Good Times, Beautiful Machinery, Boiling Acid, and Late Night Adventures in Surry

It was the best of drives, it was the worst of drives.

Hampton Roads Alfisti gathered Saturday, October 1st at Cosmo’s Diner to journey to Richmond’s first-ever Italian street festival. Jim, Marlene, Rick & Andy departed under perfect driving weather conditions, heading up through Suffolk and past Smithfield. After a link-up with Mike, Joanna and Dan in Surry, the Alfa caravan grew to five cars. The remaining drive to Richmond via 10 and I-95 was brisk and pleasant. Rich was waiting for us at the festival site, which was in the shadow of the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church. Just then, someone noticed smoke coming out of Marlene’s trunk. As something like this usually happens at almost all of our events, the Alfisti present switched immediately from drive mode to tech session without missing a beat. Obviously the battery was overcharging and the decision was made to let it cool off, go get something to eat and drink, and most importantly - wait for Skip to show up!

The festival in Richmond was very nice and had several commodities that were in short supply at the Suffolk festival; namely SHADE, TOLERABLE WEATHER, and FOOD. There was a Richmond contingent of macchina present: a Ferrari 308, an Abarth 850, a new Maserati Quattroporte, an Alfa 164S, a Fiat Spider 2000. Later, an Alfa Duetto showed up by accident and the owner decided to display his car and hang out with us. Other Italian machinery present were Vespa scooters, and a few ultra-exotic looking Ducati, Moto-Guzzi and Bimota motorcycles. Other attractions at the festival included a very nice wine tasting of some premium Italian wines, some gourmet and homemade Italian food vendors, and even some ‘celebrities’ including Miss Virginia and Richmond mayor Doug Wilder along with the usual music, crafts and kiddie activities.

When Skip arrived, he took a look at Marlene’s Spider and pulled a wire off the alternator. Thinking this would disable the charging circuit, it was decided that if the car started up, it just might make it back home on battery power. Late in the afternoon, Marlene and her wounded Spider left with a three car escort composed of Dan, Jim, and Rick & Andy. Dan peeled off at his turn heading towards the Peninsula, while the three Southsiders soldiered on. And then it happened. While entering Surry, Marlene’s Spider gave up the ghost just as the last of the daylight disappeared. The battery was in a serious melt-down condition and there was no spark to be had, even after jumping the car with both of the other cars. With the kind traffic assistance from the Surry Police Department - Marlene’s Spider was given the long push. Luckily, series 3 Spiders roll easy.

About an hour later and a quarter of a mile away, the ‘Spider with no spark’ was safely parked in the Surry Police HQ parking lot, towing arrangements were made, and the remaining two Alfas were heading south in close formation.

All has ended well. There were no further incidents that night or the next day. Sunday also had nice weather, although there was a slightly different mix of participants and cars present. Overall, the festival turned out to be very pleasant with everyone having a good time, and even Marlene’s Spider is now back on the road - under it’s own power to boot!

Hey, for a first-time Italian festival we knew almost nothing about, you just couldn’t ask for better adventure!