. I met the core members who loved the marque and shared their enthusiasm over the "new look" Spider. Since then my wife Joann and I became part of the Alfa Family, attending many car meets and social events. Recently we began having "unofficial" Sunday breakfasts which are now ritual. Breakfast is a great way for members who don't attend events to come and meet a great group of people. It becomes a mini car show, a clinic (we usually have a mechanic or two present) and a good reason to drive your Alfa. On Sunday mornings I encourage all members to come and enjoy the camaraderie of our group. I guarantee a warm welcome and the beginning of many new Alfisti friendships.

Phillip Jacobs

Watching "The Graduate" for the first time sold me on an Alfa Romeo Spider, that and the Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack. (To this day that is still one of my favorite movies.) I graduated High School in 1978 with hopes of someday owning an Alfa. It wasn't until the summer of 2002 that I found my self still dreaming about it. One day, over a beer, my friend and I found ourselves reminiscing about a car he had bought his last year of school, a 1969 TR6. Mike no longer had his car, and before I could say that I never even got mine I thought to my self "what the heck!" It was my turn to own an Alfa. Before making such a purchase I did some research and decided to join the AROC. Finally in March of 2003, with somehelp from the Alfa Auto Clinic I purchase my very own Alfa Romeo Spider. I couldn't have been happier with their efforts or the results. The car is a 1978 Alfa Romeo Niki Lauda Special Edition #78. It was in good condition, a few adjustments and a new paint job was about all it took. Joining the AROC of NY has been as much fun as owning the car. I could tell from my first Sunday breakfast with the group that I was with people that shared my enthusiasm for Alfas. I have learned lots of useful information from other members and have made lots of friends. My Alfa is a pleasure to drive, it's not the Duetto that Dustin drives in "The Graduate", and California is a long ride from here, but I couldn't be happier. I have the club, and I finally have my Alfa!

Andrew Jacobs

My love affair with sports cars began in the early ‘60s when there would be road rallies around Roosevelt Field on Sundays (in those days there was no such thing as a store open on a Sunday), and my older brother Ron would race his MGA. Then in 1974 when I was 17, Ron made a deal with me. He had moved into the city and his 1968 Corvette Sting Ray was sitting in the garage doing nothing, so he said if I passed my road test on the first try he would sell me the car for $1000 if he hadn’t sold it. Out of all my friends, I was the only one who passed on the first try, but two days earlier he sold it for $3500. From that point on I passed through five VWs, a Vega (worst car ever made) a Honda, two Volvos, a Suburu, and Audi and a Benz, but until 2005 I never came close to my roadster. By that time I had studied the subject extensively and my accumulated knowledge of cars and life itself led me to the realization that Italian sports cars were far and away the best sports cars ever made, and that the Alfa was the original sports car.

I love my wife, I love my kids, but I ADORE my 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce. Moreover, as much as my car gives me a lot of pleasure, I have to say that the best part of owning it is the chance I have had to meet a great bunch of people in the NYAROC. They are fun to be around, are all gear heads, and best of all, they laugh at all my jokes.

John DeGeorge

My beautiful GTV-6 Balocco love at first and second sight It was 1981, I was an upward mobile junior executive, I had a ‘72 Fiat Spider for weekends and was shopping for a 3 Series BMW. But then one day I wondered into Grand Prix Motors in Stony Brook, Long Island and it was love at first sight! A 1981 red GTV-6 seduced me right there in the showroom. I had to have a test drive and the minute I turned the key and that spectacular hemi head Alfa V6 rumbled to life I was hooked. It had everything the BMW was lacking, power, beauty, power, Italian styling, power and an unsurpassed racing heritage. I bought it immediately and was set for a lifetime of automotive bliss. As is the case with most marriages that are only based on lust, the relationship with my new Alfa soon became a less than pleasant experience. Needless to say, 1981 was not the high water mark year for Alfa reliability. I had a beautiful young wife at home raising my two wonderful children. Suffice to say, on more occasions then I care to remember she had to pack the kids into her Pontiac sedan to retrieve me from my non-operative GTV-6 or drive me to the dealer where the Alfa had been towed. While it was ecstasy when running properly, more often than not it was pure agony. It was this initial experience with Alfa Romeo and my wonderful Italian wife that caused me to coin the statement, “Italian sport cars are like Italian women, very beautiful and extremely exciting, but a pain in the ass to live with.” Maddy decided that she wasn’t happy living with the GTV-6 in our family and I couldn’t make a valid argument to the contrary so we reluctantly sold the Alfa and soon forgot about it. Well, so I thought. Fast forward to 1998, I’m enjoying a happy marriage and a successful career, my children are all grown up, educated and out of the nest. Suddenly, I have a major relapse of the dreaded NEAD, never ending Alfa Addiction and I become obsessed with finding another Alfa, more specifically a GTV-6. “Just when you think you’re out, they pull you back in.” After a year and a half of research, meeting Alfisti like Joey LoRe and searching I found my Balocco with only 26K original miles near Harrisburg, PA. During that time I went to see many GTV-6’s described by their owners as in good condition with only the usual surface rust. Did you know that you can see through the fenders of cars with the surface rust. However, the minute I saw my Balocco, it was again, love at first sight, or in my case it was actually love at second sight. Joey and I went to Harrisburg to retrieve my new mistress and the rest is history. This GTV-6 was meticulously maintained and it had all of the upgrades of the vastly improved í86 model year. In the four years I’ve owned it, it thrills me every time I drive it and has never let me down. While it took almost twenty years to buy my second Alfa, it only took one more year to buy my third Alfa, a pristine 164S. This story has an even better conclusion, I continue to enjoy my GTV-6, but it’s the friendships that I’ve developed with my fellow NYAROC Alfisti and sharing the numerous Alfa events we have every year that makes my Alfa experience a thing of beauty and never ending enjoyment Yes, Alfa’s are an addiction, but its lots of fun and feels so good!