News
Christmas & Mince Pies!!! - December 09
A great meet for the final session of the naughties decade saw us devour mince pies at the St. leonards Hotel whilst discussing the first preview pictures of the Giulietta
Here's to 2010!
Nigel's Autumn Quiz - 4th November 09
Well, what can we say....
Nigel provided a great picture quiz for our November get together, with some very challenging motorsport questions. Those anoraks amongst us who 'specialised' in tyres of the 50s & 60s were in their element!
With some new faces along, a great time was had by all, with Gareth taking the honours (by quite a margin!!) to win the fine bottle of Chianti!!
Many thanks to Nigel for a great 'mostly Italian' challenge. A great night!!
The Annual Wessex Treasure Hunt - 13th September 09
Despite a rather poor turnout, fun was had by those who turned up to enjoy the magnificent treasure hunt laid on for us by Steve & De Oxlade. They had planned a stunning route through the Dorest countryside giving us the opportunity to explore some of the little known backwaters.
The weather was excellent for the event with the planned village walkabouts in glorious sunshine.
The prizegiving in the Fleur de Lys n Cramborne ended a great afternoon, again Steve & De went to great efforts to provide some fantastic prizes.
Last years winners retained the trophy in a close fought contest.
Steve & De may be prepared to rerun the Treasure Hunt in the Spring to give others the opportunity to enjoy the challenge, so please let Nigel know if you would be interested, as it really is a great afternoon out
August 09 Meet - New Forest Drive Out
A perfect evening (what a rare event this Summer!!) saw us meeting up at the St. Leonards Hotel on the 5th August for a great drive out through the western reaches of the Forest to Nomansland and the Lamb Inn. After negotiating fords, ponies & Alfa admirers on route we arrived in time to enjoy the evening sun in the very pretty garden, before seeing a beautiful sunset whilst eating some great pub food.
With nearly 50 years separating the oldest & newest in the drive out, everyone had the opportunity to admire the style and beauty of the marque over the years.
Dave Howard's 2600 spider was stunning on the night (despite the cautious drive home with limited lighting power!)
Here's looking for a great turnout for Steve & De Oxlades Treasure Hunt on the 13th Sept.
July 09 Meet - The Wessex Concours
A Fantastic turnout at the Sir Walter Tyrell Pub in the heart of the New Forest, by the historic Rufus Stone. By 19:30 the reserved section of the car park was almost full, with Wessex section Alfisti enjoying the heatwave and the great food on offer.
With 16 cars taking part in the concours, we had a great range of Alfas from a 2600 Sprint right up to a gorgeous MiTo.
Peter Smart, our resident Alfa Specialist (
http://www.thamesmotorcompany.co.uk/) was the judge for the Concours and did a splendid job producing a list of worthy winners. Peter & Nigel then interviewed each of the class winners after presenting them with their certificates & bubbly wine.
The winners as follows:-
1960 Gareth Firth - Guilia 1600 GT Junior
1970 David Kell - Guilia 1600 GT Junior 1976
1980 Tim Hope Frost - Sud Sprint
1990/2000 Ian Wateridge - 156 Saloon GTA
June 09 Meet
A great line up for the annual Wessex BBQ at Mudeford Quay. Dave Kell with his Bertie, and Tim & Andrea Hope Frost's Sud Sprint gave us a nostalgic alfa line up, along with a good selection of 'moderns' including a 156 GTA, a brace of 159 sportwagons, the Scutts 147, Mark Simey's 156 selespeed and, of course, the Thames Motor Company's race support 145 cloverleaf.
To add a bit of diversity we were joined by the Steve Knight Alver (or was it a RovFa) 2000TC and the Grant Mazda MX 5 (Colin, a 3.0 GTV is an excellent idea!)
Nigel & Denise did a stirling job providing a never ending flow of Gluwien (for those not driving!), and some wonderful hot dogs with onions.
Although the evening did cool down (Fleeces required over the tee shirts & shorts) a great time was had with fantasic views over the water to the Isle of Wight watching the Motor Cruisers coming back to Christchurch Harbour, and watching the locals watching us enviously with our fine line up of alfas!!
May 09 Meet
The section are now enjoying the lovely light evenings. A good turnout discussed the trials & tribulations of getting into Spring Alfa Day!
April 09 Meet
With the clock change behind us, a great turn out of Alfisti looking forward to the many events of AROC & the Wessex section for the Summer months.
Drive out to Compton Abbas Airfield
A fine spring day saw us meet at the St. Leonards Hotel, Ringwood for a stunning drive out through the country roads of Dorset & Wiltshire to Compton Abbas Airfield. A great mix of Berties, 2600 Sprint, 916 Spider to a GT Cloverleaf proved a great spectacle for bystanders along the way.
The restaurant here can be highly recommended as many of us discovered, before venturing out to watch the comings & goings of planes new and old.
A great venue with lots to see, we all enjoyed the chance to catch up before going our separate ways home through the beautiful Dorset countryside.
February 09 Meet
A chance for the section to plan some of the events for the new year, and catch up on the winter events. Talking of winter, our collection of 80's, 90's & 00's Alfas left in a rare south coast blizzard.
Wessex Christmas Meet
A good time was had by all at Blubeckers (White Hart, Cadnam). A great opportunity to meet up with old friends and catch up on events of the Autumn. Nigel gave us a great round up of the year, with the promise of some great events for 2009
November 08 Meet
A chance for us all to catch up on events in Autumn, and to look forward to plans for the New Year. Many ideas are being put forward, so come along to the Christmas dinner on the 3rd Dec to plan the year ahead! Tim Hope-Frost brought along some photos of his racing days, and Pete Smart gave us an overview of the Donington track day with Steve Knight.
Loheac - Manoir D'Automobile 3-5 Oct 2008
With the promise of some attrocious weather Jacky, Graham & Simon Wood set off from Portsmouth on the overnight ferry to St. Malo. A good meal (with the odd glass of wine) on board set us up for a good nights sleep prior to the early morning drive. As it turned out the weather on the Saturday was beautiful, the drive to Josselin (to stock up on cheese at the local Market) was stunning through the breton countryside with the Trees just beginning to turn. We then headed off to Loheac to meet up with Tim & Andrea Hope-Frost and Steve & De Oxlade at the village creperie.
We had found out a few weeks before that the Paris - Deauville rally was going through Loheac on our planned weekend, and there was also an AutoBrocante at the Manoir D'automobile, so when we strolled up to the Museum on the Saturday afternoon, we had a real treat in store!
The museum car park was full, and the inital approaches to the nearby circuit were full of the rally cars parked up. We spent a fascinating couple of hours walking around the cars (which included many Alfas) especially admiring the many Citroen DS on display.
An hour in the AutoBrocants proved most interesting (the temptation to spend was great!) before finally going into the Museum, which had some updated displays from last year.
Tim & Andrea only made it half weay round, and knew they would have to return later in their holiday to do it justice! Words cannot do the Museum justice, just a strong recommendation to visit this little known but wonderful collection of all marques. Not only the cars, but a vast collection of all things automotive, a 'chapel' dedicated to the petrol engine, an extensive model collection, car club badges, automotive stamp collections, a full F1 grid with cars with a french connection, fantistc cimena area with video footage of class B rallying etc. etc.
A little time was also spent viewing the Formula Renault cars on the circuit, before finally watching a Renault 5 Turbo demonstrating perfect controlled double spins on the home straight, finally doughnutting around the commentator who disappeared in a cloud of burnt rubber!
Finally leaving the museum at closing time, we wandered down the road to the Relais des Arcandiers for an excellent meal whilst reminicing on the day and discussing the current poor economic situation (but no talk of anyone selling their cars!).
Although the Sunday morning did live up to the weather expectations for the weekend, the afternoon brightened up for the drive to the various departure ports for the journey back to Wessex.
October 08 Meet
Steve Oxlade presented us with a devilish challenge of a Picture Quiz. A very well put together collection of photos across the whole range of Italian car marques with some local Dorset views thrown in gave us all an hour or two of furrowed brows!
at 9:30 the entries were swapped around for other to mark, and the eventual winner of the Alfa T shirt was Peter Smart (relieved to have won, bearing in mind his business!), with Nigel second & Dave Shead third
The Wessex Classic Car Show
A great opportunity for us to get together for one last event of the Summer at the Canford Park Arena. The weather was as summer should be, and the Wessex BBQ did us proud! Nigel & Denise provided the Salads, as we all cooked our own delights!
We managed to put on a great display (once we had figured out how to erect the gazebo), and put many of the other local car clubs to shame.
The Wessex Annual Treasure Hunt 7th September
We were blessed with an afternoon of reasonable weather (no rain, and even the odd ray of sunshine!) to take in the delightful route through the three counties of Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset. Tony & Trina organised an excellent hunt which challenged us with visual, interllectual and logical powers and was enjoyed by all.
The Hunters Lodge was both the start & finish point, and served as an excellent venue for the post hunt "Oh!, of course!", "How did we miss that???" and great food (the beer wasn't bad either!).
It was a great chance to 'get off' the A303 and explore the villages and magnificent countryside and views around Gillingham, Stourhead & Wincanton.
With surprisingly no domestics at all, Jacky & Graham carried off the silverware (Yes, there is now a trophy resplendent in their living room - kindly supplied by Tony & Trina), which we know will be lifted by someone else next year, as the penance for the victory is organising the event next year!
Once again the bridesmaids were Nigel, Denise & Marcus, with Steve & De a valiant third - now proud winners of the 2nd & 3rd prizes of Alfa MiTos (how's that this far ahead of the official launch!)
A big thank you to Tony & Trina for all their hard work in planning a very successful Treasure Hunt, and again ensuring some of us will revisit beautiful areas often rushed past on the A roads.
September 08 Meet
Ray Storey organised for one of the Dorset Police unmarked cars to be available for us look at the latest technology now available to the Police.
It gave us a very good insight to the wealth of data available within seconds as the automatic numberplate recognition systems kick in and identify any vehicle which may be 'marked' - Many thanks Ray & Mark for a very interesting demo.
Some new section members also came along and enjoyed the many & varied discussions.
August 08 Meet
The Wessex Annual BBQ.A great turnout of classic & modern cars turned up to Mudeford Quay for a good natter and a BBQ provided by Denise & Nigel. The weather just about held (apparently there were a few spots of rain - most didn't notice!) as we discussed the many late summer events coming up, and admired the Guilias, sprints & 2600 spiders, along with a nice display of 156 & 159s.
July 08 Meet
The Wessex Concours. A good turnout on a lovely evening, with a range of cars across the decades.
The 1970's award went to Matthew Walton and his immaculate Guilia GT Junior with its wonderful silver paint work. This was Matts 1st visit and we hope to see him again.
The catagory for the 1980’s went to Tim Hope Frost with his Alfa Sud Sprint 1.5L. This is a car Tim found in France and has served Tim & Andrea well as a LHD car when visiting SW France.
The 1990's catagory was scouped by Steve Knight and his immaculate Alfa 155 TS wide bodied model in red with black wheels. He deservedly receieved a certificate, bottle of Chianti and an Alfa key ring.
June 08 Meet
The sunny skies for the June Section Meeting enticed many people out in their spiders, and Tim Hope Frost's Sud Sprint was much admired. The relative silence (?!) was broken by the arrival of Peter Jones in his Lancia Stratos replica which caused as much excitement amongst the other patrons of the Pub as us. A great variety of cars this meet for everyone to enjoy!
May 08 Meet
Ahhh, the joys of the early summer months and the light evenings! A good crowd enjoyed a glorious evening outside the St. Leonards Hotel, discussing the current whereabouts of the Meridien 8C Competizione (now sighted in both the Bournemouth & Portsmouth dealerships!).
Spring Alfa Day
Despite the odd shower or two, the visit to Chatham lived up to expectations. A great venue with plenty to do, and a very fine selection of Alfas this year.
Wessex had alfas parked in all areas of the venue, with Nigel in front of the Rope factory, Mark Simey out by the lifeboats and Graham in pole position right by the Alfa hostpitality stand!
A prolonged shower at lunchtime meant longer than our wallets allowed in the Club shop......
April 08 Meet
Again, a good mix of Wessex Alfisti came along to hear the latest update in Nick Wood's spider restoration project, and to find out the latest goings on at the Thames Motor Company
http://www.thamesmotorcompany.co.uk/ Cobweb Spin Rally 9th March 08
The Cobweb Spin Rally (organised by the MG Owners Club) recently held at IBM Hursley (nr. Winchester) had a couple of section members turn out (avoiding the showers!). Dave Shead and his 1965 Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint recently back on the road after gearbox rebuild by fellow section member Peter Smart. Nigel Varney was surprised to see the spec. included electric windows. Dave replied that you had to remember that in 1965 and Ford Anglia cost £700 where as the 2600 Sprint was more like £3000 and had a spec to go with it.
Wedding Bells
Jude and Ian Wateridge got married in the Caribbean on the 15th Feb and had a blessing here in the UK on the 8th March. We wish them all the best in their married life, and hope to see them at up & coming events.
March 08 Meet
A great turn out with a variety of cars (including a Messerschmitt KR200!) meant a good natter ensued. Keep an eye on the events page as we are now well into planning the year ahead.
February 08 Meet
A good turn out for the February club night included Colin Grant with his quest to find an Alfa to tow his caravan – prime consideration being matching colours and stripes!
Many and varied discussions included the possibility of meeting up at the Le Mans Classic in July – an opportunity to give those old Alfas a run, and Peter Smart giving us an update on what has been passing through the Thames Motor Company workshops.
January 08 Meet
A few of the Wessex section not suffering from New years eve hang overs or the shock of returning to work turned up for the January club night at the St Leonards Hotel.
With the aid of a lap top we viewed some events and pictures from 2007. The outing of Steve Knight and Peter smart at Spa and also Peter's Sud debut at Donnington.
Some pictures taken by Nigel at Maranello's Ferrari museum and some of the projects under going restoration by Andy Wells.
It was good to welcome Nick Wood for the 1st time and provide him with some contact to aid the restoration of his 1975 Alfa Spider S2 2000 Veloce. While currently in 'bits' he hopes to have it on the road for a Spring re-appearance.
Useful Links[/3]
For friendly advice from our resident expert Peter Smart for all things Alfa, especially 750/101 Series, 105 Series GTV/Spider, Alfetta GTV/GTV6, Alfasuds/33s and 75s......
http://www.thamesmotorcompany.co.uk/
Our local Dealership for new Alfas......
http://www.meridien.co.uk/alfa.php
