By Dave Pratt
Photos by Dave, Sam Surprise, John Rowntree, and the dealership staff

The AONE northern outpost came out in strong numbers for the Alfa Romeo and Fiat of Portland Giulia Launch Event that was held on Saturday, April 29th. The weather could not have been better (mostly sunny, temp in the upper 70s), which may have contributed a wee bit to the excellent turnout of at least 15 AONE member-owned Alfas of vintages that spanned exactly 50 years (Duetto through new Giulia)!

Getting under way around 11 AM, Alfas started rolling in from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Our friendly Portland Alfa dealer had moved cars from the lot to make space for our row of (mostly) non-2017 Alfa models. It was immensely rewarding to see our Alfas parked in front of an actual Alfa Romeo dealership for the first time in decades!

We all hung around outside in the lot and inside the showroom and service bays for a couple of hours or more, chatting and admiring all of the new and old Alfa Romeos on hand. The dealership staff members were all very friendly and accommodating, and they had set up lots of goodies to eat and beverages to slake our thirsts. It looked like they enjoyed seeing our old Alfas as much as we enjoyed seeing their new ones!

Those of us who wanted to take new Giulias for test drives got to do so. As a recent, highly satisfied purchaser of one myself, I'm sure that they enjoyed the rides. As far as we know, the test drive Giulias were all returned unharmed ......

Around 1:30 or so, we all gathered for a group photo, and then some of us hopped in our Alfas for a drive out in the country that was planned and led by Portland AONEr Sam Surprise. We headed northwest out of town and did a fun romp all the way around Sebago Lake. 'Twas a pleasant way to wind up a pleasant day. While it's always nice to look at Alfas and talk about them, driving them is what it's all about!

Our thanks go out to several people for making the event a success! First, of course, to Alfa Romeo and Fiat of Portland for hosting the gathering. Then to Bill Anderson of AONE for getting the ball rolling. And finally to Sam Surprise for picking up the ball, making the arrangements with the dealership, and pulling off the apres-launch drive. Well done, everybody!

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See the original event announcement