REGISTRO AVRELIA ITALIANO |
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Established on May 12, 1985, as a spontaneous gathering of about fifteen owners and lovers of this fascinating model, the Registro Aurelia Italiano immediately had a great success, not only in Italy, so that the founders thought that it would have been appropriate to formally establish it as a non profit association, which was made on October 8, 1986. The main aims set forth by the Articles of Incorporation are to promote contacts and opportunities for meetings among those who are interested in the Aurelia, to promote or undertake research work, to find as many cars as possible, to help those who wish to bring Aurelia's to original conditions with advice and information, and finally to provide help in finding spare parts or in having them remanufactured. The Photographic Register has also been started, and it aims, eventually, to cover all the "survivors"; the Aurelia's listed in the photographic Register presently are 576, while the Aurelia's certainly existing today are 1.150. The yearly Membership, unchanged since 1989, is 100.000 Italian Lire, € 55, and the new Members that join after the end of June with said amount cover their dues until the end of year after the one they joined the club. All the initiatives which, until now, were promoted by the Registro Aurelia Italiano have been more than successful. The Members are, at this date, 253, and 102 of them are living abroad. The Photographic Register is open to all the Aurelia's, either owned by members or by non-members, provided that they are in running condition; in order to be listed in the Photographic Register an owner only has to send a picture of the car, the chassis number, and the colours of the body and of the interior. The officers of the Registro are working in very close co-operation with the Italian, American, Australian, Austrian, English, French, German, Swedish, and Swiss Lancia Clubs. 12 cars attended the Gita d'Autunno nelle Langhe, in October of 1986. In May, 1987, the Spring Meeting in Siena was organised and 21 cars took part. 22 Aurelia's were at the Two Days Autorevival in Monza on June 6 and 7, 1987, which saw the Registro taking the honour as "Best Club". 34 Aurelias of all the types attended the 1987 Autumn Meeting, which was held in Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino on October 9, 10, and 11, 1987; for the first time in the history of the Club, 6 foreign Members, 4 from Switzerland, 1 from France, and 1 from Holland, attended. The 1988 Spring Meeting, held in Orvieto on May 20, 21, and 22 had 42 Aurelias attending, of which 2 came from Switzerland, 1 from the U.K, 1 from France, and 1 from Holland. The Registro also was the "Special Event Club" at the 2 Days Autorevival at the Monza race track; 25 Aurelia's attended this event. The 1989 Spring Meeting took place in Andria, in South Eastern Italy, between April 13 and 16; 20 Aurelia's were there, and 4 of them, all travelling more than 1.000 Kms. just to attend the Meeting, came from abroad. The 1989 Autumn Meeting took place in Torino on October 28 and 29, to comply with a desire expressed by Francesco De Virgilio, designer of the Aurelia engine, first production V6 in automotive industry, who has been Honorary President of the Registro Aurelia from the foundation to his passing away in 1995; Francesco wished to see a relevant number of cars in the city where he completed the design of the engine; 32 Aurelia's attended, including 2 Swiss, 1 French, and 1 English Members, the latter travelling all the way from London and back. The 1990 Spring Meeting was held in Gallura, in the Northern part of Sardinia, between May 11 and 13, to coincide with the 5th Anniversary of the first event organised by the Registro, the Aurelia Day in Novegro on May 12, 1985; 44 cars were there, with usual important foreign representation, and 2 B 24s were even flown in, one from South Africa and one from the United States, just to be present at the Meeting. The Autumn Meeting took place in the hills which surround Piacenza, about 60 Kms. from Milan, on October 20 and 21; 29 cars attended, with the usual foreign representation, 2 B 20s from Switzerland and 1 French B 24. The 1991 Spring Meeting was held in Forte dei Marmi, about midway between La Spezia and Livorno, on the Tirrenic coast from the 16th to the 19th of May; 42 cars attended, and many of them were newcomers to an event of the Registro. Other were regular attendants, and the American B 24 was there, for the second time at a Spring Meeting. The Autumn Meeting took place between October 11 and 13, in the Province of Sondrio, near the Swiss / Italian border; the 34 cars which took part (one coming from Denmark, and one from London) visited the mountain villages of Chiesa Valmalenco, Berbenno, and Bormio, and everybody was extremely happy with the organisation. The 1992 Spring meeting was held, from the 4th to the 7th of June, in Umbria (Perugia, Spoleto, Assisi, and other lovely historic villages); 26 cars, 6 of which coming from abroad, were present. The Autumn event will be the revival of the first International Aurelia event, that Lancia organised in Sanremo in December of 1952; the original period is not suitable anymore today, so that the week end from the 23rd to the 25th of October has been selected. For the first time since the Registro Aurelia was founded in 1985, an event took place abroad; the 1993 Spring Meeting was organised by two enthusiastic English Members, with the invaluable support of the Lancia Motor Club, in the Oxford area between the 27th to the 30th of May. The 1993 Autumn Meeting took place from Bologna to Firenze and on to Orvieto between October 7 and 10; 24 cars took part, 7 of them from abroad (3 from England, 2 from Switzerland, and 1 each from Denmark and Germany), and the owners were rewarded with the drive on gorgeous roads, in an even more gorgeous weather, from Firenze to Orvieto; the 1994 Spring event took place from the 26th to the 29th of May in the Chianti area, with basis in Siena and visits to several towns and villages in this lovely part of Tuscany. The 1995 Spring Meeting, celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the foundation of the Registro, was held in Fiuggi from the 28th of April to the 1st of May; the Autumn event was organised at the beginning of October in Brianza, the green and lovely area immediately North of Milano, while the 1996 Spring Meeting took place between the 13th and the 16th of June in Eastern Sicily, with basis in Taormina, and the Autumn one on the hills around Imola and Forlì from the 10th to the 13th of October. In 1997 the organisation was limited to just one event and the Autumn meeting was held in Ortisei, in the mountains, and probably was the best meeting ever organised by the Registro; in 1998 the only event was organised in the Summer, at the beginning of July, with basis in Barberino del Mugello, near the race track, and with a very successful guided tour of Florence, while the 1999 Meeting took place in Vienna at the beginning of October, with surprisingly good weather and the usual mixture of great cars, enjoyable driving, excellent food and lovely friendship. The Event of year 2000 was a joint effort of the Registro with the British Lancia Motor Club and the Lancia Club de France; the aim was to gather as many Aurelia's as possible in Arles, at the end of the Via Aurelia, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the presentation of the car, at the 1950 Turing Car Show. 48 Aurelias attended, coming from 7 countries and representing all the models sold by Lancia through the dealers' network, plus a couple of most unusual 'Fuori Serie'. The 2001 Spring Meeting was held in Siena between May 31 and June 3, while the 2002 one will take place in Montagnana, Province of Padova, on May 23 through 26. As to the crucial issue of spare parts, the Registro has located suppliers of pistons and liners for all the models and the series, of upper and lower water manifolds for B 20s and B 24s, of valves and valve guides, of pinions and crown wheels for B 20s and B 24s built between 1956 and 1958, of first speed gears for 3rd and 4th Series B 20s and B 24s Spider, of the big bearings for the rear axle of all the models and all the Series, of wheel embellishers for cars built between 1950 and 1955, of aluminium and stainless steel under door trims, of windshields for 4th to 6th Series B 20s and for all the B 24s, of front and tail parking lights, of cloth and leatherette for the restoration of interiors, and other items not so often requested. |
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