EPM Showcars Issue 15 Prnt

EPM SHOWCaRS 

MAGAZINE APRIL 2023 

SPECIAL EDITION 

Issue 15 | EPM Showcars | 1

INTRODUCTION 

Welcome to our fifteenth issue of EPM 

Showcars Magazine! 

My Partner Yvonne and I are so pleased 

at how well our issues have done this year 

and are very excited about this latest Special 

Edition issue. 

We would like to thank all of the wonderful 

car owners, advertisers, sponsors 

and people that have been so generous 

with their time and prize possessions in 

helping us to create this publication. 

I would like to give a special thank you 

to the following people without whom this 

edition of Showcars magazine would not 

have been possible. Car Owners: of Alfa 

Romeo owners club of Kansas City 

I would like to give a very special 

thank you to Aubrey Vinyards! Jennifer 

Meixner (Marketing and Events Manager) 

Jake Smith (Marketing and Events Coordinator) 

and Ben Luty (Social Media & Marketing 

Coordinator.) Thank you so much 

for allowing us to do a shoot with these 

magnificent cars at your October tasting 

event on 01/01/2022. 

To my article writer Yvonne Young. 

Thank you once again for your enthusiasm, 

attention to detail, your dedication and 

hard work. 

To our fans, thanks for all of your support 

by viewing our publication online as 

well as purchasing copies of our magazine. 

It is our sincere hope that you will enjoy 

viewing and reading about these beautiful 

vehicles as much as we did bringing them 

together for you in this magazine. 

Elton Hughes. 

Chief Editor 

Editor 

Creative Director 

Photographer 

Production Manager 

Advertizing Manager 

Layout Design 

Article Writer 

Researcher 

Production Assistant 

Videographers 

ELTON HUGHES 

YVONNE YOUNG 

ELTON HUGHES 

ELTON HUGHES 

ELTON HUGHES 

YVONNE YOUNG 

ELTON HUGHES 

YVONNE YOUNG 

YVONNE YOUNG 

DAREON ALLEN 

ELTON HUGHES 

YVONNE YOUNG 

Phone: 816-223-3250 

Email: eltonphotomedia@yahoo.com 

The articles in this publication is for information purposes only. 

EPM Showcars Magazine Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility 

for any inaccurate, delayed or incomplete information, nor for 

any actions taken in reliance therein. The information contained 

about each individual, event or organization that has been provided 

by any individual, event organizers or organization without 

verification by us. 

The opinion expressed in each article is the opinion of its author 

and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of EPM Showcars 

Magazine Inc. Therefore, EPM Showcars Magazine Inc. carries no 

responsibility for the opinion expressed therein. 

Any form of reproduction of any content on this publication without 

the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. 

© 2023 EPM Showcars Magazine. All rights reserved. 

Alfa Romeo Owners Club of KC Officers 

President: Ron Rutter 

Vice President & Webmaster: John Justus 

Treasurer & Secretary: John Fitzgerald 

Activites Chair: Jolene Justus 

WWW.KCAROC.ORG 

National Alfa Romeo Owners Club 

WWW.AROC-USA.ORG 

2 | EPM Showcars | Issue 15 Issue 15 | EPM Showcars | 3

Strada Fantasma, our proud club name, has its origins in the villages of northern Italy. As morning 

breaks, a fine, wispy fog is a common phenomenon in the narrow streets. This mist is known by the 

townspeople as strada fantasma or “spirits of the streets.” 

The Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Kansas City is a “eating and drinking club” made up of casual car 

enthusiasts that get together monthly to share the experience of driving their exclusive brand of car. 

One of the clubs favorite pastimes is touring the local wineries in the metro area as well as eateries. 

In fact we shot the content for this magazine at the Aubrey Vineyards in Overland Park, Kansas. 

The Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Kansas City started in the 1970’s. Ron Rutter has been the club’s 

President for the past three years. During his Presidential term, Ron has been a motivating factor 

in the club members participation in cruises, car shows and family related events. Club members 

help each other with repairs, restorations and sourcing parts. 

Ron has the total club membership count at 52 which is composed of car owners and family members. 

The club has two main events each year. A “Spring Fling” which is in May and held in Washington, 

MO. A” Fall Fling” in Late October which is held in Eureka Springs, AR. The club also 

attends various events throughout what is known as “Activities Season” which takes place from 

March through November of each year. A list of Activities for the club as of the publishing of this 

magazine issue is posted in the “events” section in the back of the magazine. 



Car owner: Michael color: Red 

Car: 1966 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Veloce 

cars name: “Miss Alfa” 

Michael is the proud owner of this 1966 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Veloce. Michael use to 

work at the Alfa Romeo dealership in Overland Park Kansas. His passion for Italian cars has 

gone on for so long that he bought one for himself. One of his co-workers owned this car and 

was wanting to sell it. Michael bought the car from him in 1973. When he bought the car he 

drove it as a daily driver for 5 years before storing it and driving it primarly on weekends as 

well as car cruises. He really enjoys going to car meets and cruises talking with other owners 

of Alfa Romeo cars! He would also like to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to his wife Sara for 

everything she does! 

This car has a 1600 cc engine with a 5-speed manual transmission, about 129 hp. The length 

of the car is 153.5 inches and 60.6 inches wide, total weight of the car is 2,469 lbs. This was 

the last year of this body style and only 1,091 of these were made. 




14 | EPM Showcars | Issue 15 Issue 15 | EPM Showcars | 15


Car owner: Ron color: Med metalic blue 

Car: 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce 

Ron is the proud owner of this 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce. He bought the car in 2019 

from another club member who owned it and had most of the work done to the car before she 

sold it to him. The car has an onboard computer system that was meant for the car to be driven. 

She didn’t drive the car alot, so everytime she wanted to drive it the battery power was too 

low for the car to start. So she decided to sell the car and Ron was the lucky buyer. 

He has always had the love for Italian cars and owns several of them. His collection includes 

a 1977 Alfa Romeo Spider, Alfa Romeo 164L and a 1968 Citroen 1D19. Ron’s love for Italian 

cars really shows by the collection of cars he has and how involved he is with the members 

as club President. The name of the club is Strada Fantasma meaning “Spirits of the Streets”. 

This car has a 2ltr engine producing about 131 hp with a 5-speed manual transmission with 

a Bosch electronic fuel injection. The weight of the car is about 3,064 lbs with the length being 

168.8 inches and width 64.1 inches. This cars acceleration is 0-60 in about 10 seconds. 




Car owner: Vernon color: Alfa Red 


car name: “Gina” 

Vernon is the proud owner of this 1981 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce. He originally saw an Alfa Romeo 

car back in 1982 when he was stationed in England and had wanted to buy one. At that time he 

knew it wasn’t practical to buy it since he was stationed over seas. So many years later his wife saw 

one for sale and told him they were going to buy it. It was the exact model of Alfa Romeo that he had 

seen and fell in love with back in 1982. Vernon bought his car from Country Hill Motors in Kansas in 

2017. He really enjoys the feeling he gets when driving his car and conversations he has with others 

that do not know about Alfa Romeo cars. Vernon is also a big collector of vinyl records, his collection 

is at about 2,200 vinyl’s. He also has a few other cars that he takes to cars shows and cruises. They 

include a 1973 Volkswagon Camper and a 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger. Vernon would like to give a 

BIG SHOUT OUT to his wife Lori and the club President Ron Rutter. 

This car has a 2000 cc 4-cyl with a 5-speed manual transmission producing about 155 hp, going 

0-60 in 10.6 seconds. The cars length is 168.8 inches and 64.2 inches wide with a total weight of 2,549 

lbs. Vernon has done some modifications to the car. He removed the anti smog intake and replaced it 

with a 1974 manifold, as well as polished aluminum headers and cam shaft covers. 




Alfa Romeo DEVELOPMENT 

Alfa Romeo started in 1910 when Cavalier Ugo Stella acquire shares of Societa Italiana Automobili 

Darraq and produced cars in Naples. The factory was later moved to Portella near Milan. By 1915 

the factory changed its name to ALFA (short for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili which 

means “Lombardian Car Factory”) and Romeo which is the last name of the entrepreneur “Nicola 

Romeo who took control of the company. 

Many talented Alfa Romeo designers have influenced the way other car makers design their products. 

It began with Sergio Pininfarina who designed the first mass produced Alfa Romeo, The 1955 

Giuletta Spider. 

Others include Elio Zagato who designed the racing version of the Giulietta SZ, which won two FIA 

Sports Car Championships for the 1.3 liter class. Scaglione who created the legendary Alfa Romeo 

33 Stradale. Let’s not forget Nuccio Bertone who created the unique design of the 1968 Alfa Romeo 

Carabo. 

Beautiful Italian cars often came from Alfa Romeo in the 1950’s and 60’s. A good example was the 

Giuiletta, which began rolling to dealers in 1954. Originally, they planned to release the four-door 

sedan as the first variant. Due to various circumstances, however, the company finally switched to 

the two-door coupe Giulietta Sprint. Its body was designed by Mario Felice Boano at Carrozzeria 

Ghia together with Franco Scaglione, who was already Bertone’s chief designer at the time. The 

Sprint was also produced at Bertone. The Berlina Sedan followed a year later as an Alfa Romeo creation. 

To round off the model range, the two door Spider with Pininfarina bodywork also appeared 

in the second half of 1955. The Promiscua station wagon and the Sprint Zagato and Sprint Speciale 

coupe versions remained much rarer. 

The idea of offering a two-door spider based on the Giulietta was the brainchild of US importer Max 

Hoffman. He saw great potential for such a vehicle, particularly in the sunny regions of Florida and 

California. In addition, he made a commitment to Alfa Romeo’s management to purchase at least 

600 units. Initially, a 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine with 59 KW/80 hp worked under the hood. 

That was enough power to allow it to reach a top speed of 102 mph. 

The first facelift took place for the 1959 model year. This lengthened the wheelbase of the spider 

by five centimeters, which was visible from the outside through minimally more sheet metal behind 

the doors. As a result of the modifications, the internal designation code changed from Tipo 750 

to Tipo 101. When the successor model Giulia was presented in 1962, the Spider continued to roll 

off the production line at Pininfarina until 1965. However, the 1.6-liter engine of the new model 

now worked under the hood, which was now fitted with an air scoop. In addition, the previously 

one-piece side windows were replaced by somewhat smaller ones with additional triangular windows 

behind the A-pillars. A total of around 14,300 Giulietta Spiders, 2,900 Giulietta Spider Veloces and 

10,300 Giulia Spiders were built. 

1971 saw the Spider Veloce receive a new, larger power plant-a 1962cc, 132 hp (98 kW) unit and 

consequently the name changed from 1750 Spider Veloce to 2000 Spider Veloce. (Blue Alfa) Between 

1974 and 1976 the stainless steel bumpers were discontinued and replaced with black, rubber clad 

units to meet increasingly stringent North American crash requirements. The fuel injected (SPICA) 

2-liter version for the US market received the tipo 115.41 model code. 16,320 Spider Veloce 2000 

Iniezione (US version). Of the 1750 Spider Veloce, 4,027 were made. 

GUILIA 2016- 2022 

The Giulia marked the return of the rear-wheel-drive sedans for the Italian car-maker. It was a complex 

program that led to a big change in its entire lineup. It was a true contender for the premium 

German cars. Italian cars were about styling. With some exceptions, all of them were well designed. 

Unfortunately, the change to front wheel drive was good for the mass-market, but not for the premium 

segment. Alfa Romeo managed to revolutionize its range with the introduction of the 2016 Giulia. 

The exterior design was one of its most important advantages. The big triangular shield in the 

front was accompanied by two lower-mounted grilles in the apron. With its “angry-eyes” looking 

headlights, narrow on the inside and swept-back over the front fenders inspired a dynamic design. 

From the side, the short and tall trunk, combined with the narrow front, inspired a sports-sedan 

vehicle. And that’s what it was. Inside, the Giulia offered one of the best looking interiors in its class. 

It managed to incorporate the infotainment display next to the instrument cluster. It didn’t look like 

an aftermarket tablet mounted over the center stack. The bucket seats upfront promised good support 

while fast cornering. In the back, there was room for two adults in a comfortable position, or 

three if they were very close friends. The big transmission tunnel was intrusive in the cabin. 

For the engine compartment, Alfa Romeo installed 2.0 liter gasoline or a 2.2 liter diesel engine. 

Both were offered with a rear or all wheel drive. It was fitted with a 6 speed manual or an 8 speed 

automatic. 

Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio (Four Leaf Clover) 

The Quadrifoglio or “four Leaf Clover” in Italian id the green emblem proudly displayed on vintage 

Alfa Romeo race cars, Modern F1 cars and new Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio models. First appearing 

on an Afla Romeo RL in 1923, the symbol was originally used as a good luck charm. The green four 

leaf clover was instantly recognizable, and soon adorned many championship winning Alfa Romeo 

race cars. The rich history of motorsport was the inspiration behind the new high performance 

Quadrifoglio line, featuring a powerful Giulia sedan, and the new Stelvio SUV. 

Pininfarina is a design house of international repute, a symbol of Italian style in the world. With 

almost 90 years of experience, it is a flexible partner able to offer competitive products and services 

based on the values of the brand: purity, elegance and innovation. Its activities focus on design, engineering 

services, conception and production of unique cars or in very small series. 

Alfa Romeo is currently owned by Stellantis, which is a company that came into being due to a 2021 

merger between Fiat Chrysler Automotive which has owned Alfa Romeo since 2007 and France’s 

Groupe PSA. Their goal is to bolster its position in the European market. 




Car owner: Terry color: white 

Car: 1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider 

cars name: “Giulietta” 

Terry is the proud owner of this 1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider. This specific car was bought 

by his father “Dick” in 1965. His father drove the car for about 7 years and then ended up in storage 

for about 30 years. Terry unfortuneatly aquired the car in 2021 after his father passed away. His 

father worked on the car over the years and completing the bodywork. He had all of the chrome on 

the car redone so was ready to be put back on the car. When Terry recieved the car he did the paint 

job on the car and put it back together. The complete restoration took him about 3 years. Terry 

really enjoys this beauty as his daily driver. The joy he gets when driving is the memory of he and his 

dad in the car together just cruising around when he was a kid. Everytime Terry looks in the rear 

view mirror he sees his Dad. Now he has the memories of himself and his kids cruising in the same 

car! Terry also has a hobby of building RC planes and flying them. He would also like to give a 

BIG SHOUT OUT to his wife Jennifer and his dad Dick (RIP) 

This car has a 1300 cc/1.3 L engine twin over cam with a 4-speed manual transmission. The car 

can go 0-60 in about 13.3 seconds. The length of the car is 157 inches and 60.6 inches wide. There 

were 32,089 of these cars produced in 1959. 




Car owner: Nathan color: Alfa Red 

Car: 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio 

Nathen is the proud owner of this 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. When Nathan was in 

college back in the 90’s he fell in love with the look of the Alfa Romeo’s, but by the time he was out of 

college they were not available in the market for purchase. Nathan has always been into performance 

cars and always wanted one of his own. He had been working in Detroit in the interior industry and 

was always on the look out for one of these cars. As soon as he saw that the newer version of the Alfa 

Romeo was available and saw that it had more room in the interior of the car then the original ones, 

he knew he had to have one. He has been very happy since he has purchased the car definitly has 

served its purpose as a performance car and a family car. The enjoyment that he gets from just driving 

the car to the grocery store is amazing but then taking it on the track and doing laps is INCRED- 

IBLE! Nathan also loves spending time with his boys playing board games on family night. He would 

like to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to his boys- Albert, Simon and Tobias! 

This car has a 2.9 ltr V-6 engine with twin turbos producing about 505 hp and has a 8-speed automatic 

transmission with optional paddle stick. The length of this car is 182.6 inches with a wheel base 

of 111.0 inches with a combined weight of about 3,800 lbs. The car can go 0-60 in about 3.8 seconds. 

Nathan decided to ride on 19” rims instead of the factory 18”. 






Car owner: Mario color: Blue 

Car: 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider 

Mario is the proud owner of this 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider. He has always had a love for Italian 

cars. When Mario was in college he owned a Fiat. He really enjoyed the size of the car 

and the fact that it was a convertible. He ended up selling his Fiat when he was in college and 

always regretted selling it. When it finally came time for him to buy another Fiat he decided 

he was going to upgrade to the Alfa Romeo. The Alfa Romeo is such an amazing car for cruising 

and for speed. Mario found this one for sale in California in 2020, bought it and trailered 

it back to his home. His love for Italian cars are beyond words, the smile on his face when 

speaking of this car says it all! Mario would like to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to the President 

of the club Ron! He is always helping members with information and with the repairs of 

the cars, plus keeping the members involved in the club! 

This car has 2000 cc 2.0 L engine about 128 hp with a 5-speed manual transmission going 

0-60 in about 8.2 seconds. The length of the car is 166.2 inches with the width being 64.1 

inches, the cars weight is about 2,200 lbs. Mario has done a few modifications to the car, adjustable 

shocks, streamlined the side marker lights and had a rotisserie paint job. 



Aubrey Vinyards is a lush and vibrant property that covers 200 acres in southern Overland 

Park, KS in Johnson County that started with the acquisition of the property in 2010. It is 

owned by a local Johnson County family who had the vision of converting what was at the 

time pasture land into a place to grow grapes and open the first winery in Overland Park. 

They planted their first vines here in 2012 which has rich fertile soil and good drainage. 

The wine grapes are harvested starting in mid-August. Once harvested they are pressed and 

the juice is poured into stainless steel tanks. The red grapes are de-stemmed and are fermented 

in large bins. 

The juice and grapes are monitored to keep them at ideal temperatures for fermenting. Yeast 

is added during fermentation and the winemaker monitors the progress of fermenting until it 

is time to stop the process. 

White Wines rest which allows particles to settle to bottom of the tanks while red grapes are 

pressed and the fermented juice is pumped into stainless steel tanks. Then the red wine juice 

rests and goes through particle the separation as well. 

A special thank you to Jennifer Meixner (Marketing and Events Manager) Jake Smith (Marketing 

and Events Coordinator) and Ben Luty (Social Media and Marketing Coordinator) 

with Aubrey Vinyards for allowing us to shoot the Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Kansas City at 

there beautiful Vinyards! Please visit the Aubrey Vineyards website (aubreyvineyards.com)for 

their selection of Wines, Merch, Vineyard Events or to schedule a private event. 

Once the wine’s flavor matures, it is then bottled, with the entire crew assisting in the bottling, 

labeling and palletizing cases of wine. 

As you drive though the vineyard on the way to the tasting room, you see row upon row of 

lush, green wines supported by trellises supporting wires for the grapes to grow. 

As summer arrives the vines require constant maintenance to insure premium growing conditions 

for the grapes. When birds start picking at the grapes netting is installed which stays in 

place until its time to harvest the grapes. When Harvest time comes the grapes are harvested 

and taken the the winemaker to be converted from grapes into wine. While the vines go dormant 

in the winter, the vineyard team is still busy in the vineyard getting them ready for the 

next growing season. 



Car owner: John color: Red black interior 


John is the proud owner of this 1972 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce. He bought this car Brand 

new from a local dealership back in 1972, 50 years ago. He was out looking to buy a Fiat 

124 and as he was speaking with the salesman he was shown this Spider Veloce. He liked it 

so much that he thought to himself, why not upgrade!. John has really enjoyed both driving 

and working on the car over the years. Not only is this car very gratifying when just driving it 

around town and cruising, he also loves taking it to the track to do some laps to see how fast it 

will go! He also enjoys going to the car club meet n greets as well as car shows when he is able 

to attend them. 

This car has the 2 ltr engine with 129hp and a 5-speed manual transmission. The car can go 

0-60 in about 8.9 seconds. The length of the car is 167.9 inches and width is 64.2 inches with 

a total weight of 3,064 lbs. John has decided to ride on 15” rims instead of the factory 14”. 





Car owner: Glenn color: Gray 

Car: 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia 

cars name: “Mr Gray” 

Glenn is the proud owner of this 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia. He has owned several Alfa 

Romeos prior to this one, but has wanted and waited on a newer year model to be available 

in the states for purchase. He was browsing online and came across this one for sale in Missouri 

in 2022 and had to have it. The handling of this all wheel drive car is exceptional and 

the feeling when he is behind the wheel is amazing. Glenn has been with the Strada Fantasma 

car club on and off for about 10 years. He really enjoys the members and the feeling 

of family being in the club. Glenn also enjoys drawing and creating web designs. 

He would also like to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to the car club and Aubrey Vineyards for 

having them at their location. 

This car has a 2.0 ltr that produces about 286hp, Q4 all wheel drive, base model with 

a Eurocompolsion cold air intake modification. This car can go 0-60 in 5.5 seconds. The 

length of this car is 182.5 inches with a weight of about 3,500 lbs. They produced 8,904 of 

these in 2017. 




Car owner: Robbie color: British racing green 

Car: 1979 Alfa Romeo Spider 

car name: “The Frog” 

Robbie is the proud owner of this 1979 Alfa Romeo Spider. Ever since he was a kid he has 

always wanted a smaller convertible car. Growing up he was always seeing an Alfa Romeo 

car at his Grandpa’s house. Which that car is the car his Father “Terry” has now. Robbie 

was originally going to buy a MG but the sale for that car fell through. He was still in the 

search for a car to fix up and this one so happen to fall into his lap. He was at work when 

a guy came in and asked him if he was interested in buying the car and he said yes and the 

guy said make me an offer! So Robbie made him an offer and the guy said SOLD! This was 

in 2020 and in Paola Kansas. This car is a work in progress but is such a fun car to drive. 

Robbie enjoys working on these types of cars as well as motorcycles because he likes working 

with his hands. He would also like to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to his Dad “Terry”. 

This car has a 2 ltr engine with a 5-speed manual transmission. The car can go 0-60 in 

about 9.7 seconds. The length of the car is 168.8 inches with the width being 64.2 inches 

with a total weight of 3,064 lbs. 



KC ALFA OWNERS EVENTS 

April: 

15th, Evil Knievel Museum TBD 

21st - 23rd, Kansas Trails, Tour of McPherson College Automotive Restoration 

Program Facilities. 

May: 

5th, 6th, & 7th, Spring Fling TBD 

13th, British Car Show, Lee’s Summit 

20th, Was to be a swap meet and drive, but may become a past member’s memorial 

drive. 

June: 

2nd, Italian Car Show at Italian Festival, at Zona Rose, Noon till 2 PM. 

10th, Drive, ending at Aubrey Vineyards. Start location, TBD 

July: 

16th, Great Car Show, at Liberty Memorial. 

26th, Club Dinner, at Jasper’s. Time TBD. 

August: 

11th, Jazz Night at Holy Field Winery, Basehor, KS. 

September: 

3rd, All Brit Car Show, Meriam, KS. 

9th, Drive, wine, dinner, and stars. Annual drive, with stop at a winery, 

then eat dinner, followed by star gazing at Powell Observatory. 

October: 

15th, LGGPR (Lake Garnett Gran Prix Revival), at Garnett, KS. This is the day 

of track racing. 

21st, Drive and a stop at Riverwood Winery, for wine, food, music and 

friends; 

November: 

3rd, 4th, and 5th, Fall FlinG TBD 

15th, Dinner TBD 

December: 

9th, Planning Meeting for 2024, TBD 


An Elton Photo Media Publication 

Questions and feedback: 

Phone: 816-223-3250 

Email: eltonphotomedia@yahoo.com 

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