AONE President Greg Stidsen recently had a chat with Jim Miga about the early days of AONE:

Greg: Jim, how did you get involved with the Club and when was that?

Jim: I first got involved with AONE early in 1972. I knew Faye and Carl Bolivar, who lived in our neighborhood in Winchester. They owned a beautiful 1958 Giulietta Spider and were early members of AONE. I had purchased my Duetto in August of 1971. 

That winter, they told me that an Alfa club was being formed and encouraged me to join. 

Greg: In those days, when Alfa was actively selling cars in the United States, who were the local dealers and were they supportive of the Club?

Jim: Yes, Alfa was active at that time. The 1750 models were popular and club members were excited about the upcoming 2000 models. The dealerships in the Boston area were Gaston Andrey in Framingham (with branches in Watertown and Brookline) and Anderson Foreign Motors in Woburn. We often held evening meetings in their showrooms.

Greg: Did AONE start as an AROC affiliated club, or did that come later?

Jim: I think we became an affiliate of AROC in April 1971.

Greg: What types of events did the Club sponsor in those early days?

Jim: The first official meeting was held early 1972 (Jan or Feb maybe). It was held in Framingham at Sue and Bill Holaday's apartment. They are the founders of AONE and many early meetings were held at their apartment. We also met at the Bolivars’ home in Winchester or at Gaston Andrey in Framingham. As the club grew, we did some tours and tech sessions, and participated in Rallies with the North Shore Touring Club. 

Greg: I’m sure you have lots of interesting stories from the first years of the Club, but are there one or two that stand out in your memory?

Jim: Favorite meetings included a visit to Dave Amenn's home in Lincoln. He was a successful SCCA racer at the time. His garage had several GTV (maybe GTA) race cars. We got to meet his crew chief, Gary Rutherford. We were also invited to view a private classic car collection in Belmont, MA, which included a Bugatti and a 1930s Alfa 1750! The cars were owned by Mark Gibbons, who had been featured in the Car & Driver article called "The Man with Perfect Taste". 

Click here to view or download "The Man with Perfect Taste" as a PDF file

Below are a few photos taken around 1979 at the beginning of an AONE driving event at a Howard Johnsons (a.k.a. Ho Jo's), at the Lexington Exit 2A rest stop on Route 128. The people in the first photo are (left to right): Guy Abbate, Fred DiMatteo, Carl Bolivar, Anna DiMatteo and Karl Antilla. The Duetto is Jim’s (who wishes he’d taken more photos!). This was 45 years ago, folks!