Recreation

Simon’s GTA Replica

Our customer came to us with a brief to build a GTA replica that he (as an ex-Morgan racer) could use not only for trackdays & GRRC Sprints & the like, but also enjoy continental touring with his wife, and occasional the foray to Le Mans & other European destinations…..

An out-and-out race car wasn’t required, but a compromise that would be quick & well-handling on track, while being comfortable enough to use on the road for hours on end. We were able to supply a 1968 1300 GT Junior as a donor car, but firstly had to convert it to RHD and then modify the shell to take the original ‘flat’ dashboard as fitted to the GTAs. This was media-blasted before having new sills & floors fitted and any other repairs necessary to the shell before being primed with 2k epoxy primer and painted in AR501 Alfa Rosso.

We selected a 75 2.0 twinspark engine to use, rebuilding it with forged pistons & rods, ported head with high-lift cams, lightened & balanced reciprocating parts, fed via twin 45 Webers while ignition is controlled by an Omex stand-alone ECU, 3-D mapped on a rolling road to produce 185bhp.

Fitted with a handling kit, Koni dampers, aluminium T-bar & 15″ GTA alloys shod with Toyo Proxes 195/55 tyres.

The interior was first treated to a combination of Dynamat & Dynaliner sound deadening before grey carpets and Recaro seats (a tilting/ reclining version was selected for the passenger seat) were installed, while a bespoke rear deck was fabricated, incorporating 2 storage/ security boxes, all finished in charcoal Alcantara, as were the door cards and front kick panels.

Our customer is delighted with the end result with which he has enjoyed numerous track days & Sprints, used as a daily commuter on occasion, and taken to France several times, despite the car having only been finished in the summer of 2016.

Most restoration work is carried out in-house including engine rebuilds (to standard or modified spec), mechanical & electrical overhauls & much of the interior trimming. However over the years we have built up a fantastic network for out-sourcing some of the more specialised aspects – local specialists include a screen fitter, a superb trimmer, a radiator reconditioner, a bodyshell blaster, an electrical component reconditioner, a powder-coater, a brightwork polisher and a mobile diagnostics expert, gearboxes are rebuilt in-house while axles are entrusted to the UK’s top Alfa transmission specialist. This means that all aspects of a restoration can be dealt with under one roof, using the highest quality artisans, carefully selected over the last 25 years.