Trofeo tales

Contribution by Greg van Maanen, one of the series' most enthusiastic supporters. His entry in the school's speech competition, which got him through to the school finals. Well done Greg, obviously spoken from the heart!"

Some say they rust away
Some say they're unreliable
I say their awesome and I'm telling you why because everyone should own one before they die.
Can you guess what I'm talking to you about today?
That's right I'm talking to you about one of the best car makes in the world the Alfa Romeo.

Alfa Romeo was founded in 1910 by Alexander Dracq and Ugo Stella together they created the first of the many Alfa Romeo. The first Alfa was called the 24hp and looked very different to today's Alfas. Now Alfas include airbags, radios, electric windows, electronic speedos and loads more.

Lots of people dislike Alfas because they can be unreliable and are known to rust over time but Alfa have been able to improve their technology and are now known all over the world as one of the most luxurious car makes. The car that seemed to be the greatest rust magnet was the Alfa sud of the 1970s. The reason the Alfa sud rusted away is that it was made with cheap Russian steel. The few Alfa suds that are still around are highly valued by their owners. The unreliability of Alfas is normally due to electrical faults Alfas were known to have horrible wiring systems causing characteristics like dodgy fuel gauges and weak headlights. Generally just annoying little things that add to the joy or pleasure of the Alfa.

The reasons I love Alfa Romeo is because they're fast, designed with Italian flare and are pretty much awesome. Some of my favourite Alfas are the suds and 33s and of the many the 8c Jeremy Clarkson of top gear has been quoted as saying "the Alfa 8c is quite simply the best car ever made. The 8c which is a v8 is one of my all-time favourites. Alfa only made 500 of these, at 300,000 dollars I think it might be a while before I own one.

The Alfa Romeo factory is situated in Milan Italy and Alfa is about to introduce the 4c which is a 4 cylinder version of the 8c which will go into mass production. This should be a little more affordable around 100,000 dollars.

Alfa Romeo have a spectacular history for Formula 1 in 1950 Niro Faria won the formula 1 world championship in a supercharged 158.Alfa Romeo have continued doing formula 1 till 1988 when they finally decided to finish building f1 but continue creating masterpieces.

Today many models of Alfa Romeo are raced all over the world some of the fastest and most raced Alfas are the Alfa suds the Alfa 33s the 155s the 156s and the list goes on that is another reason why I love them it's just not one car that's fast its many.

I hope I have convinced you despite their reputation that an Alfa Romeo is a pretty cool car to have in your garage.

Previous tales:

Trofeo Series at Taupo February 6 & 7th More »

HRC Pukekoke September 2007 - More »

Classic car racing - Chris Hunkin. More »

Trofeo & 905 - a non-drivers thoughts - Pete Cousins. More »

Max Force - TI'S at Taupo 10th & 11th of March 07. More »

The Chairman wears pink - sometimes! More »

The Next Generation. More »

A Walk on the Other Side - Series Member Ray Shanks tries life as a Pit Popsie. More »

First Round: 2006/2007 Season from the seat of Car 54 - Chris Browne. More »

First Time Out! Car Number 60 - Brent Gladding. More »

The Little Red Race Car #905 - Ken Garlick. More »

Trofeo Series at Whittakers 2006 - David Frith. More »

TACCOC Spring Classic meeting - 7 & 8 October 2006. More »