Alfaholics GTA-R 290 review: Is this how we’ll resurrect the supercar?
Today’s supercars are unusable and driven by ghastly people with no idea. Got $580,000 and good taste? We’ll let you in on a secret...
I think we’re going to have to face up to the fact that the supercar is dead. They’re too big and they’re too powerful. On a normal road you can’t keep your foot down for more than a second because it’s like trying to fly a jet fighter through a shopping centre. And this means you are putting up with all the discomfort and all the shortcomings of that racing-car layout and then not being able to enjoy – or even use – the supercar’s raison d’etre. Its power.
So, because supercars are now unusable and driven by ghastly people with no taste, wealthy petrolheads, who do have taste, are being driven into the arms of Eagle, which will sell them a beautifully restored and modernised Jaguar E-type. Or Jensen International Automotive, which can build them an Interceptor with the reliable engine and electronics from a modern Chevrolet Corvette. Yes, these restored cars cost as much as a Ferrari or a McLaren, but you can use all the performance all the time, and when you drop round to see friends they won’t draw the curtains and pretend to be out.
The car you see here started out life in the ’60s as an Alfa Romeo GTA but has been restored, redesigned and rebuilt by a family-owned company in Bristol, England, called Alfaholics. The result is called the GTA-R and if you want one it’ll cost you £320,000 ($580,000). That’s a lot of money, but then, back in the ’60s a 1.6-litre GTA cost more than an E-type Jag. And besides, 3000 hours of work have gone into making the GTA-R.
The original engine has been replaced with a Twin Spark unit from an Alfa 75 that has been bored out to 2.3 litres. This now produces 179kW, 271Nm and a noise that makes your eyebrows tingle. The Twin Spark engine was chosen because it can trace its roots back to the aluminium 1.6-litre engine in the original GTA. Alfaholics makes sure whatever it changes, or does, allows the character of the original to shine through. It’s like the company has taken Julie Christie and rebuilt her so she’s 25 again. And given her optional air-conditioning. And Bluetooth. And new air vents with tiny Alfa badges in the middle. And I think I’m in love.
First things first, though: the interior. The car I drove was racing-car basic, but the driving position was (and this is a first for any Alfa) perfect. The steering wheel was high up and close to your chest, and the pedals were perfectly placed for double declutching and heel-and-toe changes. (I’m aware this might not make much sense to the under-40s.)
But while it felt like a racing car in there, it certainly didn’t feel like one when I took it for a drive. Because, unlike all modern cars, which are designed with one eye on the Nürburgring, it’s as comfortable as a wingback armchair, and so easy to get in and out of. The GTA-R, with its carbon-fibre components, weighs just 830kg. The suspension can prop that up without thinking, and so concentrate fully on what it’s supposed to be doing.
Like the original, it has a double-wishbone suspension at the front and a live axle at the rear, but all the pick-up points have been changed to give it a more modern feel. Sprinkle in telepathic steering and you end up with a car that doesn’t feel as if it’s from the ’60s at all. Here’s the best bit, though. You can accelerate – hard – through first and second and third, you can go from 0 to 100km/h in less than five seconds and then keep on accelerating to 238km/h, and not once will you soil yourself. This is not a frightening car and nor is it big. It’s an Alfa, and when you’ve driven it, you’ll understand what that means. They’re different. They feel alive.
There’s more too. In a modern supercar you are constantly aware that you’re not quite as good as the systems that are keeping you on the road. You are just meat in the room. But in the Alfa you feel like you’re part of a man-and-machine team. The handling limits are set not by the car but by you. That’s an important factor if you are a petrolhead. And it’s why racing used to be so much more fun to watch, because with a bit of red mist you could make your car do things it should not be able to do.
Then there’s the noise. It doesn’t come from electronic witchcraft in the exhaust. It’s a joyful, snorty-rorty cacophony, and it comes from the engine. It sounds real and it made me feel very special, very nostalgic and very happy. I adored the GTA-R more than is decent, or even healthy.
ALFAHOLICS GTA-R 290
Engine: 2.3-litre, four-cylinder Twin Spark (179kW / 271Nm)
Transmission: GTA lightweight close-ratio five-speed gearbox
Price: About $580,000
Rating: ★★★★★