Our first Zagato-R build is completed and ready to hand over to Gordon Murray! We are very proud to have built one of our R-types for Gordon - not only does he have the most exacting standards, but he is also a true enthusiast & petrolhead and has been keen to push the boundaries with this build. The finished car is truly wonderful, both in its looks and the way it drives. The goal was to create a grown-up Grand Touring car with the highest level of performance combined with superb ride quality, a full suite of creature comforts and trimmed to the very highest standards to make the car practical and easy to live with. The list of jobs and specs is endless, but here is a list of the main details:-
New Alfaholics billet GTA-R 'big-spindle' uprights installed
RHD dashboard manufactured from scratch and installed in car for pre-fitting purposes prior to trim
Stage 1 trim work completed, neither us nor the customer liked the original headining system that Zagato used, it looked cheap, made the interior too dark and also effected head room inside the car. We have completely redesigned the headlining system in the car and moved it more into line with how coachbuilt Italian cars of the 1970's were trimmed. This allowed us to have alcantara edges and piller sections and a light coloured ribbed centre section to keep the interior looking and feeling 'light'.
Boot boards manufactured to close the boot in properly and all trimmed in alcantara.
List of major bodyshell mods include:-
Witt the fit and finish of the reproduction Zagato front mask trim and perspexes quite as poor as it is, we had no option but to manufacture a new mask from scratch to ensure an excellent fit to the front body and matching the style lines and manufacture tools to mould new perspex covers. In the process of doing this we were able to tweak the dimensions of the heart a little to get a better air flow to the cooling system. With the engine's cold air feed now supplied from the front valance, we also deleted the factory slots in the perspex, now redundant with our widened radiator and chassis ducting panels.
With the final prep work completed we now move to the paint prep stages, with full seam sealing of all joints prior to a complete coat of spray sealer for the underside of the car. A huge number of modifications have been done to the shell to not only customise the car to the desires of the new owner, but also to fit his tall frame in the car at all.
These photos show the extent to which we have dropped the floors and moved the rear seat bulkhead panel back to accommodate a suitable driving position, as well as the completely bespoke boot floor arrangement and of course the RHD conversion of the shell! The grille mask has been double copper coated and gets its final trial fitted before final polish prior to chroming.
Once the shell is painted, it will be possible to see all the modifications we have made to the outside of the shell as part of the customisation process of this very special car.
Shell converted to RHD, new dash face made for RHD, rear floor bulkhead moved back 4" and floors dropped 3" to allow for tall driver.
Engine dummied up to allow fabrication of bespoke radiator & a/c condenser assembly, cold air inlet plenum fed via high pressure area under front valance on RH side, oil cooler which is fed via high pressure area under front valance on LH side
Clunky standard door handles deleted, new door skins made and Ferrari Dino door handles engineered in.
With the shell sensitively media blasted bare and etch primed, it is fitted to our Celette jig to ensure the chassis is square and then carry out the required chassis repair works.
Where prices are shown in any currency other than GBP sterling, please note that such prices are only indicative and are intended as a guide. You will always be quoted and charged in GBP sterling.
We are receiving a number of queries as to the impact of Coronavirus on our ability to despatch orders. We can assure you that we are functioning normally and all orders are being processed swiftly and despatched into the DHL delivery network. DHL’s global network is currently operating as normal.
Keep well!
The Alfaholics Team