3rd September Italian Car Breakfast Meet- Southern England

[Ross 156]

Hello All,

Firstly, I know I haven't put this in the Events area, but that's because this is Italian marque specific and in my experience many forum users don't look at the event boards but still might like to come.

We are organising a repeat of a run and meet some friends and I did in late July, which was great fun, but would like to get some more variation and new attendees.

The meet will be at the Departure Lounge Cafe in Alton, in the Northern part of Hampshire at 10:00 on Saturday the 3rd September.

For my part I will be driving up from south Hants, leaving Hedge End (meet at Sainsburys car park by the petrol station) at 08:30 and then driving by the back roads to Alton to arrive before 10:00.

The cafe has a good car park and does a good cooked breakfast.

Hope to see some of you there.
Ross

[Ross 156]

Hi Keith,

At least three Alfa GTV Cups, two 916 Spiders, and a smattering of other Alfas. There is a chance of a friend of a friend bringing an Integrale too.

Last time a chap brought a very nice Fiat 20v Coupe in bright yellow.

As I am also on the Alfa Forum it tends to be alfa centric, but I would really love to get a variety of Fiats, Lancias, and anything Italian. It's nice to have a wider spread, and meet new people.

You would be most welcome.

[Ross 156]

Great, I look forward to meeting you.

Please do say if you are joining me at Hedge End for the drive there so I know who to wait for. Of course if you are coming from other directions you can arrange your own convoys or just meet us there. I know some of the Alfa guys are coming from Surrey and Wiltshire.

I think we will arrange another for October, so as to get the cars out again before the weather turns and some of them get garaged for the winter. Date TBC, but likely to be Saturday the 8th.

[Ross 156]

I do like the 145- styling of its time, and Autolusso South used to have a red 145 cloverleaf as their courtesy car. It was great fun to drive.

[Ross 156]

You would be most welcome. Hope to see you there for the drive to Alton.

[Ross 156]

Just one week to go until this event, and I look forward to meeting those of you who have said you will come.

Others are still welcome, so if you would like to get your car out and meet fellow Italian car enthusiasts in southern England, then please do join us.

Let's hope for decent weather!

[Ross 156]

Just a brief update, in that the owner of The Departure Lounge Cafe in Alton has agreed to open his field in front of the cafe, so that we can park in there rather than in the general car park - a nicer spot for photos and chat, and also means our cars will be a bit nearer to the cafe, in pride of place.

It looks like we are going to stay dry for the morning, so I hope to see you there.

Those of you that are meeting me at Hedge End for the drive up to Alton, please meet there (as indicated by the red blob on the map below) before 08:30.

[Ross 156]

Yes, I think we'll be good for the morning.
Look forward to meeting you. There should be a few of us going up from Hedge End to meet the rest there.

Ross

[Ross 156]

Thanks to all who came today- 12 cars of various types and all interesting to look at. Great to meet some new people, have a chat, and a good breakfast too!

Please post up some pics if you took any, and keep your eyes open for the 8th October meet.

[Ross 156]

[Ross 156]

[Ross 156]

[Ross 156]

Sadly the drive home didn't match the relatively traffic free drive up- there seemed to be a lot of very slow horse boxes about to ruin our fun!

Keith turned off (I assume) to try the back roads, and I turned off before Sean- only to get stuck behind another horse box even slower than the first

Really nice to see the two HFs though. They gave me a fantastic sight in my wing mirrors on sweeping bends during the drive up. Would be nice to get more non-alfa marques along in the future.

[Ross 156]

Hi Keith,

You are welcome. More Lancias and hopefully some Fiats next time. Will be good to build on it, albeit with a break for the winter to avoid bad weather and salty roads.

Can't believe you got a good run- good for you. I was completely stymied by a woman in a horse lorry at 20mph. Rubbish.

[Ross 156]

You are welcome. It really was great to have you along. And glad you got to meet another HF owner.

Keep an eye out for more posts in the spring and we'll try to build this up a bit more, as the October meet is likely to be the last this year.

Hope all goes well with the work.