About Us
The
Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon – AROO – is one of the oldest, largest, and
most active chapters of the national Alfa Romeo Owners Club.
In the late 1950s, two
Giulietta Spider Veloces came to Portland. They were featured on a
local TV show to promote a sports car race, participating in a race which they dominated,
winning converts in the growing sports car scene. As interest and
knowledge of Alfas grew, Alfa fans – known as “Alfisti” – began to
gather at Rambo Motors, the new Alfa dealer in Portland, which trained
mechanics and supported a racing team. In the early 1960s, Bob
Rinde, Rambo’s sales manager, joined the national Alfa Romeo Owners Club
and others followed. By October 1968 there was enough local
interest for Bob McGill to apply to start a chapter, making AROO the
sixth AROC-US chapter.
Today AROO has around 180
members. Although most live in the Portland metro area, the roster
includes members in several western states and British Columbia.
AROO’s business is conducted at monthly meetings by a 10-person Board of
Directors.
AROO holds a monthly
membership meeting (replaced by a summer evening tour in June and by the
Holiday Party in December) and driving events nearly every month.
We typically kick off the “touring season” with a Valentine’s Day Tour
in February followed by the Old Spider Tour in April. Members lead
other tours throughout the year, taking advantage of Oregon’s many
scenic back roads from the Pacific Coast to the mountains and deserts in
the east side of the state. The touring season closes with the
President’s Tour in September.
The rally season begins in
March with the AROO Rally School, followed by the “AROO Cup” Rally
series of monthly half-day TSD rallies through the spring. July
brings AROO’s premier annual event, the Monte Shelton Northwest Classic
Rally, the oldest classic TSD rally in America.
AROO also presents two
track days each year at Portland International Raceway where members
have an opportunity to drive their Alfas at speed, on the race track, in
a non-competitive format.
AROO keeps its members informed through the monthly newsletter, the ALFA BITS, which is downloadable from this website.