Barely a month seems to pass these days without another new company popping up with a fresh take on the restomod formula. Not that we’re complaining: new cars tend to be quite boring, and old cars gifted the performance of new ones are quite the opposite. But those new kids on the block also serve to make the achievements of the old guard look even more impressive; plenty set out with laudable ambition to perfect the imperfect, and a fair few fall by the wayside. Those that can make restored, modified classics sustainably are those that stand out.
Companies like Alfaholics, basically. Originally specialising in motorsport, spare parts and conventional restoration, the first Alfaholics GTA-R was completed in 2003. Bravo if you knew what was going on more than 20 years ago. From there, word of Alfaholics spread through its success on track and its parts supply; the arrival of the first GTA-R in 2009 was when public awareness really increased. It was followed by the first Spider-R in 2011, the first Super-R in 2012, the GTA-R 290 the year after…
So by the mid-2010s, with Alfaholics cars on YouTube and in magazines, plenty of people knew what this Bristol-based Alfa specialist was capable of. That Gordon Murray commissioned an Alfaholics build told folk like us all we needed to know (if we didn’t already); an appearance on Top Gear for a 290 told everybody else. Even in a world of Singers, MSTs, Frontlines, electromods and factory-backed projects, an Alfaholics build stood out as something very special indeed.
This one must stand out as a highlight. The Super-R is to all intents and purposes a GTA-R build in a Giulia shell, and four doors are almost always cooler than two. For this car, completed in 2016, the 2.1-litre Twin Spark is snorting through twin Webers and producing 220hp; plenty in such a dainty old saloon. There’s a close-ratio gearbox, limited-slip diff, adjustable suspension and the GTA-R-spec brakes with six-piston calipers. The familiar Alfaholics wheels have never looked better. You just know it’s going to drive absolutely beautifully.
But the experience behind the wheel has only ever been part of the Alfaholics appeal. A large part for sure, though not everything, because they’re such lovely objects as well. Again, it’s expected in this tiny restoration niche (and with asking prices what they are), albeit with Alfaholics seemingly a cut above. You wouldn’t change a thing here, from the wood to the leather, the carpet to the window winders. Everything is just about perfect.
Which means it’s £200k. Perfection never did come cheap, after all. Such is the reputation of Alfaholics, though, that it’s never going to be worth very much less, and in the current climate it would probably cost more to replicate. To say nothing of the enormous waiting list. For a hit right now of the Alfaholics awesomeness, there’s surely nothing better around. Why have a newish supercar when you could have a 1968 Alfa Romeo saloon?
1 / 4