Rat Rods invade Brooklyn!

Today was the 10th annual "Kustom Kills and Hot Rod Thrills" show, organized by the Rumblers NYC Club. The venue was really fitting for this type of car: The show is held underneath the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) in Williamsburg. It sort of looks like the kind of place the Sharks and Jets might have had their rumble in West Side Story. The predominant color for cars and for attire (preferably leather) was matte black. Most of the 100 or more custom cars in attendance were sinister looking rat rods rather than Kandy Kolor Kustom Konfections that one might associate with Biggy Daddy Ed Roth or George Barris. There were tons of chopped and channeled coupes, and many had elaborate pinstriping that was really impressive to see up close. People were really dressed the part too. Plenty of Jesse James lookalikes and Betty Page wannabes. I found the number of tattoos a tad excessive, but then I am more used to the concours crowd with their tight asses and straw hats. The best part though was that there was a Rat Rod barber who had set up shop amidst the cars, and you could get a ducktail haircut right on the spot if you wanted! There were plenty of custom bikes in attendance and there were folks of all ages, from the local hipsters to older guys who probably built some of the original rat rods back in the old days. It was a lot of fun, and the sounds of burnouts and drivebys reverberated under the expressway every few minutes! Click the pic below for the whole badass gallery!

Alfa Century Autocross Gallery

Because I was driving, I didn't get any nice photos of myself at the autocross. But thankfully, an enterprising photographer was on the scene, and for a reasonable fee mailed me a CD of all the shots he took of me driving. I think you'll agree he got some great photos!  I love all the body roll, even though that really means I need a thicker sway bar. But then the photos would be boring, right? Click the photo below to see the whole gallery. That's my friend Rob - a former champion Autocrosser himself - in the passenger seat giving me pointers.

Alfa Century Rally and Swap meet Gallery

In additon to the concours below, the previous day began with an autocross. I participated, and below you can see my cleanest run.  I didn't do that great, to be honest, but it was my first autocross and I had a good time. The biggest shock was how well the Spiders did.  I figured that the GTV6 should wipe the floor with the Spiders, but their lighter weight and lower center of gravity made up for their lack of power and chassis stiffness.  Autocross is sort of like a dog agility course for cars, and though it is a lot of fun to drive in, it looks so lame when you are watching it. I think Karting is more enjoyable as a beginner's form of motorsport, but then again, here you at least get to feel the handling limits of your road car in a safe environment. Thanks to my friend Rob for filming this!

After the autocross was over, my friend Rob and I sat for an hour in the sweltering heat waiting for the TSD (time speed distance) rally to begin. There was a huge line of cars, and each of them was seen off exactly one minute apart.  Most of them were Spiders, and one of them was a multi-million dollar prewar 8C 2300! The rally was also open to non-Alfas, so there were also some rental cars in there, and also a 1950's era De Soto, which drove off a minute before my car was sent on its way.  We ended up playing an absurd game of tortoise and hare with this gray, lumbering behemoth of a car! We caught him almost immediately, and passed him. But a wrong turn saw us backtrack for a mile or so and there we were behind him again!  After following him through miles of twisting roads where there was no passing, we managed to get ahead and disappeared off into the hills.  But when we stopped for a sanctioned 15 minute fuel and food break, he caught back up and started early so he was now ahead of us again!  After a few more miles of twisty roads, we got by again, and then proceeded to drive like mad to make up lost time.  We passed 3 or 4 other Spiders and a few rental cars, and I have absolutely no idea how we did in the end.  But Rob was a great co-driver and we had a blast on some truly breathtaking and fun Maryland roads.

Finally, it was time to kick back and relax at the Convention Hotel parking lot, and there was dinner served while people milled around and looked at the cars and commiserated.  My buddy Glenn, who originally sold me my car, was there with his two GTV6 track cars (including the infamous "Blue Meanie") as well as a customer car he was delivering for a new buyer and his wife. It was great to see him again, though he had some bad luck and broke both cars at the track so he never got to compete in the autocross.  Such is life with racing and Alfas I suppose. Click HERE for the full gallery of the whole day! And make sure not to miss gallery page 2!

Automobiliac at the ALFA CENTURY Concours!

What a weekend I had, folks.  It was sensory overload of the best kind-- kind of like going to a party at the Playboy mansion the day you got a new glasses prescription! For two days, I pretty much did nothing but look at, talk about, or drive Alfa Romeos, and I loved every second of it.  2010 marks the 100th Anniversary of the Alfa Romeo marque, and to celebrate, the Washington DC chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club put on what can only be described as an unrepeatable Alfista extravaganza - or as I put it Alfapalooza.  Thursday there was a track day at Summit Point raceway, which I sadly missed, then Friday there was the Autocross (which I'll write about in a future post), the TSD rally, and then the swap meet and BBQ. Saturday was the concours held at the Stone Manor country club near Frederick, MD, where literally hundreds of Alfas came together from across the continent in what has to be the largest single gathering of these cars ever in North America.  I was so excited to be a part of it all in my small way. And I am thrilled to share with you the photos I took so that you can get a sense of what it was like. Today's post is Saturday's concours. I hope to post photos from the rally and swap meet later this week.

Click the photos for the gallery. Make sure you don't miss pages 2 and 3 of the gallery. There are over 125 photos!

http://www.automobiliac.com/automobiliac-gallery/alfa-century-concours-gallery/

Alfa Romeos at Old Westbury Gardens - Gallery

This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending and actually participating in the car show at Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island.  This year's featured marque was Alfa Romeo, and over 40 Alfa owners showed their cars, including yours truly.  I had the distinction of parking my rather worse-for-wear red GTV6 next to a white one that was in time warp, just-rolled-off-the-assembly-line condition.  So my car looked comparatively even worse than usual. But everyone was really nice to me, and encouraging about the car.  The NY Alfa club members always seem to be really nice folks.  There were other marques present at the show, but sadly my camera battery expired before I even finished with the Alfas. Click on the photo below to see the rest of the gallery.