Auto Italia Day - Gaydon

[simon131]

I believe that there is an Auto Italia Day at Gaydon this coming Sunday, 23rd September. I am planning to be there in my 131 Abarth, and by the sound of it Theo will be there in his Sport and Andy in his 'Beast' so it should a good turn out from us 131mirafiori forum members

Anyone else planning on coming? If so, we might be able to pursuade Mr Ward to 'allow' us to all park together

[mick131]

I'd love to go but am working ( leave request turned down !! ). I'm sure Wayne's going with a few others as well.

Shame as I would have loved to have another nosy around your motor.

Hope the weather stays fine for you all.

[Thotos]

by the sound of it Theo will be there in his Sport

Unfortunately not unless I can fix the car on Saturday. Starter motor refuses to be helpful and start the engine so the car isn't going anywhere. I had a quick look last night and one of the long bolts that connects the starter motor body with the gear plate at the front is missing  and the other long bolt is completely undone so the starter is about to fall apart  . Also one of the two bolts on the rear bracket that supports the starter motor is missing!  I think the 8000RPM runs up the Healy Pass must have worked a few bolts loose! I'll have to find the old Croma starter and see if I can make a good starter out of the two (haven't I said that somewhere on this forum before?)

[curt]

I had this problem with my first sport back in 1987 
Easy fix though -just park on a slope or kerbside -lean out of drivers door and push 
Worked for me for 6 months -till i borrowed another from a 132 
Just dont stall at traffic lights 

[gerafiori]

hi guys,
love to be at gaydon but i left it too late to book flights
now just to exp; we travelled over last year it was fab show
you guys are spoilt for good shows.
have a great day all.
regards gerry.

[nigel131sport]

the orange boys will be there with 2 131 sports 127 sport 850 coupe and a yellow 127

[hicky131]

Dont want to be dodging Ian's stray 131 windscreen wiper again down the M6 if it rains like last year!
Hopefully he's fitted them a bit tighter now!?

[simon131]

After making my posting up the page and having spoken to Theo last evening, it looks like both of us may have a problem now.

According to my 'secretary' (the wife) I have a previously booked 'engagement' on Sunday - that will require some 'negotiation' on my part to get out of

Theo's starter motor continues to give problems, and although I have offered him a recon unit he is severely restricted on time to get it fitted before Sunday.

Watch this space

[simon131]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the insurance runs out at midnight on Saturday night too

I've just received my renewal but the idiots have got it listed as a Strada Abarth 130TC and not a 131 Abarth Total muppets They got it wrong the first time and assured me that things would be put right - all they're interested in is taking the money!!

[Thotos]

A few bits from the old Croma starter motor, a bit of dexterity, a tad of ingenuity, a lot of contortionism and a touch of the obligatory super glue and the 131 starter motor in once again spinning the engine with great enthusiasm! So all going well I should be in Gaydon tomorrow...

[Thotos]

Well, my 131 and I made it there and so did another five 131s so we had six in total    Quite an achievement but we never managed to get them all together for a photo shoot so the photos are of the cars in pairs 

It was a good day (even though it rained AGAIN! ) and a good selection of Italian cars including what seemed like every Lamborghini registered in the UK  Apparently the Lamborghini club had some sort of milestone celebration. Of course we also had a TFC meeting and it's always a pleasure to meet up with the president of my fun club  as well as all the other 131 friends.

The run round the test track was great fun and confirmed that the newly fitted Mintex discs and pads are well up to the job of stopping the car; I wish I had them fitted before driving the Healy Pass during the 3MA. At least now I know the brakes are up to the job for anything we might drive during 3MA-2008 

[jasonh131]

thank god we can reily on you theo to get the photo's on super
quick for those of us who couldn't make it . hope you and the 131 boys  had a great time cheers

[kev131]

Top photos as usual Theo - Yes pity they were not all together - Did you do any recruiting for 3MA08?

[Andy c]

Having arrived at Gaydon at 10.30, we were greeted by Theo who said what kept you, ( yes he had overtaken us on the M40),it was great to see so many cars already there, and eager to see if there would be any more 131's, we parked up near Simon and Theo and went a wandering.
Chatted to a guy Dave Richards a free lance journalist who was interested in the 3ma 07 and was saying about the possibility of doing a feature for 3ma 08.Heres hoping ,and we will definately be going.

[simon131]

Nice to see everybody yesterday, especially Wayne (Hicky131) who I'd not seen for ages!

It was also good to see 6 131s in the same place again, although (as mentioned above) unfortunately they were not close enough together to get a decent photo of them all Only 33% of them were orange too - so sunglasses were not required

Not much to add to the reports above except to say that the weather was decidely cold and blowy, with the sort of occasional fine rain that gets everything wet! Most of us had had enough by early afternoon so Theo, Andy and 'Nita and me left at about 2pm.

My 100 mile journey south was uneventful but took a great deal longer than the trip up!? I got home to warm sunshine, which apparently had been the order of the day since the early morning mist cleared Brilliant!

I think I'm all 'Gaydon'd out' now. It always seems to rain when I've been there and it's a long way to go to park on a large expanse of concrete. Also the ?10 per person entrance fee (?8 if purchased in advance) is a bit steep when I'd already paid for the tank of petrol.