Event Report

jupiter was in a very good mood. The Roman god of sky and weather must have been so titillated by the prospect of seeing over two hundred Italian cars all gathered in one place that he brought forth a picture-perfect dry and sunny summer day, sandwiched between several wet and steamy ones. Jupiter provided the terrific weather, the Larz Anderson Auto Museum provided the scenic venue, their staff and dozens of volunteers provided the solid organization, and Italian vehicle owners from all over the Northeast provided the wonderful cars, all of which resulted in an unforgettable day of Italian automotive splendor.

The show officially opened at 9 am, and by then the cars were converging on the Museum in Brookline, MA, and starting to fill the fields. As last year, the Ferraris were at the top of the hill; Lamborghinis and Maseratis were parked down along the road; and Alfas, Fiats, and other more esoteric marques were assigned the main lawn (a layout with which we can’t quibble). In addition, there were over a dozen significant Italian cars that were parked by invitation near the Museum entrance. Head Alfa Judge Myron Barnett had everything under control on the main lawn, with signs defining the various car and class sections, people present to direct cars to their proper spaces when they arrived, and an adequate number of judges on hand.

AONE had a strong presence, with the club’s new pair of ten-foot canopies making their debut. Since President Tom Lesko now has an actual Alfa to take to events like this, he was no longer asked to borrow his neighbor’s industrial-size canopy and pickup truck to schlep it to Tutto Italiano. Instead, the club now owns two new collapsible canopies that are very portable (i.e. they both easily fit in Tom’s Giulia Spider), and they seem to work remarkably well. [A few people commented that they were perhaps a little low, but I didn’t notice any such problem.—Ed.]

As the morning marched on, more and more cars arrived until the lawn was filled with gleaming macchina of every color (predominantly red, of course). The judges were now making their rounds, adorned in their spiffy official embroidered red polo shirts. At noon, on command, the assembled cars all revved their engines in unison, filling the air with their sonorous music (as well as their aromatic burnt engine oil).

This year, there were noticeably more vendors on the premises than in the past, ranging from food providers to automotive artists to car detailing and appraisal services to winter storage providers. There were also a lot more people spectating this year, partly due to the weather and partly due to the Museum’s ramped-up promotion of the event.

In the early afternoon, the Museum raffled off a number of goodies, capped by the drawing of a new Ducati motorcycle. Then, the judging having been completed and tallied, the crowd gathered around the Museum entrance for the award announcements. There were so many wonderful cars on display that the judges’ jobs were challenging, to say the least, but in the end the crème rose to the surface, and the deserving cars and their owners went home in glory. We'll be posting a listing of the Alfa class winners (mostly your fellow AONE members!) as soon as we can get the Museum to pass them along.

AONE Director and Tutto Italiano head Alfa judge Myron Barnett wishes to thank all of the AONE members who participated in this event. Special thanks go out to the judges who worked tirelessly for several hours and did a commendable, conscientious job. And the club in turn owes Myron a heap of thanks—he truly represented our interests in planning and carrying out this triumphant event.

Well, another Tutto Italiano is now history—just a warm and pleasant memory for all of the Italian car aficionados who were there enjoying the day. Definitely one of those things that make Alfa Romeo ownership the pleasure that it is…

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	Frank Maldari’s newly-acquired ‘72 GTV
	AONE’s new, easily-transported, dual-canopy setup is visible for miles around
	Richard Meyer’s Sprint Zagato occupies a deserved spot in the special cars section
	Four round tails all in a row
	Ven Fonte’s fabulous 1950 6C2500SS is the car that graced the cover of last year’s Velocissima Tutto Italiano issue
	And Roger Cassin’s fabulous 1954 1900CSS graced the cover of April 2006 Velocissima in a photo from the Mille Miglia
	The group of scrumptious Alfa Romeos in the “Late-Model Closed” section
	Rod Burdick’s very special Sprint Speciale with her openings ready for judging
	Stefan Gavell’s Junior Z and John Darack’s Montreal represent the ‘70s in a unique and wonderful way
	Pete Hanson brought his sharp Giulia Spider down from Maine in far better weather than he had for his last trip
	What can look more sporting than Kevin Murphy’s Spider with Quadrifoglio, roll bar, Panasports, and checkered flag?
	We’ll grudgingly concede one non-Alfa photo location to this stunning vintage Ferrari