An afternoon with Giulia
On a special July Thursday we borrowed Fiona’s parents’ 1965 Giulia Super and took a drive through the hills to the Yarra Valley and the excellent restaurant at Oakridge Wines. The little 1600 is quite capable in modern traffic, but is something truly special once you hit the sweeping open roads. A recent upgrade to Koni dampers has really tightened up the handling, but the car remains very stock and lovely to drive. ...
GTA in the Family
After having so much fun in March, my father-in-law got excited and acquired himself a keenly priced Alfa 147 GTA for the track. While Madame Sud is undergoing a heart transplant, I was lucky enough to get a run in the 147 at Broadford. A very wet day, which is perhaps not a bad way to explore the limits of this little pocket rocket. The beautiful Busso v6 in it’s ultimate form, making 250 horsepower – definitely a lot...
Gold Coast Alfesta 2014
This year the Alfa Romeo Owners Club Nationals were held on the Gold Coast at Royal Pines resort. We drove up from Victoria to the Gold Coast in the Alfa 159 2.4 JTDm, along the excellent Newell Highway at 110km/h stopping at Coonabarabran overnight. The 159 excels at long-distance touring with comfortable seats, cruise control, and good luggage capacity. It looks alright too. 1715km in nineteen hours driving time at 7.2L/100km...
Fiat Club ‘Autobella’ April 2014
The Bottcher family dropped in briefly to the Fiat Club Vic ‘Autobella’ display day again this year. It’s really a fantastic event which brings all the Italian marques together in the one place. The display includes Alfa, Fiat, Ferrari, Maserati, Iso, Lancia, De Tomaso and Lamborghini plus probably more. Highly...
AROCA Phillip Island April 2014
I chose to just stand around being official at this club sprint, and took some photos of my favourite...
Goodwood 72nd Members Meeting 2014
Occasionally I have to travel abroad for work, and this time I was required for a week in London. Hmm, what motoring events are on at this time of year? Way too early for the F1, Goodwood Revival or Festival of Speed. What’s this? A members meeting at Goodwood at the end of March – but it’s members only? Luckily my pleading email to the Goodwood organisers was successful and everything was lined up to attend the...
Buy a T-Shirt!
I made a handful of t-shirt designs which you can buy from RedBubble online. Click on the image to look at the selection.
