131mirafiori forum

Hello friendly beloveds of the 131, from time to time I write on the forum but however I follow to you every day! I wanted to make mine it compliments for the optimal resolution of 3MA 2008 and has read with it appeal to that probably the next year own to Turin is wanted to be organized 3MA, city where our glorious car has been born. I confirm my availability to being able to collaborate with you for being able to organize the gathering to Turin here, since I live just in city and job in the municipality of Turin, therefore also in order to ask authorizations for the development for the same gathering, I can moreover ask Fiat a its eventual involvement besides being able to even organize a tourist distance passing for langhe and the Monferrato Therefore friendly, if you have need you also ask? I I am most available Hello Effe131/Michele Turin  ;)

Hello Michele and thanks for your offer to help organise 3MA-2009. Your offer of help is most welcome, it's not easy organising such things from afar and from past experience the Italians like to deal with people who speak Italian and none of the three mad amigos do  :-[.

We have a fairly good idea of what we want to do for 3MA-2009 but nothing has been decided fully yet; not even the dates. At the moment it looks like the last week in June is the favourite.  We have a few hotels in mind and once we finalise the dates we'll contact them to see what deal we can get as a group. Of course if you know of any nice hotels with a big car park in the Turin area we'd be pleased to hear about them. My suggestion is that we base ourselves in Moncalieri (http://www.answers.com/moncalieri?gwp=11&ver=2.3.0.624&method=3)  but I must stress it's just a suggestion.

We would like to organise a guided visit to the Mirafiori factory and of course we must visit the Mirafiori village and take a group photo under the "mirafiori" sign!  :D
 
For now maybe you can answer one question: I heard that new laws prohibit older cars from driving in Turin these days which, if true, means we won't be able to drive through Turin with our 131s. Is this true?

(http://www.gammaconsortium.com/LTIM/images/P1010169.jpg)

Regarding the limitations to the traffic they are relative to euros 0, therefore the 131 and the prohibition is from the 13,00 to the 18,30 but only from the monday to the friday, it is also true that l' decree of the mayor of Turin excludes from saying provision the automobiles that o to an official gathering, therefore is a problem that lascerei for last also because like I said working in municipality I can begin to ask ulterior information and to ask just l' support of Fiat, dell' asi that is l' car-motion Italian historical club and at last the historical registry Fiat, obviously with these supports is also simpler to ask the authorizations the municipality for the transit in prohibited zones or however pauses in the beautifulr zones of the city like Saint Public square Carl (the drawing-room of Turin) recently pedonalizzata (I enclose photo). It would have to know it with some month d' advance payment, so as to be able to organize very well all also for you that arrived from far away and that you can be received in perfect way! Other routes could be even the Langhe and the Moneferrato, beyond obviously to Fiat Mirafiori with turn on the track of the factory. However we are all' beginning and we have a bag of time for being able to organize all correctly and well! hello michele

Hello Michele

For some time we have been talking about 3MA09 in Italy and it appears that many people are interested in joining up for that event - More than 3MA08 certainly and possibly even more than 3MA07.

We have some ideas agreed in the last few weeks but one of the biggest problems was not knowing the local area and we always said that having someone in Italy to help us would be invaluable.? ;)

It sounds like maybe you are that person and we would be delighted if you could help us with local issues and suggestions, especially helping with Fiat and factory visits - I would personally love to drive my 131 around the roof top test track that Fiat has.
? ;D
Great that you have made contact and let's work together to make it really special.? 8)

Theo - You mentioned late June as a possible date - Was it not the last week in May that we were awaiting confirmation from Wendy about..?? ???

Now you mention it, you're right! This old age and failing memory is getting to be a real handicap... :-[ Late June is also good with me though!  ;)

The rooftop track is at Lignotto which is now a hotel and shopping centre. The track is no longer used for anything other than VERY special occasions and I doubt we'll be considered special enough  :-\ Then again if we don't ask we'll never get so it's worth trying for it.

I believe the track that Michele referred to is the test track at the Mirafiori factory; it will be great if we can get a few laps of that one! Fiat own several test and development tracks so getting to drive any one of them will be a special treat for us. 

It will also be great to arrange our static display show on the Saturday or Sunday in Saint Carlos square; that will really be special.

Our biggest problem in getting anything organised is not knowing numbers. If we have just 6 or 7 cars and about 10-12 people we'll get nothing offered. If, on the other hand, we have 15-20 cars or more and 30 or more people we are more likely to be taken seriously. So I'll add a 3ma09 "Interest registration" form on the website for people to declare their interest in attending without (yet) needing to commit to anything.

the track of which I spoke to era that about the tests of mirafiori Fiat, in fact own l' past year is used for the festeggiamenti of the 500 and the bianchina. therefore a lot probabilemnte Fiat will give its ok for l' I use of the track! certainly more Fiat 131 is succeeded to group better will be senz' other the good escape of the gathering. it would be beautiful to assemble from the " mirafiori" to the " supermirafiori" from the " panorama" to the " maratea" from the " racing" or " mirafiori sport" to the " abarth"!

Yes, getting at least one of each of the different 131 variants at 3ma09 will be a great achievement (so Kevin, leave your Sport at home and bring the Super!  ;D) but I seriously doubt that we can achieve this goal  :-[

So, it will be again the Volumetrico? Nice to show it at it's former owner!

to Turin c' it is l' alluvium :o? the city bridges have been already sluices and a hospital has been evacuated and is alone all' beginning of the perturbation :-[!
however returning to the 3MA of 2009 ;D to Turin I know of the friends who have the volumetric one ;)!
I enclose a photo of the river " dora" in flood! it has been released today afternoon!

Yes, it looks like it's me (well, my wife at least) that you are waiting for regarding dates. Unfortunatley it is half-term holiday so we'll not be able to confirm the dates until at least Monday I'm afraid, when the school is open again.

After numerous discussions on the topic however it may all prove to be academic (no pun intended :-\), but at the moment we'll work towards the 'out of SATS' period.

I'll get back to you as soon as I can. 8)

Well have any dates been set yet and how are we getting there, are we going to use the car train for speed or are we all driving in convoy as I am trying to see which car I should bring, x1/9 for my sun tan, 124 for a bit of a roasting over the alps again or the Dino for a gentlemans tour ;D ;D ;D

No offence taken  ;D but just with the Irish crew it is a long drive although I have no problem driving straight down (24hrs from Tuscany to Calet and that is with no sat nav or maps) but it is another days driving across the uk to get to Dover. Would we be able to make it a week as if there are any mechanical issues on the way the day planned in Italy could disappear very easily :o :o :o

Bite your tongue!!!  ;D The 131s never break down, not seriously enough to loose a day anyway. But that's why we'll most probably start the official festivities on Wednesday morning giving people the chance to use two days (Monday and Tuesday) to get there or if some want a more leisurely drive to Turin and maybe even avoid the motorways then they can use the preceding weekend giving them up to four days to get there.

As far as the Irish convoy, you have two choices:
1) as you suggest to drive through the UK and possibly meet the UK convoy at Dover
or
2) take the ferry straight from Ireland to France  and possibly join the other convoys at the overnight stay.

Either way, you'll probably need to set off on the Sunday or be prepared to do a lot of driving over just two days.

Oh yes Theo it has to be drive all the way ?;D

I've driven to northern Italy many times and to those whove never been I would say that apart from the UK, France is the only part of the journey that is tiresome......endless uniform autoroute, rows of trees, flat fields of dull beige with only 'Richarde Turpain' at the peayage to break the monotony :D

Ah but how it all changes when you reach the Alps!!!

If you go through the Mont Blanc Tunnel its 11km of white concrete with blue neon spacing lights and when you get into Italy the Aosta valley has its fast sweeping autostrada through and over the hills (awesome and empty at night!).
If you go Frejus Tunnel its not as long (more direct) but just as free moving.
Either way, out of the tunnels on both sides the scenery is gorgeous.


Mmm.....131s in convoy on their way back home to Mirafiori..........marvellous ;D

P.S.

I've just seen the thread 'the trip home'..........better pics than mine!

On saturday 5 july 08 a friend of mine is driving from Cork/Ireland to Ulan Bator in Mongolia in a Lada Niva and back again.He will do it for charity.Last year he did it in a Nissan micra which he got in a scrap yard for nothing.
So i don't know what your problem is about driving to Turin. ::).Eugene

 So Eugene i take it that you are going so, Ar mhaith leat dul go dti an Iodail ... seen that it's not a problem to drive that far over that weekend. What car are you going to take? ::) :P ;)

Slainte mhaith
Ger

Well Eugene I was not giving out but stating fact from experience as I have done this trip and did Tuscany to Dublin in under 2 days in a 124 sport which had not moved in 10 years but I was lucky, everything ran smooth for me. I am going as a mechanic on this trip and will always help on a brake down see pictures of the 2007 trip but this is a long return trip between 4 and 5000km's, this could be the mileage limitation on some insurance policies. I am only putting down some ideas to help enhance this adventure and a k10 micra never gave trouble and a Niva was built by the russians so it can be fixed with duct tape and a hammer unlike Italian machines from the 60's, 70's and 80's  ;D ;D ;D

Cunas ata tu Ger.No i am not going,due to work commitments,but i would love to go and take one of my Nivas.Remember Ger,Lada&Fiat are first cousins ;).
I do hope to go to Turin next year with the wife and hopefully will have a 131 purchased before May09 ;).Eugene

I do hope to go to Turin next year with the wife and hopefully will have a 131 purchased before May09 Wink.Eugene
 well my thoughts as well and  a lotery win and even get passport ,all for our 19th wedding annavesary
the day before :D ill keep trying on most of these tasks
jason

just a thought i had for anyone without a car howabout fly out to turin for a few days to meet the convoy surely someone would have a vacant passenger seat and need a navigator  ;)

It seems that no one is prepared to  travel with you Ger  :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ ::) ::) :-\ :'( :'(.Eugene

no i wont be going its just an option for others,
i enjoyed driving before but now 2/3 hours is enough for me 
gerry

Well,you can always travel with someone of us.That way you wont have to drive ;).Eugene

hello! you have innovation for the dates for the gathering of 2009 to Turin? thus I begin to contact or the municipality of Turin or Fiat! as soon as you have some innovation you contact to me hello effe131/michele

Ah yes... 3ma09 dates!? ::)? This is something that the three mad amigos have been discussing for ages. In fact we started the discussion on 3ma09 dates on the last day of the 3ma08 in May of this year. We thought we had agreement a while back and in fact provisional dates were posted here but we then run into some problems with those dates so they were not confirmed.

You would have thought choosing some dates would be simple but there's a lot of things to consider: Driving restrictions in Turin for old cars, sea crossing schedules and prices for the British and Irish participants, seasonal price changes, school and national holidays for several countries,? etc.?

The situation at the moment is that we have two sets of provisional dates. The first one is from Thursday 28th May to Sunday 31st May 2009.? That's actual 3ma09 dates and does not include travel days. We would expect to arrive in (or near) Turin on Wednesday (27th) afternoon and depart for the homeward journey on Monday 1st July. If we go for these dates we'd like to visit the factory and mirafiori village on Friday 29th May and have a static display at the Piazza San Carlo on Saturday 30th May. There will be driving activities for Thursday 28th May and Sunday 31st May.

The alternative set of dates are a week later starting on Thursday 4th June and finishing on Sunday 7th of June 2009. The original provisional dates published here were a day earlier? starting on Wednesday 3rd and finishing on Saturday 6th June with the static display. Two things have been decided for sure (almost!)? for 3ma09 which are that the 3ma activities will be for four days (as in previous years) and that it will be from Thursday to Sunday. The reason for the day choices is to please our Irish friends who apparently can cross the Irish sea easier and cheaper on a Sunday arriving in Cherbourg late afternoon on Monday. So we then give them Tuesday and Wednesday to drive to Turin and we'll start on Thursday.

So where we are at the moment, is trying to get ferry information (timetables and mainly prices) for May and June next year and also get advance school holiday and exam information for next year to make sure that people wishing to travel with their families can do so as economically as possible.?

We hope to have the dates finalised within a week or two and then we can start planning in earnest. Thank you effe131/michelle for your offer of help again; we'll certainly be calling on you for help and certainly to try and arrange for us to have the static display at the Piazza San Carlo if possible; if nothing else the coffee at Cafe Torino (http://goitaly.about.com/od/turintorino/ig/Turin-Pictures-Coffee-Houses/) is superb!

If anyone has any comments (constructive criticism only please) about the dates please post here and let us know.

Theo,this is not an easy job for you or anyone else,but well done for your effort and patience.
Regarding people travelling from Eire.Some may not want to go to the Uk,but from Cork to Roscoff and others may want to go via through Uk.
All this depends on where you live in Eire.So maybe you could take this into account ;).Please note,i am not trying to be awkward here. :DEugene

I believe that none of the Irish participants will be travelling through the UK.  Although I would have thought that was an option, I am assured by our Irish amigo that nobody will be taking that option. I am also told that the best option for the Irish is to travel from Rosslare to Cherbourg as it is the best value-for-money crossing and Cherbourg is further on the way to Turin than Roscoff.

Personally, I decided many years ago that when travelling across water with car, I will always take the shortest sea crossing and go for maximum driving. So I'll be taking the Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais on Tuesday morning; spending one night in France and arriving in Turin on Wednesday afternoon.

Theo,it is impossible to please everyone,but to make it easier on you and Simon,let the Irish get in contact wit Kev and see who wants to go which way.
As i said before ,some may want to go via Uk others may not,however maybe it might be an idea to have a meeting point in the UK somewhere and also in France for the Irish to meet up with the Uk contingent.What ever is decided it won't please everyone.
Please note ,i am only throwing these idea's open and if someone can add more to this,plesae do so ;DEugene

Our  "Irish information" comes from Kevin who I believe has canvassed most (probably all knowing Kev) of the possible Irish participants for their preferred means of getting to France and it seems Rosslare to Cherbourg is the preferred option. There's always a feeling of safety when travelling with others so some people who might on their own choose a different route, will prefer to join in with the majority choice.

Of course we'll have a UK meeting point and certainly meeting points on-route in France so the UK, Irish, Dutch, French, Belgian, German etc convoys can all meet and travel together. Our wish (or should I say 'hope', or maybe 'goal' will be better  ;) ) is to have at least 20 131s in convoy over the Alps and into Italy.

hello, regarding the limitations us they would not have to be limitazionipoich? would come demanded a special one pass for cars that participate to the gathering, however the limitations do not regard the saturday and Sunday? this morning is brought to me all' office of the city of Turin that is taken care dell' occupation public ground and not is problems? the week would go well end of 28 May (between l' other 29 May is my birthday) now I will try to contact or Fiat or the historical center Fiat besides the historical registry Fiat? to short I will try of darvi the most possible information also for the hotels? to this end I could segnalarvi some hotel inagurati with the winter Olympic Games of 2006? it would be perfect to have 20 coming cars dall' foreign country but would have to extend the voice also in Spain where the 131 came sold with brand seat? to short I will open an Italian site dedicated to the 131 where I will put more information possible to the gathering of Turin of 2009? from Turin it is all, salutes effe131/michele ps. I enclose l' address of mine blog dedicated exclusively to Fiat 131:
http://fiat131supermirafiori.myblog.it/