1975 – 2017
40 years of RIAR (Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo)
The Culture and the Pages
With the Riar and various publishers, I edited and promoted many books, some of which today have become valuable testimonies and documents for Alfa Romeo scholars and enthusiasts. The Riar returned to print the historic magazine “Il Quadrifoglio” which has been able to keep constantly informed its members and enthusiasts not only about social events but about all the news concerning the history of Alfa Romeo, often publishing documents and images that had never been published before and held in major private archives. Even major American and Japanese newspapers (The New York Times, Nippon Keizai Shimbun, Car Graphic, etc.) wrote about the Riar and always praised its work. All of this always respecting even the graphic design traditions and style of the company.
The publications:
- Garcea, la mia Alfa (Nada Editore);
- Alfa Romeo 1910 – 2007 (2 volumes – Nada);
- Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo, un mito che continua 1962 – 2004 (Riar);
- Leggendarie Alfa Romeo (Nada);
- Angelini (Riar);
- Prospero Gianferrari, un Uomo del Portello (Riar);
- Un Monumento per uno Stile (Il Cigno GG);
- Il Collaudo della Colombina (Riar);
- Pura Alfa Romeo, leggenda, cultura, passione (Rizzoli Editore);
- Il Quadrifoglio (semi-annual Riar magazine).
Over the years, numerous events and conferences were organised and supported all over the world with the purpose of promoting not only the best knowledge of the history of Alfa Romeo and its cars but also and above all the image and prestige of the Riar.
Targa Florio 100
2016, celebration of the 100th anniversary of Targa Florio, presented by the Riar.
The Technical Committee
Riar’s Technical Committee, established since the origins of the Association thanks to the training and initial suggestions of Luigi Fusi, Angelo Tito Anselmi and the subsequent commitment of Gigi Bonfanti, the first Technical Commissioner in 1976, then those of Maurizio Tabucchi, and today Lorenzo Marzullo, rose to very high and universally recognized levels of experience and competence. It is based on a very simple regulation, formalized in 1993, which states that the car in hand must be “perfectly in compliance with the specifications of origin”. Then the various Boards of Directors that followed one another over time, following the suggestions and inspiration of the Technical Committee – which thanks to Gigi Bonfanti first and Maurizio Tabucchi later sat on the Board – invented and created the Closed List and the Recommended List to include in the Riar all the Alfa Romeo cars of verified historical interest. This initiative was also immediately copied and repeated by other associations. In my book “Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo, 1962-2004” an interesting article by Maurizio Tabucchi tells the whole story.
Thanks to the Directors who succeeded one another over the years and the commitment of some of them for the Riar, I can proudly say that the Riar has now become one of the most prestigious clubs of historical cars in the world, recognized and appreciated by the Top Government Institutions. And not just in Italy. And the Prestige that we bestow to it is that intangible lever that distinguishes it; the result of half a century of work, made of reputation, skills, belief and authority, as the Encyclopaedia Treccani defines it. All this is always achieved in full independence and freedom of expression, aimed at the excellence of all our initiatives and events and above all such to meet the excellence of the brand of which we are the Official Club, even in the most difficult times and even when they become unpleasant to some.
