During 2016 a significant number of Abarth Owners have attended at least one event, where they have been able to meet other proud owners, see their cars, and talk about matters Abarth (among other things). Indeed, among the most popular threads both on the forum and the Facebook Group are those pertaining to Events and Meets, and many strong and enduring friendships have emerged from such meets. So, for 2017, there will be a similarly wide-ranging program of events and activities co-ordinated through the Club. Some will be national or regional events, organised by others, where we will get the chance to take part, with our own reserved parking or display area, usually in a prime location, and in many cases with special club discounts on admission charges. Others will be our own events, conceived, organised and attended solely by Abarth Owners.
As some people have already noticed, most of the major venues have now announced their 2017 plans (and in some cases made changes after the FIA rather unexpectedly moved the date of the British Grand Prix), so there is now a solid starting point, around which you can all start to mark up your calendar. There may yet be further changes, and some additions to the list, so it is worth checking back periodically. These are the events in this category that have announced their 2017 plans. Here's the list so far:
Ace Cafe Italian Nights - 2nd Thurs of the month, every month
Horsham Italian Festival - 15 - 16th April (tbc)
Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival (BIAMF) - Sat 22nd April
"Drive It" Day - Bicester Heritage - Sun 23rd April
Auto Italia Driving Day, Chobham - Fri 28th April
Brooklands Auto Italia - Sat 29th April
Donington Historic Festival - Sat 29th Apr - Mon 1st May
Stratford Festival of Motoring - Sun 30th Apr - Mon 1st May
Italian Classics at the Villa - Sun 14th May
Abarth Day at Rockingham - Sat 20th May
La Vita Rosso at Prescott Hill Climb - Sat 27th- Sun 28th May
Driving Day: Chester to Black Sands nr Porthmadog - Sun 28th May
Wilton House Classics and Supercars - Sat 3rd - Sun 4th June EVENT CANCELLED
Cholmondley Power and Speed - Fri 9th- Sun 11th June EVENT CANCELLED
Italian Passion for Speed - Cardiff Bay - Sun 18th June
Cars in the Park - Lichfield -Sat 1st and Sun 2nd July (Organiser is Steven Homer)
Abarths at Coventry Transport Museum - Sun 2nd July
Bedfordshire]Italian Car Day - Sharnbrook Hotel, Bedford - Cardiff Bay - Sun 9th July
"Quay for my Car", Poole Harbour - Fri 14th July (evening)
Italian Track Attack, at Rockingham - Sun 16th July
Brooklands Supercar Sunday - Sun 16th July
Abarth Summer meet and BBQ - Sharnbook Hotel, nr Bedford - Sun 23rd July
Silverstone Classic - Fri 28 - Sun 30th July
Brands Hatch Festival Italia - Sun 13th August
MITCAR - Ragley Hall - Sun 20th Aug
Bridgnorth Italian - Sun 3rd Sept
Brooklands Autumn MotorSportFestival - Sun 8th Oct
Separate threads will be created for each individual event, with full details not just of the location and timing, but also instructions on how to acquire tickets to make sure that you are part of the Abarth presence at them. The first couple of threads will be posted very shortly, as I already have some details agreed with the organisers. Please pay special attention to the closing date to buy your tickets. In most cases this is well before the event itself. Coming to me a couple of days before hand asking if you are too late will almost inevitably result in confirmation that you are!
There's plenty of space to add more to this list, so if you see something that you think would be of interest, then please do not hesitate to send me your suggestions.
Abarth UK, under the guise of the Scorpionship, plan to do something in 2017, following on from the huge popularity of their Silverstone event, but no announcements have yet been made as to what, when or where. In addition, a number of the Abarth Dealers are trying to build a community of local owners, and will run their own events, which range from Showroom based, to Treasure Hunts and Track Days.
In addition, as we now have our own Public Liability Insurance cover, we are able both to participate in events where a condition of entry is that you have such cover, or to organise our own events where this is required. Following the success of our 2016 events at the Coventry Transport Museum and at Duxford, I will be working with a number of interesting locations around the country to agree something similar for 2017. The first of these is:
Cosford RAF Museum - Sun 19th Feb
Driving Days are popular as well, with three London - Brighton events in the past three years having attracted an ever larger number of participants, and there have been successful trips in other parts of the country as well. I would like to do more of these in 2017, and am open to ideas, and especially those with the local knowledge to help with route planning. The following 2 are confirmed now, with more to come
Driving Day in South Wales - Sat 17th Jun
London - Brighton - date tbc
There has been much discussion about holding an Abarth Barbeque Event, during the summer, and I hope to be able to location and date for this in due course. .
Whilst the events listed above are all a full day (or in some cases a full and busy weekend), shorter events, such as Breakfast Clubs or Evening Meets are always popular. These do not generally require any specific dialogue with their organiser, operating on the principle that people will "just turn up" and in my experience, almost regardless of the weather, some people do. Whilst telling the organiser we are coming is not necessary, if Abarth Owners Club members want to use one of these to meet up, then some co-ordination amongst ourselves is a Good Idea. Among the regular events that we could attend, are:
Ace Cafe Italian Night - second Thursday of every month. There are events at Ace almost every night, but Italian Night is by some margin the best, and is usually well support with all manner of interesting cars. Our objective has to be to outnumber Maserati as well as Alfa.
Goodwood Breakfast - the 2017 program has not yet been announced. In 2016 there were 5 of them during the year, each with a theme, several which fitted with our cars. We will have to see what 2017 holds. These meets gets very busy now, and you have to pre-book well in advance with a theme-compliant car but are a great morning out, and the bacon is particularly tasty, though!
Coventry Transport Museum Breakfast - tend to be on a Saturday morning - program on the museum's website. Note that they require display cars to be over 20 years old
Haynes Museum Breakfast - Now well established and well attended, generally on the first Sunday of the month. Has the advantage that there is a great museum on site
Liverpool Cars and Coffee - huge event on the waterfront. Typically attracts a good number of local Abarth owners. 1st Sunday of the month
Prescott Hill Climb Breakfast - mix of meetings "at home" on the Gloucestershire slopes, and also a couple of away fixtures
Queen Square Bristol Breakfast - second Sunday of the month. Always a good show, usually a couple of Abarths there
Shelsley Walsh Breakfast - also second Sunday of the month. Note that the arrangements for this event changed for 2016 and you have to pre-register and buy a ticket
Just as important are the local and sometimes impromptu events. During 2016 we've held a number of regional events, some of which run monthly and attract a significant number of cars. These come and go, based on local interest and someone's willingness to organise things. The most active group is currently in the West Midlands, - where an average of a dozen enthusiasts meet, usually on the first Sunday of the month. The venue moved during the year from Chasewater Cafe to Curborough. They are organised by Salvo Trapani.
There have been various impromptu gatherings in London, Essex and Kent, and there are other regional Facebook Groups. Anyone can organise a local meet. If you want to do so, don't be too democratic about the date and location. Everyone will always say "yes" in principle to an event, but to make an event happen as opposed to be talked about, you need to make a specific proposal with a date and a venue and ask who will attend. We've got Abarth owners distributed across the country (and beyond), so there's no reason not to try more of these sort of events in 2017.
For the events where we may well be able to meet up, but have no official presence (such as the Goodwood Moving Motor Show/ Festival of Speed), then all that is needed is a thread near the time to establish who else plans to attend, and some details on meeting points and times. I have no problem with anyone who is going to an event like this creating the thread to see what interest there is.
Like so many things in life, you only get out of them what you put in. Make the effort to come to one or more of the events listed above and you will discover a whole new dimension to the joy of owning your Abarth. Many strong friendships have been formed amongst our members past and present as result of them meeting up. It might sound like "lots of cars in fields and car parks", but there's a lot more potential than that.
Topic: Abarth Owners Club Meets and Events in 2017 (Read 8873 times)