Sean O'Donoghue

President

 

I guess I have to blame my obsession with these cars on my father, Marty. I can remember an Alfa being in the family for as long as I can remember. Helping him work on his red 72' GTV was always a lot of fun for me (possibly frustrating for him!) and I remember learning how to drive stick between 14-15 years old on a 78' Spider, boy that car took a beating, but was literally bulletproof.

 

I've been a member of the organization pretty much since I was in high school and joined when I bought my first Alfa, an 81' GTV6 with a 3.0L engine built by Hans Milo in Atlanta. It had a Milano Platinum Transaxle with 160mph speedo that actually worked. High flow cats and power steering from a Milano, this thing was a rocket, but it was plagued with several areas of rust. And then the obsession really took off, see below:

Alfas Owned:

 

Current:

1969 1750 GTV

Previous:

81' & 83' GTV6

71' & 88' Spider

91', 92' & 93' 164

 

Other Interests/Hobbies:

Very interest in old-railroad history/memorabilia. I spend a portion of my time running steam locomotives at a local park in the bay area. It is slightly less than half scale, 5" to the foot to be exact. Everything is scaled down almost exactly, except the engineers and folks riding.

Bill DeGolia

How did my obsession with Alfa Romeo start?  Two years ago, I saw a classified ad for a 1971 GTV 1750 in Salt Lake City in the ARA “Overheard Cams.”  After looking at photos and gathering all of the information I could, I flew to SLC from Oakland, bought the car and drove it home.  It had 25 year old tires and a very tired motor.  Was I crazy?  Six weeks later, driving home from “Biscotti and Cars”, the motor threw a rod just east of the Caldecott Tunnel and punched holes in both sides of the block.  Buying a new block, building the motor, upgrading the interior and chrome, and all of the other restoration work brought me in contact with many GREAT ARA members. Their help was immeasurable.  I was hooked!

Since the GTV is finished, I felt a need for another project.  I  recently bought a 1959 Giulietta Sprint Project car.  Body and paint are done, but it needs just about everything else, so this one could take a while!  Hopefully, you will see my beautiful blue Sprint in the wine tour later this year!

Enthusiasm for Alfa Romeo cars is truly infectious.  The Alfa Romeo Association  has a lot of members who enjoy participating in club events.  Monthly meetings at Ricky’s Sports Bar in San Leandro are entertaining, often with interesting guest speakers.  Events like the Malaya Collection, Keller Museum, Dennis Varni Collection, wine tours and driving tours draw a lot of members.  Please join our activities.  You will get hooked, just like I am!