Centre stage was the 1935 2600 ‘8C’ Spider, as raced at Le Mans by Raymond Sommer, and alongside it the ‘new’ 8C Competizione in stunning 8C Red, supplied by Chris Variava. Both cars were a real draw for people at the show and along with the classic Alfa spiders, coupes and saloons, a brand new Giulietta Cloverleaf also attracted a great deal of attention under the spotlights.

Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club organiser, John Griffiths, said; “It’s been tremendous speak to so many people on our stand this year who remember Alfas they owned in the past, like the Alfasuds, Alfettas and Giulia Spiders we had on display. The 8C was just a complete knockout too; surely the most photographed car at the entire show. It was fantastic to see the attention the new Giulietta was getting as well. Everyone I spoke to was impressed by its styling, space and standard features. ‘Just wait ‘til they drive it’, I kept telling them!”

105 series cars featured on the right-hand flank of the AROC stand from Giulia Spider to Giulia TI. Matthew Willmott’s Spider looked excellent with newly restored alloys and sparkling Rosso paintwork. Richard Banks (Alfaholics) brought along a beautiful baby-blue Giulia Sprint GTC in place of his own GTA which had sadly acquired ‘a knock’. It really was a spectacular looking car in its unique colour scheme with rich tan leather trim and original black ‘crackle’ fascia. The yellow GTAm of Richard & Andrew Frankell matched in beautifully with Mike Burt’s 1929 SuperSport in a similar hue.

Jonathan Griffin’s Giulia TI drew lots of comments for being ‘that Italian Job Police Car’, whereas Mike Shelley could have sold his red Giulietta Spider four times over. James Wheeler (Black & White Garage Newbury) is always a great supporter of AROC shows and his orange V8 Montreal looked superb in bold contrast against the black carpet.

Lincoln Small’s diminutive Junior Zagato looked immaculate next to it too, and people could compare its late-60’s lines with another small Alfa coupe from the 70’s in the form of Bryan Alexander’s silver–grey Alfasud Sprint Trofeo. Bryan delighted in talking to many people with fond memories of ‘Suds with the inevitable tales of rust of course, but nowadays with affection without fail.

Next to that was Richard Harman’s red devil – his rare South African-special GTV6 3.0-litre; a beautifully presented car with a sparkling under-bonnet too. Next along was Dave Atkins Giulietta Turbo Delta; the ‘time-warp’ machine looking superb on its Italian Lucca number plates, being an Italian market racing homologation special from 1984. Next along the line was Mark Sangster’s modern Classic; his Brilliant Blue 156 GTA Sportwagon. Another mightily impressive machine, set surely to be a collectible in the future.  Rounding things off was the new Giulietta Cloverleaf in white, the colour of the moment.

There was certainly lots for the Italian car fanatic to see around the show in addition to the AROC Alfas. The  Maserati Owners’ Club had a racing car theme to their stand this year using a clever starting grid layout – 250F to the fore as one might imagine. The Lancia Motor Club had an excellent display of cars too and just a few stands away Classic & Sportscar Magazine also featured a pre-war 2300. AROC’s neighbouring Ferrari stand had some breathtaking cars on it as ever; F40, F50, 288 GTO, Testarossa, but the black 275 GTB was many people’s favourite. The dark hazel brown 1964 250 GT Lusso which featured on their stand last year was crowned as the ‘Meguiar’s’ car of the show. Its former keeper, Steve McQueen, would have been proud we’re sure.