ONE MAN'S ALFA
The SEMA Show is like the automotive United Nations. It has Lambos and pickup trucks, hot-rods and rally rockets, Detroit muscle and European tuners, plus donks, duallies, lowriders, and a dozen other automotive sub-cultures, all joined by a common purpose: To escape the automotive mainstream.
This hand-built Alfa Romeo roadster is a perfect example of the sheer diversity of the SEMA Show. I found it in a hall jam-packed with Japanese turbos and monster American V-8s; a small oasis of olde-worlde sports car charm among the madness.
Basic mechanicals are derived from Alfa's short-lived 2600GT, a six-cylinder big brother to the pretty little 1963 GT Veloce coupe, the first mainstream production car styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who was working for Bertone at the time. The 2600GT's 2.6-liter engine was basically Alfa's classic twin cam four with two extra pots, driving the rear wheels through a five speed manual transmission.
This 50s-style roadster features a tube frame and voluptuous body panels hand-formed from .063inch aluminum. The workmanship throughout is simply incredible. It's not a kit. It's not for production. It's just one guy's escape from the mainstream.