Official Newsletter of the Midwest's Premier Car Club of Popular Italian Cars
	By Ron Conlon

Summer 2006

MOFLO 06

As we have done for the last 6 years in June, the Roamin’ Chariots chapter of Fiat/Lancia Unlimited of Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas meet in the Lake of the Ozarks region to swap stories and do a bit of touring.   My weekend began like the others with packing up the Fiat 124 Spider and zipping down the interstate for several hundred miles.     Thankfully these cars are as equally at home at 75 to 80 miles an hour as they are on the twisty back roads of the lake country.  There I met with the early organizers, Jim Wagner and Bill Strickland.  The main body of arrivals showed up on Friday to be greeted, cleaned and refreshed, as both cars and people are hot and dusty.  

Saturday, after coffee among the cars hosted by Ken and Karen Dickson, there was the show at the park hosted by Steve Wood, a tour of the area and dinner lead by Mike Greer. 30 Italian cars designed by some of the best coachbuilders in the world always are a memorable spectacle.  We still do not offer judging or prizes and rough daily drivers are seen to be mingling comfortably with concours quality showpieces.  The people and the cars are what this is about.  Fathers and sons, singles and couples get immersed in Italian automotive technology and lore for a few fun days in a very picturesque part of the country. 

The Roamin’ Chariots and guests filled the motel this year and as usual a lot of new friendships were forged. A plan was begun to gather at Italian Carfest in September in Texas and I know others will be meeting closer to home.

Keep checking the MOFLO internet site for specific information on the cars and owners of MOFLO. MOFLO.org

http://gallery.italiancarclub.com/carshows/album184/moflo2006/ for Chris and Erika Layton photo

The middle Spiders are configured like the colors of an Italian flag in this group photo.			Line up
Many spiders	Cabriolet of Bill Strickland	Alfa Montrealof John Greason	Fulvia of Mike Sizemore
	Chris Layton	Scorpions of the Gary Blessings	X1/9 of Greg McClure, Alfa and 124 Spider

Vintage race day at Hallett Early in April this year several RC members made the trip to Hallett Raceway for the CVAR vintage races. The track is nestled half way between Stillwater and Tulsa with wide runoff areas that protects mishaps ending in hitting a hard wall and forcing early exits on the drivers’ fun. The track is well laid out with a good surface and is very observer-friendly. The weather as usual was warm and sunny. Toly Arutunoff, the track builder, kept us entertained by calling the pond VeronicaLake and on taking the best race lines by the use of tree tops and utility poles on blind corners. Attending were Gary Blessing, Delmer Teet, Csaba Vandor, Ron Conlon, Toly Arutunoff, Gary Blessing Sr., and not shown Karen Slankard and Jim Wagner. Karen, like last year, brought her black 124 coupe to match the two racing coupes from Texas and a track prepped Spider. We got to see several classes of open wheeled and purpose built racers as well as more identifiable big block V8’s and sports cars (my favorite). On and off the track Jim supplied us with a BBQ lunch and suffered his truck to haul it. These vintage events are more for the participant but that just makes the whole event very good for the spectators who have full access to the cars and racers. Jim Wagner in Seattle While out in Seattle last week. We went to Boeing's Museum of Flight. They have a really good setup there, and can waste a good part of the day there. 2nd time I've been, But they keep changing it. And have rotating displays.... Any way here is the First Fighter Plane built..And guess what, It is Italian... From Toby Smith Here is a racecar that I thought you and some of our other members might find interesting.  It has an Alfa Romeo flat four (ie. horrizontally opposed) engine.I didn't even know such a thing existed until a friend sent me this email .  Of course, Csaba will not only have heard of it but say something like, "Oh yeah, in fact, if you grind .0093 inches off of the stem of the exhaust valves of a 1975 BMW 2002, it will work perfectly as intake valves for this engine."    Hope you guys enjoy and everyone is doing well! ciao, Toby HERE IS THE DESCRIPTION FOR THE PICTURES. MORE PICTURES FOUND HERE http://www.race cars.com/carsold/vandiemn/1085273659/1085273659ss.htm THE CAR IS REPORTED TO BE IN THE MANNFORD AREA.
Description Van Diemen construction is based on 1992 FF but redesigned the for boxer motor. Features include: inboard suspension with Penske mono coil-over in front, dual Penske coil-overs in rear, updated arms, Hewland LD200 transaxle, OZ wheels with Pirelli slicks. Required Alfa alloy Brembo calipers on iron Alfa discs. Dual fire bottles. Engine complies with the F Boxer EU requirements, ie stock AlfaRomeo 4 cam 16 valve, 1700 cc, Bosch fuel injected, originally 130 bhp. Staggered phasing on inlet valves, hydraulic lifters, thin shell iron crankcase- horizontally split. Stock Bosch electrics. Required stock flywheel and clutch. Dry sump. Body is a new team spare finished in 2004 in accurate livery of the formula and period. A support package of spares is available and includes a set of new Pirelli rains on OZ wheels, new cylinder heads, camshafts, bearings, valves, springs, Bosch controller, suspension arms, gaskets, seals, clutch, hoses, plugs, small chassis parts, timing sprockets and belts. Most if not all are new and in original boxes. Also available is a new (dyno time only ) motor identical to the injected configuration above, except that it carries 2 dual Dell¹Orto carburetors and is wet sumped. Completely dressed, running. Original factory press kits for both generations are available, along with several volumes of technical information, parts fiche, and several CDs of information. History A brief history of this Formula: The first generation of Formula Boxers was conceived within AlfaRomeo prior to the purchase of the company by FIAT. Originally, 100 chassis and bodies were built within the experimental department as a means to study faster prototyping. Parts were sent out to Autodelta for assembly. The engine was a stock, carbureted 1500 sohc boxer motor from the 33 car line. All cars were identical, and were delivered complete with sponsor contracts and contingency awards as a package to Italian dealer teams and their drivers. Drivers were under 23 years old, and the points leader at the end of the season was signed to a pro-ride in one of the Alfa powered F3 teams. Following the sale of Alfa to FIAT by the Italian government, FIAT decided to abandon this activity, and to pull out slowly. The Formula Boxer Europa was born to save face. This formula permitted the use of any roller meeting simple requirements for the use of stock AlfaRomeo motors and key parts as shown below. The car owners hoped to run them throughout Europe similar to other marque formulae. FIAT did not support this formula financially, and it lived for only two or three years. The cars have become extremely collectable, due to their rarity, especially by Japanese collectors. Recent Competition History Italian history only. Ex Team Lucidi car, several drivers, Italian Championship: Fabio Aries 1991 Andrew Boldrini 1992 Danilo Tomassini 1993 Performance Data Class: F Boxer Europa Weight: 900 lbs Track: Numerous in Italy Engine Engine Builder: Alfa Romeo Manufacturer: Alfa Romeo Type: Boxer, liquid Displacement: 1.7 Horsepower: 130/140 Induction: 4 throttles, Bosch Motronic ML 4.1 Heads: DOHC 4 valve aluminum Block: thin shell cast iron, horizontally split Main Caps: steel Crankshaft: forged steel Connecting Rods: forged steel Pistons: alum, stock Camshaft: 4 steel , inlet lobes split phased Valves: 4 per cyl Valve Train: direct via hydraulic followers	Clutch: stock AR 33/145 Pressure Plate: stock 33/145 Flywheel: stock/ lightened Exhaust: 4 into 1, open Fuel System Fuel Cell Manufacturer: ATL Age: 1992 Capacity: 8 Fuel Pump: Bosch roller cell Fuel Type: pump gasoline 97 RON Oil/Water System Radiator: two Water Rad Location: one each side Water Pump: stock Oil Cooler: one Oil Cooler Location: right side Electrical System Ignition: Bosch incorporated into Motronic Alternator: Bosch stock Battery: sealed 32 Ah Data Logger: none Computer: Bosch ECU with OBD Transmission Manfacturer: Hewland Type: LD200 Gears: 4,5, or 6 Shifter: conventional Trans Cooler: none contain very long gears for high speed course (Monza) Rear End Manufacturer: Hewland Type: see above Body Construction: Glass fibre Color: AlfaRomeo Red #103 Paint: PPG 2 part Condition: New, restored No carbon, honeycomb, or sandwich permitted this class Chassis Type: Spec construction tube Builder: Van Diemen Material: steel Finish: paint Condition: excellent Front Suspension: single Penske coil over with pushrods and levers inboard Rear Suspension: dual Penske coil over with pushrods and levers Shocks: original Brakes: Brembo alloy, stock AlfaRomeo Steering: rack & pinion Wheels: OZ Tires: Pirelli spec, new Interior Color/Finish: black Material: no upholstery Fire System: 1 large + 1 small bottles, full Restraints: 6 point Guages: rpm, oil & water temp Steering Wheel: Momo quick release Condition: restored Spares Spares are optional. Too extensive to list, can includ many new engine parts, No trailer spare complete fully dressed engine, injection components, spare wheels and new Includes shop manuals, fiche, parts fiche, tech CD.
Upcoming events Tech session on adding headlight relays and extra hot wire to the key switch. TBA Italian Carfest in Grapevine TX. Sept 8-9-10 http://www.italiancarfest.com/