From the Editors. As always, thank you all for making our club welcoming and fun. See you on April 13th!

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Spring 2013 Alfa Romeo Owners Club: Texas Hill Country Chapter From the Editors Spring has come to Central Texas and it s been beautiful!

Our monthly Coffee and Cars gathering is still going strong. If you haven t attended or haven t joined us in a while, put it on your to-do list.

1 Spring 2013 Alfa Romeo Owners Club: Texas Hill Country Chapter From the Editors Spring has come to Central Texas and it s been beautiful! Hopefully, we will see some bluebonnets and wildflowers on our Spring Tour April 13th. And let s keep our fingers crossed that the weather stays as cool and lovely as it has been. Dean Mericas is leading the tour again and we look forward to what he has in store. Please read the specific tour details inside this newsletter on page 11. We look forward to seeing everyone there! We had several club events in 2012 and look forward to an eventful Thank you to our members who hosted events (Bruce and Kathy Berens). Our monthly Coffee and Cars gathering is still going strong. If you haven t attended or haven t joined us in a while, put it on your to-do list. It s the first Saturday of each month at Mozart s on Lake Austin Blvd. It s a nice way to get to know other Alfa enthusiasts, see old friends, and talk about Alfas. What more do you need on a Saturday morning? As always, thank you all for making our club welcoming and fun. See you on April 13th!

Page 2 Event Calendar Here is a general calendar of interesting events for 2013: Coffee & Cars The first Saturday morning of every month, from 8:30am until 10:00am, at Mozart s Coffee Roasters, 3825

We will enjoy a route through Burnet, Marble, Falls and Lakeway. For more details see page 11.

2 Page 2 Event Calendar Here is a general calendar of interesting events for 2013: Coffee & Cars The first Saturday morning of every month, from 8:30am until 10:00am, at Mozart s Coffee Roasters, 3825 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin TX. Spring Tour Join us Saturday April 13, The tour will depart at 8:00am from Steiner Ranch Randall s parking lot on 620N. We will enjoy a route through Burnet, Marble, Falls and Lakeway. For more details see page 11. AROC-USA National Convention Delta Sierra Alfa Romeo Club s (DSARC) will host the 2013 AROC National Convention in the Bay Area July This will likely be the mother of all AROC Conventions, with hundreds of Alfas expected. The convention will be based around Infineon Raceway (in the heart of the Napa/Sonoma Wine Country), with convention hotel close by in Marin County. Fall Tour The second Saturday in October (October 12, 2013). Tour routes vary, but we usually leave from Austin and drive throughout the Hill Country in search of twisty back-roads and then have lunch. United States Gran Prix The second annual Formula One race is scheduled for November 15-17, 2013 at Austin s Circuit of the Americas. From the President La Pilota As you can see, this is not the President s letter you have come to expect. After 10 years, Sherman and the Club have passed the President s torch to me. And others have also joined the fray. Dean Mericas is helming the Tours, and Scott Thomsen is working up the newsletters. I hope that we can carry on the strong traditions of the prior leadership. All that is left is for the members to participate in the activities. Without you, the whole thing would be pointless. Remember that the best reason to belong to the club is to meet and have fun with other members, so if you re not participating in at least some of the club activities, you re really missing out. Check the activities schedule and become one of the active members you ll have more fun and so will those who are already active. The car hobby gives us lots of different ways to have fun, from researching obscure models to driving in competition; restoring to touring; and event organizing to writing. I think the common thread that runs through the hobby is driving the cars. We have a Spring Rally coming up on April 13. Please come for what looks to be a great route and lunch. There is also the monthly Coffee& Cars on the first Saturday morning of the month at Mozart s. I am looking for ways to enhance membership. One way is to weave in our history with Alfas. Do you have some old snapshots of you or friends or family members with Alfas? We d love to publish them. Please submit them to the editor as jpgs attached to an . And don t forget captions with names, the year and model of the Alfa shown, where it was taken, and your best guess of the date the photo was taken. I look forward to a great tour and a great year. Please let me know how I can be of service. John

THC-AROC Page 3 Ghost: The Giulia In 2012, Alfa celebrated the

Style, technical content, performance levels, reliability and

a huge success: with a million models sold between 1962 and

Giulia is one of Alfa Romeo s iconic cars.

3 THC-AROC Page 3 Ghost: The Giulia In 2012, Alfa celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Giulia. Style, technical content, performance levels, reliability and innovation are just some of the features which made the Giulia a huge success: with a million models sold between 1962 and 1977 in all its bodywork variants and engine versions, the Giulia is one of Alfa Romeo s iconic cars. Particularly impressive is the boxy sedan s aerodynamic nature, a result of engineers letting it be designed by the wind.

4 Page 4 Lucas-Marelli Fall Tour La Pilota Last Fall we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at Elizabeth and Dean Mericas house to start the day. Elizabeth and Dean were lovely hosts. This tour, other clubs were invited - which expanded the number of cars (37) and also the type of cars. Triumphs, Morgans and Minis joined the Alfas. The tour ended at Westcave Cellars winery on Hamilton Pool Road for a relaxing lunch. The day brought a little rain but it didn t dampen the fun that was had by everyone. Thanks Dean and Elizabeth for being our tourmasters. We look forward to the Spring Tour in a few weeks.

5 THC-AROC Page 5 Coffee + Conversation

6 Page 6 La Pilota 2012 Beers + Brauts at the Berens

7 THC-AROC Page 7

8 Page 8 La Pilota

9 THC-AROC Page 9 Lucas-Marelli Fall Tour continued

10 Page 10 TX Hill Country Chapter Officers Congratulations to Bruce on his new Baby! La Pilota President: John Trevey Vice President: Sherman Hart Secretary: Bernie Bennett Treasurer: Bernie Zelazny Austin Membership Chair: Joe Foster San Antonio Membership Chair: Albert Jacob Join Us for Coffee & Cars (see page 2 for details) Newsletter Editors: Scott Thomsen & Kim Trevey Scott scott@thomsen.com Kim kim@texasalfas.com Board Members at Large Albert Jacob (see above) Elliott Zirkle elliott@carsez.com Webmaster: Bernie Zelazny (see above) Disclaimer A primary function of our club is to publish technical information. However, the viewpoints and procedures expressed are those of the authors only and not those of THC-AROC. THC-AROC does not assume any liability.

11 THC-AROC Page Spring Bluebonnet Tour This year s spring club tour will be on Saturday April 13, departing at 8:00 from the Steiner Ranch Randall s parking lot on 620N. There are several options for coffee and light breakfast in this shopping center. We ll cover about 150 miles of mostly 2-lane roads in a loop north through Burnet, west of Marble Falls, and back south through Rough Hollow and Lakeway. As an added attraction, we ll visit with a 30-car tour from the Fiat-Lancia club near Kingsland. The tour ends with lunch at the Iguana Grill (2900 Ranch Road 620 N, Austin, TX / (512) ) overlooking what s left of Lake Travis. They ll have a separate seating area on the patio for our group and we ll try to have separate parking as well. The route is posted on Google Maps: Please RSVP to Dean (dmericas@austin.rr.com) by Thursday April 11 with your name and number of people in your party to ensure we have a large enough area set up for us at the restaurant. Route instructions will be ed in response to your RSVP.

The Bluebonnet. 11 O c t o b e r this issue. President s Corner Officers. Airstream Hugs, Shannon Wylie, President, THCU

The Bluebonnet. 11 O c t o b e r this issue. President s Corner Officers. Airstream Hugs, Shannon Wylie, President, THCU I S S U E 11 O c t o b e r 2 0 1 5 ALMOST MONTHLY The Bluebonnet NEWSLETTER OF TEXAS HILL COUNTRY UNIT this issue President s Corner P.1 November Info P.3 New Officer List P.5 Birthdays & Anniversaries