Northern Ireland Italian Motor Club |

Posted by admin on Jun 23, 2017

Farewell to Herbie

Yesterday we said farewell to Herbie McBratney, our much loved friend and loyal member of the Northern Ireland Italian Motor Club. Herbie passed away suddenly on 14 June 2017 at the age of 81 and club members arrived at Seymour Street Methodist Church in Lisburn yesterday afternoon to join his family in a Service of Thanksgiving for his Life. The service was a moving, yet uplifting experience as the...

Posted by admin on May 30, 2017

NIIMC defies yellow weather warning to celebrate Italian design

It’s hard to believe that another year has passed and the end of May had arrived signalling the time for our annual All Ireland Italian Motor Event. Once again the Gregg Street carpark at Lagan Valley Island (LVI) would be transformed into a stunning spectacle of glorious Italian design as we returned to Lisburn for the seventh time. From shortly after 8am an army of red polo shorts arrived and...

Posted by admin on May 30, 2017

Having a lark at Mondello Park

Earlier this month the Club Chairman, Alastair and myself decided that we would take a spin down to Mondello Park to join members of AROCI at their annual track day. Our friends in AROCI have been very supportive of our annual All Ireland Italian Motor Event in recent years so it was appropriate that we made the effort to pay them a visit and enjoy the thrills (and hopefully not too many spills) of...

Posted by admin on May 15, 2017

Final countdown to our Annual Show

We are now well and truly on the countdown to our annual “All Ireland Italian Motor Event” – it’s less than 2 weeks away. The Mayor of Lisburn and Castlereagh, Brian Bloomfield MBE took time out of his busy schedule today to meet with club members Tim Logan, Alastair McIlroy and Herbie McBratney to hear how arrangements are progressing in preparation for the show at the end of the month. The Mayor...

Posted by admin on May 3, 2017

Quadrifoglio = !!*?@+~!

In 1923 a logo appeared on an Alfa for the first time. It was the ‘quadrifoglio verde’ or green cloverleaf. Legend has it that Ugo Sivocci, who was a middle ranking Alfa works driver in the early 20th century, painted a green cloverleaf on his car before the 1923 Targa Florio and promptly won the race! The white background had four points to represent the number of works drivers. Later that...

Posted by admin on Apr 26, 2017

BOVC show in full flow

Warren Park in Lisburn was the venue for the annual Banbridge Old Vehicle Club (BOVC) show on Sunday 23 April 2017. As one of the first shows of the season it always represents a good opportunity for car enthusiasts to get their motors out for a run after being tucked up in hibernation over the winter months. The BOVC show also raises much needed funds for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice and...

Posted by admin on Apr 22, 2017

NIIMC road trip to mark new Abarth showrooms at Donnellys

NIIMC members gathered in good numbers to show their support to Donnelly Group today as they celebrated the extension of their Abarth franchise to the Dungannon and Campsie sites. The starting point for the day was at McDonald’s at Sprucefield for the obligatory coffee stop. There was an impressive gathering of Italian metal in the carpark – 2 Maseratis, 6 Alfas, 3 Abarths a Fiat and a...

Posted by admin on Apr 11, 2017

Italian Cars and Coffee

The first Cars and Coffee meeting of the new year saw hundreds of cars swarm to Down Royal Race Course on Sunday 2 April. It was a bright, sunny day with little cloud in the sky and car owners must have been keen to get their cars out on the road after their winter hibernation. The turnout alone was as good as I have seen it but the range of cars of all ages was pretty impressive too. There were a few that...