A taste of Italy at Caffeine & Carburetors show

Italian Beauty and Power Headline Caffeine & Carburetors

New Canaan, Conn.- “Bellissima! Bella Macchina!” will be exclaimed as Italian marques take the spotlight at this year’s Caffeine & Carburetors Powered by Bankwell season opener on April 22, 2018 in New Canaan, Conn. Beauty, style and horsepower will line the “Strada Italiana” celebration with such exotics as Alfa Romeo, Bizzarrini, Cisitalia, Ferrari, Fiat, Iso Grifo, Lamborghini, Lancia, Maserati, Moretti and Pagani along with compatriot motorcycles strutting into town for the Best of Italy on Elm.

Innovation is packed into the 1951 Lancia Aurelia B10 Berlina promised by Santo Spadaro. This first series Aurelia sports the world’s first production V6 engine and standard radial tires on its four-door, pillar-less saloon body. Santo’s rare 1 of 199 1958 Alfa Giulietta Sprint Veloce VSCCA race car confortavole will join the show, having seen street as well as successful vintage race action at Watkins Glen, Lime Rock Park, Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix in Schenley Park, among others.

Frank Spadaro, Santo’s brother and co-owner of Domenick’s European Car Repair, will bring the stunning 1966 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 that has been family-owned since 1976. The car still dons its original Blu Sera paint and remains in unrestored condition since Frank, Santo and father Domenick searched it out to its resting place under an olive tree in Messina, Sicily.

Motorcycles will also star at the Caffeine & Carburetors festival of Italian machines. A rare 1952 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport will be among those brought by Buzz Kanter, renowned collector, racer and American Ironmagazine Editor-in-Chief and Publisher. Falcone production was very limited with less than 2,000 made between 1950-1967. Only a few hundred were the Sport high-performance model, featuring higher compression pistons, larger cam and carburetor, and more expensive shouldered alloy wheels. This particular bike was owned and restored by famed motorcycle historian, author and restoration expert Stephen Wright, ranking as one of his favorite personal street bikes.

Caffeine & Carburetors is held in New Canaan, Conn., four times a year: twice on Downtown’s Pine and Elm Streets and twice at the Town’s Waveny Park. 2018 will also bring Munich Fest: The Ultimate BMW Gathering on June 17 at Waveny Park; the All-Original Sole Survivors Show of barn finds and family-legacy cars on September 16 on Pine and Elm Streets; and Gatsby at Waveny: ‘20s and ‘30s Grand Classics on October 21 at Waveny Park.

Exotic and rare, one-off and classic—stellar cars and motorcycles and their collectors flock to Caffeine & Carburetors for Sunday morning coffee, conversation and camaraderie. A perennial mainstay on the calendars of motoring enthusiasts, the four annual events each draw upwards of 1,500 vehicles and 5,000 visitors to this quiet, affluent New York City suburb.

Arnolt-Bristol, Austin-Healey, Aston Martin, BMW, Bugatti, Jaguar, MG, Morgan, Porsche and Triumph as well as Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford and Pontiac will be counted as additional automotive notables neighbored by equally unique vintage trucks and two-wheeled stars.

Founded in 2008 by Doug Zumbach, Peter Bush and Todd Brown based on Zumbach’s similar 1995 program, Caffeine & Carburetors sparked the ubiquitous proliferation of similar shows. Zumbach is often approached for guidance by local and nationwide organizers setting up their own events modeled on the C&C concept. The booming success of C&C necessitated its expansion from its Downtown New Canaan, Conn., Pine Street home base of Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee to adjacent streets and parking lots. Two shows each year are hosted at the Town’s 250-acre Waveny Park.

Caffeine & Carburetors is grateful to its sponsors: Bankwell; Blackbridge Motors; Elm Restaurant, New Canaan, CT; Jaguar Darien; Land Rover Darien; Meccanic Shop of North Salem, NY; Mercedes-Benz of Greenwich and Penske Automotive CT.

TIME: 8-11am

PLACE: Pine and Elm Streets, New Canaan, Conn.

INFO:www.caffeineandcarburetors.com