Auto Italia Buyers Guide Shocker!

This month's mag features the Alfa GTV in the buyers guide and next month it's the Fiat Coupe. Both my cars featured in successive months and I don't even know the editor!

Ah but the Club do, and we like to put in a word for the membership. Hopefully it should be acurate too

only 29 days till the next issue is out

Is it me or since they've been taken over the mag seems to getting better and better every month some great cars and articles

We have had some input into the proposed article and have helped to iron out some minor irregularities.

Auto Italia have been giving the Coupé, and the club, quite a bit of coverage in the magazine of late. First there was the article featuring 4 modified Coupés. Soon there will be another featuring a Lancia Delta, an Alfa GTV of course a Coupe. And then there is the Coupé Buyers Guide. ALL the cars for these features have been club member cars and I feel that throughout 2008 we have built a strong relationship with the magazine.

I do hope that more of us could consider giving the magazine support. I myself decided this year to turn from occasional buying into becoming a subscriber. Auto Italia not only provide the Italian car fan, and enthusiast, with a fantastic magazine, they also provide us with three of the best Italian car shows in the UK. So please do consider giving them your support.

Thanks

Bob

It's good to see a Big mag like Auto Italia to work closely with clubs and there members makes for some interesting reading.

Been getting the the mag for 6 years

I've been a subscriber for about 3 years and I've noticed a big improvement over the past few months. It's a great magazine and a year's subscription makes a great Christmas present!

I'm so happy I saw this thread, I was in the newsagents today looking for a decent car mag, and could'nt see and Italian based mag, even though it had a huge choice of car mags. Where do you purchase this mag as i'm interested
Cheers Steve

Theres a shop finder thingy on their website.
I put in a Durham postcode and it returned this

Cheers Ed, I can now get one 3.7 mile away
Steve

Subscription to Auto Italia is on my Xmas list.

Great job from FCCUK in increasing the profile of our club and our cars.

Subscribed

£44 for 13 issues ... cheaper than driving the Coupe to the newsagents 13 times

The buyers guide, is perhaps one of the best buyers guides I've ever read

Congrats all those involved

WOW it looks much better in printed form

Got mine today and very impressed, only one mistake when they mention the best colour LE...we all know it's the steel grey that looks best

Got mine today too, great article and v nice example of a Plus, didn't know Sprint Blue was a colour option for the Plus! You learn something new every day eh?! Also, not sure whether it's my particular copy or not but the car looks a bit "matt" paintwork wise

The matt paintwork thing is done on a majority of shots for buyers guides. IIRC its a spray on substance.

Id love a matt paintjob, another thread though ehh

Ah, I see!

Just read the article really impressed

How many times do I have to go round this forum correcting mistakes

I still haven't managed to get a copy yet. The usual place that I get my copy hasn't had them delivered yet.

I wanted to read the section on the Alfa V6 too.

In the shops from today according last months blurb.

Good article, the Plus's exhaust tail-pipe could have done with a polish, and the engine a bit of a scrub - but a good read.

I got mine yesterday

The car used in this feature is a daily driver and I think it represents well what people should expect to find when going to buy a Coupe.

Bob

Can't say I agree with you. Most other buying guides feature a mint example which this certainly wasn't. Take a look at the GTV Cup featured in last months guide for example. Also, disappointing to see yet another sprint blue car featured; we could do with seeing some other colours IMHO.

Ha ha, I knew my engine bay would eventually draw a few comments, sadly i have better things to do than clean it, especially as usually I don't look at it unless i'm putting oil or water in it.
If i'd had more time than three evenings in the middle of winter to prepare I might have had a go at it, but there you go

The matt paintwork is not a spray on substance, it looks like that purely because the car is parked in a seamless room painted entirely in matt white and the lights are all bounced off the ceiling so you don't get any depth of reflection

Um.

Red,
Silver,
Black,
Yellow,
and now Sprint Blue.

Fair choice of coupe colours in Auto Italia the past couple of months there.

There's been a porto and a scots green in an article before as well

There are always those that will critisise

We, the club, (Especially Bob) have worked hard to get the Coupé featured more in Auto Italia. They too have been great and the wealth of recent features is fantastic testimony to a health relationship. Who cares what bloody colour the featured car is anyway, the aim of the club is to promote the car and maintain interest in it. In that way we will ensure specialists will continue to cater for it and ownership remains affordable, feasible and enjoyable.

I thought Eds car looked great, and as a daily run car it is in far better condition than mine. It is also owned by a true enthusiast who has also stepped up and done his bit for the community and club.

John

Well said keep up the great work

Well that's told me.

It was me that pointed out this article was coming up in the first place, I am a long term subscriber to the magazine and I think my point about the condition of the car is valid.

Expressing mild disappointment at the colour choice does in no way indicate that I'm denigrating the work the club does to promote the coupe.

There's some touchy people on here.

Fair point Alan, just thought you were being tad pedantic.

Alan,

It was the magazine that requested a Sptint Blue Coupé

It also had to be a completely Standard car as well as being available in Kent, mid week during November and with just a few days notice


Bob

Bob,


Well, had I known that..........



I'd have kept my mouth shut

live'n'learn

Last time a black e39 5 series BMW from the bmw5 forum was in TotalBMW, they did use a spray on substance. ( More a satin effect iirc )

odd that they didn't take any outside shots . . true they have shown a daily driven 'the kind you would expect to see if shopping for one ', but surely a shot of it on a road moving would have been nice to

anyways, 'grats all concerned, I'm sure theres a few peeps now looking for a coupe to play with. ( including my Mother lol )

I see the editors own 20v na is still for sale .. thought that would have been long gone !

I actually like the fact that Auto Italia try to feature owners and enthusiasts cars as much as possible. There are though a few problems with using private cars. Often the photo shoots are weather dependant, so if it rains / snows etc the whole thing could be called off. Not so nice if someone has taken the day off work and driven a few hundred miles to attend.

I dare say it would be a lot easier for Auto Italia to always use dealer / trader supplied cars. Dealers can ensure the example provided is pristine, they could also hand the car over for a few days too, giving the magazine much greater flexibility. The payback for the dealer of course would be a nice four page advert.

So what ideas do people have for a 2009 Coupé Feature?

I have already suggested that it would be nice if they could do a Fiat Coupé 15 Year anniversary article with 16Vs & 16Vts.

Bob

Typical now I've I sold 16V

tailpipe is dirtier, cap missing off the number plate srcrew, and I'm pretty sure the oil is low

The 16v thing would be very apt ..

Another idea I'd like to see is one of each ... A 16v na, 16vt, 20v na, 20vt ... and maybe the specials / others, the 1.8, the LE, the plus, and any others that were produced all in one article .. now that would be a proper logistical accomplishment

Never seen a 1.8 or special edition or even the 1.4!! in the UK

Ahh ... maybe an article on all the coupe variants available for purchase in the UK then

1.4 !! And I used to think the 1.8 was a ridiculous idea

Just subscribed, so cant wait to recieve this months issue

Any chance of anybody posting up a scan of the article ?

Nope. We've built up a good relationship with Auto Italia and there's no chance that we will risk damaging that by allowing scanned articles to be posted here.

Well said.

I saw Ed's car in "the metal" at the AGM and I don't think he'll mind me saying it looked a tad "used" as it's a daily driver (as mine is). I think the studio pics look overall, especially given the stipulated timeframe set by Auto Italia. Well done Ed for getting it to that standard so quickly and for stepping up to the plate in the first place.

If you subscribe, you have the option of starting with current, or next issue ..

So if your quick

I still haven't found a copy. £7.50 delivered to me seems a bit steep if I order online.

symonh2000 All these places sell it




M MCCOLL CTN
15 BURFORD ROAD, CARTERTON, OXFORD, OX18 3AG, Telephone: 01993 846211 Approx. distance:1.2 miles, 1.9 km


INDEPENDENT NEWSAGENT
4 BRIZE NORTON ROAD, MINSTER LOVELL, WITNEY, OX29 0SE, Telephone: 01993 775402 Approx. distance:2.1 miles, 3.4 km


M MCCOLL CTN
9 MARKET SQUARE, WITNEY, OXON, OX28 6AB, Telephone: 01993 702663 Approx. distance:4.0 miles, 6.4 km


WH SMITH
12 WOOLGATE CENTRE, WITNEY, OXON, OX28 6AP, Telephone: 01993 703230 Approx. distance:4.0 miles, 6.4 km


LONDIS
107 HAILEY ROAD, WITNEY, OXON, OX28 1HJ, Telephone: 01993 702515 Approx. distance:4.3 miles, 6.9 km

Mark s newsagent on STATION ROAD, HASLEMERE, SURREY, GU27 2PE sell it

Or £4.20 including postage from the magazine distributor, MMC 01483 210353

Thanks for that Paul.

The usual place I buy it is minster Lovell, but they didn't have it.

The Martin Mccoll Carterton never has it, and the Londis on hailey road witney never has it either.

That leaves me with 2 more to try.

If you have no joy let me know. I'll pick one up for you today and post to you at cost.

Cheers mate.
I will attempt to get one again tomorrow, if I have no luck ill give you a shout.

Loads in WHS in Reading, anyone want me to get one and post it at cost?

No coupe articles this issue ( 154 ) , but next month has a trio of 1990's potential Italian classics ( coop, 'grale, gtv )

Sweet, that one be mine!

Bought it here in Sweden too, great article for once! Pretty spot on and now they got it more right for all future articles too probably..
Great work lobbying for it!
Wish we had better success with certain swedish mags..
(whenever in Sweden, buy Automobil not Bilsport.. )