Day one, Saturday, would feature a drive to a bio-diverse reserve located in an Oil Palm plantation owned by Sime Darby to plant a symbolic one hundred trees to celebrate the occasion of the one hundred years of Alfa Romeo’s history, followed on the Sunday by a prestigious “Concours d’Elegance” and winding up with a lavish gala dinner. Building the profile of the event was the close participation of the Singapore Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club with many cars and their owners making the trip north for the weekend.

Saturday’s programme was entitled "100 trees for 100 years" and would see the convoy kicking off from Sime Darby Auto Connexion’s flagship Alfa Romeo showroom, on the south west of the city, and the cars started arriving from 7am. With a fifty kilometre run and some driving across rougher plantation roads in store it would be very much focused on more modern models with the classics set to take centre stage during Sunday’s Concours.

By eight o'clock the forecourts at Sime Darby Auto Connexion was packed with gleaming cars and the showroom steadily filled up with enthusiastic “Alfisti” as breakfast and coffee was digested and a briefing took place.

En. Hanif Tan Abdullah (General Manager – Alfa Romeo) presented a short speech on the value of the support provided by the Alfisti to develop the Alfa Romeo brand, the strong working relationship that the Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club has with Sime Darby Auto Connexion that has resulted in the joint participation to organize the Alfa Centenary. He was also quick to point out the planting of a 100 trees would leave a lasting legacy for Alfa Romeo that will carry forward to the future.

Alfa Romeo has always provoked strong emotions in owners across the globe and far from its mainland Europe home there are isolated pockets where enthusiasm is strong and the brand’s traditions are lovingly upheld with much pride. Malaysia is just one such country. Here Alfa Romeo has a dedicated following and a club that is vibrant an energetic. Coupled to an importer that fully shares in these values, and that all important passion for the 100 year old brand is present in bucket loads on a damp Saturday morning. Alfa Romeo has in fact been in Malaysia for almost half a century and the official importer raced cars such as the Giulia GTA with great success in the early seventies, while it was a similar story on the rally tracks. In more recent years individual owners’ have raced to honours in cars such as the Alfetta GTV6.

Sime Darby Auto Connexion is a modern, spotless and well equipped dealership and the steady demand that Malaysians have for Alfa Romeos means that its facilities are full of current-generation models such as the MiTo, 159, Brera and Spider. In the showroom itself, and providing a perfect backdrop to the briefing, there is a moody black Spider 3.2 V6 with a tan leather interior, flanked by a white 159 2.2 JTS with red leather and a black 159 3.2 V6 TI with tan leather.

Sime Darby Auto Connexion has a "dedicated, close-knit team," says Nishdev Singh, the Branch Manager of the facility, and it "works closely with the [AROC Malaysia] club to preserve the heritage of the brand." To ensure a smooth day three 159s with mechanics have been allocated to run with the convoy in case any technical difficulties should arise.

The statuesque Giorgetto Giugiaro-styled 159 appears to be the most dominant model numerically as more than eighty cars line up on the road outside. Alfa Romeo strikes a chord here and not least from the police who arrive on more than a dozen motorbikes ready to shepherd the convoy on its 50 km route to Carey Island. In fact in a curious historical footnote the police in Kuala Lumpur used the Alfetta sedan in the 1970s in their pursuit of criminals and decades on it is still remembered with affection by the police meaning that there isn't a shortage of volunteers to marshal this glittering cavalcade first thing on a slightly damp Saturday morning.

The police in fact do a superb job, thousands of miles away from its Milanese birthplace the occasion of the Centenary clearly resonates in Kuala Lumpur and the main highway across the city is closed to through traffic as the long stream of Alfa Romeos, literally motoring history in motion, snakes its way in record time across the sprawling metropolis towards Klang, sailing purposely past the birthplace of the local car assembly industry where the pioneers - Ford, Toyota and Volvo - set up operations in the 1960s.

Seamlessly the city skyline recedes as the convoy homes down on Carey Island, the focus of today's programme. Gray skies and a light drizzle doesn't do anything to dampen sprits as the scene changes and we race into the countryside, thick, lush vegetation erupting on either side of the roads which are becoming less well surfaced, the Alfa Romeo’s suspensions now dealing with patches, ruts and bumps.

“Alfa Romeo relaunched here mid last year, with the Spider, Brera and 159,” state Nishdev. “There was huge press turnout for the relaunch. A massive crowd turned up for the launch party, with people spilling out of the showroom.” Since then the MiTo has also been added to the product mix and currently there are about twenty MiTo’s on Malaysian roads. The Giulietta is scheduled to arrive next year, but “we have no fixed date for the launch as yet,” adds Nishdev.

It’s very smoothly on to our destination; all the cars are running very well, including the handful of classics despite the pretty quick rhythm being set, everyone is enjoying stretching the legs of these Italian thoroughbreds, and the police are doing an expert job of keeping the flock together. Carey Island is on the west coast of Selangor and is also part of the Sime Darby Group. The island, which is 35,000 acres large, is actually below sea level which necessitates 131 km of earth bunds, to keep the sea at bay. It was actually made into an island in the early 1900s; often known as "Little Holland" it gets its official name from Edward Valentine Carey who opened it up for development between 1899 and 1906, draining the thick mangrove swamps and reclaiming the land for tea coffee and rubber plantations.

Today Sime Darby owns 77 percent of island and uses most of this to cultivate oil palm. A golf club was also developed during the colonial era. Sime Darby has carefully preserved the rich heritage of the array of impressive period colonial-period buildings from 1920s & 1930s. Sime Darby is in fact Malaysia’s largest conglomerate with 100,000 employees worldwide and interests plantations, property, industry, automobiles, energy and healthcare.

It is also the world's largest palm oil producer with a six percent share of the trade and manages 259,000 acres in Malaysia. Sime Darby also prides itself on the “eco” sustainability of its palm oil production cycle with zero burning for replanting. Just a short drive from the capital city, Carey Island has become a showcase project for the giant corporation and part of the land has recently been set aside as a wildlife sanctuary. So far 13,450 rainforest trees have been planted since June 2008 and the island has rapidly become a notable bird sanctuary with 65 species of flying creatures inhabiting the trees that are focused into three distinct wings. Of those trees, 1,450 have been planted by external companies, and today to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Alfa Romeo brand, Sime Darby Auto Connexion and AROC Malaysia are planting 100 additional rare and endangered trees.

Stepping onto Carey Island is really like stepping back into the colonial era. Sime Darby has done admirably well to preserve the character, charm and spirit of the island's founders, modernity is almost absent and where it is present, such as the car park and shelters, it is tastefully integrated.

The main three-sided building complex, which serves as Sime Darby’s R&D center, breathes its colonial history from every pore. Clad inside with dark polished wood paneling, the are towering bookcases bulging with faded botanical works as well as black and white historical photos hanging from the walls. The guests receive a briefing on the history of Carey Island, its inextricable link with the Sime Darby powerhouse, chasing a timeline to where this project stands today, as well as a safety rundown.

Then it's back to the cars for a final few kilometers drive, past still waterways bulging with flowering lilies, to the tree planting zone, an enclave already marked out and bearing a sign to immortalise the 100 year anniversary of Alfa Romeo forever in this corner of the world. The sign is dedicated to the Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club of Malaysia. It's time to plant the trees all 100 of them, which in keeping with the biodiversity of the sanctuary comprise of several different species. A decent task, although there is no shortage of eager hands! Observing proceedings is the day’s distinguished guest: the Economic & Commercial Attaché of the Embassy of Italy, Mr. Fabrizio Vergamini, who is representing the Ambassador. Holes have to be dug, fertilizer laid down, limestone added, the roots buried and the filled up hole chocked, before the sapling is watered. Fortunately the light drizzle lifts for the planting and soon 100 trees are taking root, 100 trees that will stand in this corner of South East Asia as an eternal reminder of an Italian sports car brand that has over that 100 years reached out and evoked passions in automotive enthusiasts here.

by Edd Ellison