Ferrari-powered 425 GT "One OFF"

Hello

I'm building a One Off car form a ALFA SPIDER DUETTO Which was in poor shape after years of neglect. I own 4 DUETTOS and three are in outsatnding condition having been rebuilt slowly over 2 years by my small team.

That said I respectfully decided to 'correct' what I thought was wrong with the original design and am slowly fashioning a beautiful car which will recieve a 348 powerplant and suitable box and differential to accommodate the power.

I've code named her the 425 GT [425cc per cylinder] and I'm altering the body quite substantially but in keeping with Mr Pininfarinas original design.

We've sourced period Borannis at an almighty fee but these require full restoration too.

In a nutshell we have:

1. Cut 4 inches from the rear overhang
2. Removed the unsightly side scoops
3. Moved the doors back 16 inches and made them smaller.
4. Moved the firewall back about 16 inches as well to provide a further aft seating position and make space for a sensibly positioned 348 V8 in the correct G of G area.
5. Removed the A pillar to make way for the Plexiglass style windscreen.
6. Closed in the front section and cut out a Ferrari style mouth.
7. Closed in the rear completely for now and will plasma cut a small boot later.

I think we've done well so far . Any comments would be appreciated. My body Guy Chris is a genius and he reads my mind showing so much interest in the project. In the pics attached the firewall is still to be moved back another few inches and ignore the rough welding lines/ bumps we are soon to beat her straight with heat once the shape is correct.

Colin
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Pass : I'm going to make her a Barchetta with Plexiglass I think . The side flanks will have cut out vents as well for heat dissipation . I'll also fashion a roll protector hump at the back.

 

Heavens that is beautiful .

I own a couple of nice cars from a lovely 348 [355 body] to the four Duettos and a Porsche 356a RHD, but this car is so pretty I find myself just looking at it for hours. It has fabulous sublime geometry . The devil will be in the detail . It's got to be perfect in every way. Plexiglass is the easiest and she's only for very quick sunny days out on the highway or the club. As time goes by I'll need more advice on a number of things from the forum regarding technical issues.

 

Yes a more sexy, clean 330 gts is more what I'm trying for but I'm letting the car evolve as it does. It must just be what it is , not a recreation. The car won't weigh more than 1100 KGs so I'm sure will have outsatnding pull. It will be simple and race like with period leather bucket seats . We're fabricating a large rear fuel tank out of Aluminium. I 'm not sure about the gearbox. This is a debate that I'll let my mechanic take on

 

Hi Vincent

I'd never go out of my way to unkindly disrespect the designs of the Boss ,but I cannot work out why Alfa seem to do it over and over again .They make a car with excellent sublime geometry and then put some strange , quirky styling excercise all over the final rendition. Quite simply if you look at the value of a Duetto versus a Guilia spyder ,which is pure and near perfect in it's lines I think it proves my point. Had Alfa simply kept the scoops on the designers table and did 4 more things:

1. Produce soft standard rounded sides
2. Place the door, fire wall and seat position 12 inches rear of their current position
3. Shorten the boot overhang by 6 inches :
4. Redone the front radiator openings losing the stainless steel 'braces' ;

the car would have been a truly beautiful machine that would be a very desirable collectors piece and not sadly a much overlooked classic. In fact this is why I started the project to prove just how lovely the Duetto can be. I'm not really such a fan , I somehow managed to trade an old Mondial for these cars and the lines have quietly frustrated me ever since.

If you keep watching the thread, I'm confident I'll be able to prove my point. Thanks for your comment .

 

The windscreen also needs to be moved back 12 to 18 inches on the original design.

 

Have a look at this, I played with a picture to try to show how an Alfa could have been improved a bit. Obviously my car will be styled more like a Ferrari .
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