This year the 1st of April was the most important calendar date for every Hungarian Alfisti, because it signified the year's opening meeting, in Esztergom. This would be the 6th edition of this Alfa Romeo Meeting, and each year attendances have grown - so a bumper gathering was expected, with the organisers predicting around 300-350 cars. In fact well over 400 cars turned up on Saturday from all over Hungary, as a number of cars arriving from further a field, from Serbia and Slovakia, all gathering in front of the imposing church of Esztergom. This was the biggest Hungarian Alfa Romeo meeting ever held.

The star of the event was unequivocally the new Alfa Brera. The local importer, Fiat Auto Magyarország Kft., brought a black example fitted with the new 3.2 V6 JTS engine and featuring rosso-beige leather. The car was a huge success, with an interested crowd constantly gathering round it all day.

The weather for the event was fortunately excellent, a real stroke of luck. All last week the Hungarian weather had been very mixed, sometimes it rained, and sometimes there was beautiful sunshine. Thanks to this, washing the cars and keep them clean was a difficult task. Friday was rainy and cloudy, but Saturday dawned bright as the first cars started arriving at 8am, however, well ahead of the official start time of 9am. Punctually thought at 9am, the first convoy of cars from Budapest arrived, and within an hour Esztergom was brim full of Alfa Romeos, which caused traffic jams in the city, although fortunately the local burghers used to this, and moreover, they were waiting for the meeting. By midday the parking places was full, however there was an extended parking plan, and those, who came later, were able to park in the surrounding streets.
 

The main program of the day was the navigation race, in which more than sixty Alfa Romeo’s took part, while in the 'Who knows more facts about Alfa Romeo' test the history and sporting history of the brand was explored. "This year we worked out a new way of voting for the most beautiful Alfa Romeo," says Zsolt Halápi. "Everybody was given two decals with 'Bella Macchina' emblazoned on it. The guest then had to place the sticker on the Alfa Romeo which he thought to be the most beautiful. The person, who collected the most decals, would won the race. This year an Alfa Romeo Giulia Super from 1971 won this competition. Some of the visitors chose not to enter to the navigation race; they rather picnicked on the grass, went on a trip, or ate the fantastic Hungarian meals which were served up right there," he adds.

"We noticed with some satisfaction that the car park is getting more colourful. Year by year, more and more older cars and individually built sportcars are coming to this event, but at the same time the number of brand new Alfas is getting higher also. The official program lasted until 5pm, but a good many people didn't go home after the prize-giving ceremony and stayed into the evening. Next year we will arrange a meeting with space for more than 600 cars, with a new parking place format, and as the local burghers want to arrange the meeting in Esztergom once more we will be back again," Zsolt concludes.