Giulia 105 Register
Registro Ricambio
April 2008
Giulia 105 Register News FBHVC logo please
I am pleased to include a couple of interesting items from the latest FBHVC newsletter
DRIVE IT DAY
Clive Wilson enjoying the delights of his 1973 Giulia 2000 GT Veloce
Drive It Day is on Sunday, 20 April.
This is the one day in the year you really should make sure your classic Alfa is out and about for the FBHVC’s popular classic-awareness day. Details will appear on the Federations’ website www.fbhvc.co.uk where there are already several events being listed. Many motor museums are participating by offering special parking areas for those arriving in older vehicles with many offering discounted admission for groups (usually by prior arrangement).
The conference after FBHVC’s last year’s AGM was entitled Start ’Em Young, and this subject clearly chimed with widespread concerns about the ageing nature of those engaged in the historic vehicle movement. Many younger people who have a natural interest in old vehicles, such as those who attend shows or buy magazines, never get beyond those first stages: they never discover what it is like to ride in/on (let alone drive/ride) old vehicles, so their interest has little opportunity to develop into enthusiasm.
So let’s make DID a day when we think about those who are not lucky enough to have their own historic vehicles, and do something to give them a stronger flavour of what historic vehicle ownership is all about perhaps by inviting those who ask sensible questions to, for instance, try the driving position or even offer them a ride.
The primary aim of DID, of course, is to showcase the historic vehicle movement. Some have suggested that, in this age of concern about emissions, we are unwise to encourage people to use old vehicles: we disagree, obviously. The historic vehicle movement, as our survey of 2006 showed, is a significant contributor to society: hundreds of thousands of people derive pleasure from it, tens of thousands earn some or all of their income from it, and it contributes over £3 billion to the national economy. All of that depends on freedom of use: lose that, and the movement will, inevitably, decline. To uphold the freedom we need, above all, to keep legislators on our side. Two things that always weigh heavily with legislators when they are considering new measures are, first, the number of voters who will be adversely affected and, second, whether the benefit resulting from the proposed measure is sufficient to justify upsetting that number of people. DID helps both: it shows the large numbers, and by making an obvious contrast with the other days in the year when it is rare to see anything over 20 years old, it shows how little historic vehicles are used. It thus demonstrates that restrictive measures will have negligible benefit on emissions, but would upset large numbers of people.
MYTHS and PETITIONS – AGAIN
The June 2007 FBHVC newsletter questioned whether any notice would ever be taken of the on-line petitions being submitted to Downing Street. One particular petition was highlighted with absolutely the right sentiments (calling on the Prime Minister to reject proposals to ban or restrict the use of old cars) but with a totally erroneous explanation. This petition (which closes in March) has recently been given a new lease of life with round-robin e-mails encouraging all and sundry to do the electronic equivalent of signing.
While the FBHVC makes no further comment on whether one should or should not sign, we know that the threats mentioned in the petition’s accompanying explanation are, as Henry Ford might have said, bunk.
The 8C in good Giulia company - Jeremy Kitson
As you will have read elsewhere in the AROC magazine, a number of AROC members were invited to attend the Scuderia del Portello prize-giving weekend in Italy at the beginning of March. Two amazing days were topped off on the Sunday morning at the Fiat Group test facility at Balocco, where we were treated to some ‘hot laps’ in the stunning 8C Competitizone and of course an Alfa weekend would just not be complete without a few Giulia’s to play with as well! My sincere thanks to Marco Cajani and the Scuderia for organising such a fantastic weekend.
Stuart Taylor