ALIVE AND KICKING
Filled with anomalies, the South African motoring landscape has evolved tenfold over the past few decades but despite its changes, the enduring Alfisti remain a constant. The annual Alfa Romeo track day brought impressive crowds and equally exquisite machinery - alive and kicking, if not flourishing.
This is it. This is one of the most coveted events anticipated by Alfisti in South Africa. A track day that brings all with shared passion, from far and wide, together. Kyalami, the former hunting ground for this gathering, served as my novel interaction with the local Alfa Romeo community a decade ago.
Fast forward the clock, and the brand as we know it has undergone some drastic changes. The Alfisti, haven’t. Arriving at Zwartkops Raceway just outside of the country’s Pretoria capital, it is evident that the passion and liveliness that I remember from my track days of old have not diminished.
Old and new, a stroll up and down the pitlane demonstrates that many have sunk countless amounts of time and money into keeping the Alfa Romeo brand on the map within our own borders. The pride of South African Alfisti, the GTV6 3-litre continually serves as a benchmark for restorers to present a preview into the firm’s zenith, present and shimmering on a day like this. On the other end of the spectrum, laptop-savvy tuners have their decals adorned on the windshields of their projects, clocking lap after lap. Present too are keen owners, that have come to sample the best of the brand, with their own vehicles on track. How often do you come across a family with a 4C, Giulia Quadrifoglio and Stelvio Quadrifoglio in its care?!
All of the usual camera fodder was present too, with some interesting and bespoke creations in between. If there was a mass-produced Alfa imported into the country between the turn of the century and now, it was on the track strutting its stuff. Hosted by the Alfa Romeo Club of Pretoria and sanctioned by Stellantis South Africa, as well as several independent dealers, the turnout was commendable. Interesting to see, however, are some individuals who will likely make newsworthy stories in the coming weeks and months in the local sphere. An endurance racing prepared MiTo is one of them, run by one of the Alfa Romeo dealership marketing managers as well as a Giulia Quadrifoglio, immediately differentiated by its massive rear wing, to better equip it in competition for the local supercar series. Seeing the latter instilled a sense of undiminished hope that the products and consumers are still as steadfast as ever before.
Forgetting my camera gear at home in the scramble to arrive at the track, I was fortunate to run into many old friends from now-defunct WhatsApp car clubs. One of them, Gemma, came to my rescue with her Canon/Sigma 70-200mm combo which is the reason there are high-quality images accompanying these words. Readily rendered into my care for the day, what can be described as an inconsequential detail to this story served as a nostalgic trip into the past and a reminder of that very first track day a decade ago shot on a near-identical setup.
Epiphanies aside, Alfa Romeo may not be delivering stellar sales performances in the local, or international landscape and news of Stellantis ready to place underperforming brands on the chopping block is a mortifying reminder of how times have changed. Combined with the uncertainty of an all-EV future, the one constant is that devoted Alfisti like us in South Africa forge forward, alive and kicking!
Photo gallery by Alex Shahini.
