Alfa Romeo "Spettacolo Sportivo" in Zandvoort
08/30/2019
Rome and Jerusalem for the Christian church of the West, Mecca as a place of pilgrimage for the Islamic faith, and then, yes, Zandvoort in the Netherlands for the lost souls of the Alfa Romeo community.
Every year in August, the race track in the dunes attracts around 2000 Alfa Romeo models of every provenance, from the 6C 1750 from the early 1930s to a rare 8C 2300 from the same period and the spectacular current Giulia Quadrifoglio derivatives.
Some visitors flood the parking lots and the paddock, populate the natural grandstands in the dunes to watch the demo drives or the various racing series, which of course are reserved exclusively for Alfa Romeo models. Others inspect the exhibits and attractions on the side of the track.
This year is particularly special: Zagato is celebrating its 100th anniversary and the Alfa Romeo model "Junior Zagato" has also been around for half a century.
Reason enough for the initiative couple Rolf van Hillegondsberg & Nancy Hendriks to focus their club "hetjuniorzagatoarchief" entirely on the two models "1300" and "1600". The aim: to be able to present at least 50 models at the Sunday parade. The Dutch called and the owners came in droves.
No fewer than 62 models lined up on the start-finish straight of the dune race track. Of course, it wasn't just the Dutch, there were Swiss, Germans, French, Luxembourgers, Belgians - half of Europe found its way to Zandvoort.
As a surprise, Zagato designer Ercole Spada paid his respects accompanied by his wife, carrying a drawing of the 1300 model specially designed for the occasion in his hand luggage - every owner of the Zagato model received a copy.
With great dedication, he braved the heat at the age of 82 and stoically signed this drawing or gave autographs on publications and printed matter.
