BaT Euro Alfa Adventure - Part 1 - Intro and The Goodwood Revival

I'm sitting at a Starbucks at the EuroTunnel station at 12:30 a.m. That may not sound particularly glamorous or exciting, but what has brought me here is a 72-hour adrenaline rush that a car fanatic can only get from the prospect of retrieving a far-away car purchase combined with a racing event I've previously only dreamed about.

This story started months ago when a buddy in the Netherlands emailed to say that he landed a couple of tickets to the Goodwood Revival. Over the summer that conversation expanded--thanks to the realization that the Spa-Francorchamps Historic Races were the following weekend. Maybe some sort of amazing trip could be constructed around these weekends. Then, as often seems to happen to me, great cars for sale in the Netherlands started finding me. You can probably see where this is headed.

I've been looking for a really great step-nose Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT for the past couple of years. A couple have slipped through my fingers, but sales of these cars in good condition in the US are not frequent, and prices are going up. I've expanded my search to Europe on numerous occasions, but the majority of the cars there have rust and I would never buy a car sight-unseen from across the ocean. So far it has been a fruitless process.

Eventually, the conversation changed with my pal Ken from Amsterdam. I said something to the effect of, "You help find me a great Alfa, and we'll do the Goodwood/Spa trip." He was game.

The good news is that the Netherlands has an odd abundance of these cars. Similar to elsewhere, the majority of them are shabby or rusty or the later models that I don't like as much as the pre-1968 cars. Even still, we were able to locate 11 potential cars on offer within the country.

There was one more challenge: I wanted to drive the car in Europe. Actually, ideally, I wanted to drive the car in the Netherlands, Germany, Brussels, and the U.K. Some quick research into title transfers and insurance uncovered that this could be a challenge, and that the best way to do it would be to buy the car already registered in the Netherlands.

Money has been transferred and the car will be picked up tomorrow (well, today I guess, considering it is after midnight) after we get back to Amsterdam, 270 miles from where I am sitting, some time around sunrise. More details on the car in the next installment, but what I cannot possibly contain at this moment despite where I am headed, is what I have just experienced at the Goodwood Revival.

We just left the event a few hours ago after attending both Saturday and Sunday, and even as a guy who has been attending the Monterey Historics for the last 25 years as well as numerous other vintage and modern car events, this was the most mind-boggling car experience that I can remember. That's not because of the size (I'd call it moderate) and certainly not because of the weather (cold, wind, sun, rain... a mish-mash), but rather because of the details. The details of the Goodwood Revival are freakishly good, from the staff to the venue to the credentials to the logistics to the layout. We got to the point where we were comparing the event not just to other automotive events, but to any event on this scale. Despite the bias of GT40 exhaust notes still ringing in our ears, my co-attendees and I truly believe that the experience cannot be matched anywhere else. I'll be putting together a full review of the event after some more time to reflect, particularly from the perspective of a first-timer, in an upcoming print issue of Autoweek. For now, the attached photos can do the talking. I took all of these, and am by no means as good a shooter as anyone else involved with Autoweek (Better than me—Ed.), but the subject matter and venue made it so easy.

We did a good bit of reconnaissance on the Alfa GTA race cars, of which there were two, as well as one standard GT. The red #33 car pictured was a strong contender in the saloon car race, and the German owner/driver had it fighting for position with the 7-liter Ford Galaxies driven by the likes of Tom Kristensen and Jochen Mass. We paid particular attention to wheel fitment, dashboard treatments, and underhood details. My car will be for the street, but the inspiration from the track models drives much of the desired aesthetic. We actually plan to make some modifications to the car over the next few days to get it where we like it before heading to the N

By Randy Nonnenberg