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A bit of Fiat history in The Garage

November 5, 2010 by Gary Grant 12 Comments

Alongside the great Porsche discussion on the Canadian Motorsport History group on Yahoo, there has been another thread about some early racing Alfa’s in Ontario. Our old friend George Commachio’s Alfa was brought up, as was the Fiat 124 he raced prior to the Alfa.

The car was a late Sixties (George thought ’67 but wasn’t sure) Fiat 124 Special. Twin cam, 5 speed, 4 wheel discs. A neat machine that did indeed later become the Lada, but missing a cam, a gear and had drums in the back. George eventually sold his 124 to Lloyd Service who then raced the car. There is a tale that perhaps he had a major crash with the car in turn 3 at Mosport.

I can’t remember the name of the guy Lloyd sold the car to, but I think the next guy only raced it once. It was then sold to a guy named Neil Burns. In fact, we met because of the car, when as a teenager I poked my head into the shop where he kept it.

Years later, I convinced Neil to finish the car up and race it. I don’t recall any evidence of heavy crash damage at that time so I’m not sure about Lloyd crashing it. Neil was on a tight (ie none) budget and struggled to get the car to keep running without blowing head gaskets. Even then the car ran in the high 1:50’s.
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Peter Revson & Alfa Romeo at Daytona 6 hour in 72

July 4, 2009 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

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Sports Car Digest has published a great story by friend of The Garage, Lou Galanos, about Peter Revson at the 1972 Daytona 6 Hour Continental. As always, Lou’s article is accompanied by some incredible photos. Lou describes the changes that were made to the FIA sports car endurance racing in 1972 and follows Revson and the Autodelta team through the Continental weekend.

For those with an interest in the history of sports car racing, this is an absolute must read.

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US May Wait for Alfa Romeo’s Full Return

October 26, 2008 by Tom Williams 3 Comments

First, let me assure our readers that those of you who ordered Alfa Romeo’s 8C Competizione will get their cars as scheduled. Autoblog broke news via Italiaspeed.com that Fiat is ready to delay bringing more mainstream Alfa Romeo models to our shores in light of a weakening economy. Fiat is facing its own decline in sales in Europe. Times are tough.

Reports indicate that for Alfa to really make a profit in North America, the cars would have to be built here due to an unfavorable exchange rate versus the Euro. With The Big Three shuttering factories, Alfa Romeo is poised to take the pick of the litter if Fiat allows. It should be noted here that Ontario has offered enormous financial incentives to Fiat, but the company is exploring possibilities in Canada, the US, and Mexico.

Alfa Romeo currently builds some very handsome, well-performing automobiles these days, but it will take time, work, and money to prove that these are not the ill-tempered, fussy cars Alfa Romeo left us with when they left this market in 1995, when the last front-drive 164 was sold. Alfa Romeo will never be a mainstream brand here, nor should it be. 
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Alfa Romeos spotted in The Berkshires

October 22, 2008 by Tom Williams 5 Comments

I’m on vacation this week, and it’s a tradition for us to head up to the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts for a nice drive, see some good foliage and eat a lot. On our trip up, I always drive by a striking old red brick garage that has Alfa Romeo’s of all vintages and states of repair. I stopped this year and took a couple shots. I wasn’t sure if this was something you would want to post to TG, but I thought I’d share a garage that I find interesting. The garage in question is Alfas Unlimited, in Norfolk, CT. Back in high school and college I had an ’86 Alfa Romeo Graduate Spyder, red with black top and interior. Fun little car, it broke my heart when its head cracked. It was my sophomore year in college, and we got hit with a serious blizzard. The car was snowed in for a week. I finally went to start her up, and within minutes the entire college parking lot was filled with smoke. Poor thing couldn’t handle that kind of cold. Since then I’ve always longed for a GTV-6. Some day.

More photos after the break
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For Sale: 1973 Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina

September 4, 2008 by Gary Grant 2 Comments

Every now and then, we do a favour and put up a classified ad here in The Garage, but only if the car in question has enough cool factor. Now I’ve never had what most would call a traditional sense of cool when it comes to cars, but this one is just too hip to pass up.

This 1973 Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina belongs to one of the guys in our shop and was passed down through the family. It is somewhat unique in that it did endure more than a few Canadian winters in the past and yet, thanks to some apparently decent rust proofing it didn’t dissolve into the atmosphere like most of it’s brethren.
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Video: In car at Infineon in Alfa Romeo Trans Am winner

June 8, 2008 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

If the other videos this morning haven’t woken you up yet, then turn the speakers up really loud and this one is sure to do the trick. Gary Sheehan takes us for a lap of Infineon Raceway in the 1966 Alfa Romeo GTA that Horst Kwech won the 66 Trans Am championship with.

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Default ThumbnailAlfa Junior Video Goodness

Alfa Junior Video Goodness

February 3, 2007 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

I’m often asked why I’m more into old cars than new cars. There are many reasons, but this video pretty much sums it up.

What’s better than one Alfa Junior? Well, 2 of course…

Wait a minute, how about 3 times the twin cam goodness?

Watch the best video of the week after the break. Crank the speakers loud!

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Antas V8 GT

September 28, 2006 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

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Building on a century or so of Italian coachbuilding tradition, F & M Auto have introduced the Antas v8 GT. With experience gained from restoring rare Barchettas and Berlinettas, F & M have used traditional techniques to bring the v8 GT to life, from it’s hand built aluminum body, to its’ Maserati V8 engine. From the heart shaped grille, old style ignition flip switch to the downdraft carburetors the Antas exudes old world charm. You can almost imagine some Italian Count barrelling down some winding road in pursuit of a Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo.

Full technical specs and tons of pictures after the break

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Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione Released to the public

September 11, 2006 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

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I’ve got to admit that most of the modern super lux sports cars of the last few years haven’t turned my crank. I mean they are great to look at and have super performance numbers, but they are usually made of unobtainium. Even worse, here in North America many of us will never see any of them.

Alfa’s newest offering however may be one of the coolest machines to come out of Italy in decades.

The rest of the story and lots more pics after the break.

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