I am a frequent visitor to Italy and love their cars, food and coffee. So, it is a surprise that I haven’t visited the National Italian day organised by Club Alfa before. The event promises all the above plus Italian bikes too.
The first thing to say is that this is a club event and not a classic car show, so many of the vehicles on display are current models, particularly from the Ferrari and Alfa ranges. However, there were a number of classics from Lancia, Fiat and Alfa.
To start with, the venue. Newby Hall is located near to Ripon and we didn’t experience any difficulty finding it or getting in and parking. There didn’t appear to be many stewards but there were enough to keep things running smoothly. We parked immediately adjacent to the show, admission was £10 for the show, more if you wanted to visit the Hall.
The first displays you come across were motorcycle based. In my teens I was a keen biker, mostly Japanese bikes, though I did start on a Garelli Rekord (and finished with a BMW). Bikes such as the racing Garelli’s, Laverda Jota and Moto Guzzi Le Mans brought back many memories from nearly 40 years ago.
Next came an impressive display of Ferrari’s, all of them relatively new and included the SF90 Spider. The Lancia’s were largely classics (hardly surprising since they spent a long time out of the British market) and included a Stratos (almost certainly a recreation). Surprisingly there was only one classic Fiat 500 though the modern 500 Abarth had a strong presence.
Feeling the need for a double espresso we headed to the food concessions. Unfortunately, the food and drink offer was disappointing there was little choice and long queues. What would really lift this event would be an Italian food and drink festival running alongside.
We spent about an hour looking round the show and I doubt that it would hold many people’s attention for much longer than that. For the classic car enthusiast there wasn’t enough to make this event a must attend. For some the £10 admission might be a problem but knowing the costs involved in putting on shows I doubt it could be free. You will need to decide if it is worth the price of admission. But if your interest is in Italian cars and bikes, new and old, then this could be a good show for you. And as a club meet for the various clubs involved it was a very good event for its members.