SNO began as a lark at the 2004 Concorso. A year later we
were there in force , as shown in this 2005 photo. Note that all four
GTV's
in this line-up are SNO cars. Many other cars at the event also wore the
group's logo. That may explain this conversation, overheard
as two men covered in Alfa patches examined my GTV: "Who are these guys?
They're everywhere. Do you know these guys?" The
answer from his friend was a puzzled: "No, I wonder how we join?"
After seeing the stickers, one woman insisted that her husband
sign up ... without knowing who we were, what we did, or what joining
would do. Go figure. Several people did become members
at the event, though we never solicited memberships or displayed anything to
indicate how to join.
Jim Hall & Phil Hill (back to camera) are
Richard Kreines, owner of this world-record
Many fine cars wear the SNO logo these days,
interviewed by Legends of Motor Sports
-holding 1991 Alfa Spider, shows off the
including this Ghibli. Photographed at the 2005
moderator Alain deCadenet. Okay, we're
SNO sticker that is good for at least another 5 mph
Concorso Italiano, Monterey California.
joking about the logo on Phil's coat, but
at Bonneville. Unlike Phil's coat, this 203 mph
not what's in the photo on the right.
Spider does wear the SNO logo.
Photo from August 19, 2005.
Photo from August 19, 2005.
Two 1959 Sprints sit side by side at Concorso. Which is the better car?
To hear the owner of the
car on the left, his is the best. All day long this man stood by his
Sprint and pontificated to
anyone who got close. That's okay, but what wasn't was using Steve Smith's
Sprint, on the right, as
an example of a "non original" car to be avoided. How rude! You sir,
are why SNO exists. We like
original cars, especially when they are not over restored. But we also
like to drive our cars, and
that means it's often beneficial to improve them. There's room for the
original guys and us at car shows,
but without the snide remarks. Which car is best? On the road it's
Steve's, with 1750 engine, improved
brakes, and upgraded suspension. On a trailer, it's the car on the left.
The '1967 GTV twins of Richard Lane (left) and Gary Williams at Concorso
Italiano
August 13, 2004. Both cars were
originally white, have had 1600cc and 1750cc
engines
and now have 165 hp 2000cc engines (give or take a couple of hp).
Both also have Alfaholics
suspensions
and late-model transmissions with lightened gears. All except the engine
swaps
was
done before we met, but those were already in progress. We're smiling
because we've been laughing about all the
"nice, but not originale" comments we'd heard ... thus leading to SNO.
igure
out how to modify the navigation bars on this template, so "Product" is Webese
for "Here are the Alfa pix."O
