1975 – 2017
40 years of RIAR (Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo)
The Passion, Success and a Monument
From 2000 to 2006, the Riar designed and organised the Trofeo Giulietta bringing all the Giulietta Alfa Romeo models in race version back to the most beautiful Italian and Austrian race tracks. An initiative that was supported by Fiat Auto, Agip, Eberhard, Delta, RCM, and Pirelli and managed with the usual class and elegance that have always characterised the Registro but based on the great competitiveness of the many gentleman drivers who participated in these hard-fought speed races.
In 2010, the year of Alfa Romeo 100th anniversary, the Riar significantly contributed to the organisation of the great sport reunion of Alfa Romeo cars that reached Milan from all over the world. However, above all, thanks to international support and the contribution of major private sponsors, and not others, it created an extraordinary bronze monument to the lasting memory of the car brand that helped to enhance Italian excellence and style in the world. The monument, of which the Riar is obviously and exclusively the owner, is located in front of the entrance to the Fiera di Milano Rho, and was the last work by the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo in Arese and Master Agostino Bonalumi. A million and a half people a year, walking by it, can admire it and think about the history and the spirit that it holds. This only thanks to the Riar! And who knows if one day it will be transferred to where it was conceived and desired – there in Arese – maybe not too far from the Museum.
In 2013, I was assigned by Mr. Marchionne (FCA CEO) and Mr. Wester (Alfa Romeo and Maserati’s CEO) to provide consultancy and cooperation for the restoration of the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, which for some time was in a state of neglect and degradation. The Museum Committee was composed of Mr. Marchionne, Mr. Wester, Mr. Ramacciotti, Architect Camerana Agnelli and Mr. Lombardi from Fiat Partecipazioni. Numerous inspections were also carried out, all well documented, both in Turin, at warehouse 81, near the Centro Stile Fiat where the Museum’s cars were housed, almost all with serious damages or in a state of great neglect and painful degradation, and in Arese, where the Centro Documentazione itself had many problems.
In 2017, after a challenging period of analysis and comparison, we achieved another great objective: an agreement with the Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI) that makes Riar not only in closer and more formal contact with the institutions but also provides a series of useful services and benefits to the members as well as a way to further improve the prestige and expertise of our Association. The Riar has always been a pioneer in terms of initiatives that brought benefits not only to our members but also to the entire historical motorsport sector that, not by chance, looks up at what our Association has been able to achieve until now.
Next to Angelo Sticchi Damiani, Chairman of the Automobile Club d’Italia and Aci Storico, during the presentation of the partnership with the Riar.