Italian motoring publication Automobilismo is bringing all the thrills and spills of driving high-performance Alfa Romeo's to life with a series of events under the banner of 'GTA Days at Balocco'.

Ninety readers of the long-running magazine have been invited to attend Alfa Romeo's legendary Balocco test facility. The first event took place last week, with the next one scheduled for 29th May, while the final gathering occurs on 29th June.

Alfa Romeo's legendary Balocco proving ground is deeply entwined into the history of the famous Milanese sporty brand. Situated half way between Novara and Vercelli, work on the facility began in 1962. The track reproduced the curves and straights of the most important race tracks of the time, from the legendary 'Lesmo' curves, to the corners of Zandvoort, and the high speed straights of Spa-Francorchamps. The original GTA was developed at Balocco, the facility being completed in 1964, just as this car burst onto the world's race tracks to begin a glittering career, and over the last four decades every Alfa Romeo, from road to track special, has pounded Balocco as it was developed.

The Automobilismo event was additional sponsored by Pirelli, with all the cars running on Pirelli P Zero Rosso rubber. To celebrate that GTA and Balocco are synonymous words, all the cars boasted six-cylinders.

The cars on hand for the first event were a real mouthwatering demonstration of Alfa Romeo's historic ability to build cars of unrivalled sporting character. An Alfa 147 GTA, an 156 GTA and a GTV Coupe represented the marque's current sporty range. Meanwhile exotic history was there in the flesh: a 1965 Alfa GTA, a 1970 Alfa 1750, a 1967 Alfa Tipo 33, and a very rare 1.5-litre Alfa Romeo powered, Conrero-tuned Formula One car, all these machines provided by Scuderia dell Portello.
 

The participants were able to switch quickly from one performance car car to the next, stepping from present day to history, and from one type of surface to the next: from the flat-out, high-speed ring, to the two incredibly tortuous tight and twisting 'compounds' areas. Raw excitement and performance driving thrills were guaranteed from this superbly organised event.

Away from the tarmac, the new breed of all-terrain capable four wheel drive cars were also represented. All wheel drive is very much the fashion these days and Fiat and Alfa Romeo have embraced the market's desires, creating cars that add a touch of style and bags of performance to the theme. The tiny new Fiat Panda 4x4, two present, and a 'sporty' Alfa Crosswagon Q4 were put through their paces during the day over a rugged off-road course that tested them to the limits. Steep climbs, mud and waters, rocks and gravel, the three cars came through with flying colours. The friendly little Panda 4x4 must receive an extra mention here: fun, exciting and very cost-effective 'Paris-Dakar' style rough terrain thrills are guaranteed from Fiat's multi award-winning 'baby'.

The Balocco test track today still firmly plays its part in the Fiat Auto Division's hectic development schedule, an since Fiat acquired Alfa Romeo in 1986 several new tracks have been built. As such, an added bonus was the presence of several prototypes, including a very thinly-disguised, next-generation Fiat Punto that gladly threw up its interior secrets, plus a four wheel drive Fiat Stilo-based, Alfa Romeo Kamal development 'mule'.

by Stefano Maiano