Tuesday, March 27, 2007

ItaliaAuto Grand Trip 2007

Photo Slideshow from the recent ItaliaAuto Grand Trip 2007.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Wikipedia Writeup

As published in Wikipedia and reposted here :

ItaliaAuto Club is an unofficial Italian car enthusiast club located in Malaysia. Formed in the year 2000 by a group of light hearted and passionate Italian car lovers, it has grown by leaps and bounds through the years; and is regarded as one of the most active car clubs in Malaysia. For now, its members mainly comprised of Alfa Romeo and Fiat automobile owners.


As of 2006, more than a thousand members have been registered with ItaliaAuto. Registration is done exclusively via an online internet forum on the same name. The majority of the members reside in Malaysia and Singapore.

ItaliaAuto promotes the spirit of brotherhood through the sharing of motoring knowledge and experiences, responsible car ownership and social camaraderie among its members. This has brought about a web forum which was in existence since the first day the club was formed.

The ItaliaAuto forum is the primary means of communication between members. It is viewable publicly, but has certain sections exclusive to members only. An elected committee governs and moderates the forum and oversees other matters such as policies and affiliations. Due to the nature of localized areas where members meet and live, parts of the forum are dedicated to members located in the northern and southern regions of the country.

One of the forum's special features is a comprehensive list of Alfa Romeo and Fiat workshops in Malaysia and Singapore, which is commonly used by members in their respective regions and as well as travellers to obtain more specialized support for their cars.

The culture of discourse within members is fairly casual, as with most enthusiast forums. However, it has served as a useful resource by newcomers and experienced drivers alike.

Different types of activities are organized by the club. A regular feature is a weekly gathering at local coffee shops (known as mamak stalls in Malaysia). Other activities include road trips, known as "runs", both in and out of state.

The official distributors of Alfa Romeo and Fiat have loose affiliations with club members, and occasionally host events and activities for the club