The miracle material known as carbon fiber has revolutionized a wide range of industries across the globe, including providing automakers with a lightweight, strong option for high-end sports car construction. Carbon fiber burst onto the automotive scene thanks to McLaren, which pioneered the material's use in Formula 1—and now, even commuter cars sometimes get (real or not) carbon fiber trim details. Meanwhile, the aftermarket industry has begun constructing cars out of exposed carbon, like SpeedKore's Dodge Demon that recently sold on the auction website Bring a Trailer. For a big, brawny beast like the Demon, carbon fiber might seem a little excessive, though the UK-based firm Alfaholics unveiled an Alfa Romeo GTA-R 300 built with extensive carbon fiber to shave weight on the classic car and help its worked-over inline-four engine seem even peppier.
Body Modifications With Carbon Fiber
Alfaholics' team welds the chassis and added on a carbon fiber body, which is painted on the exterior but retains exposed weave on the inside of the body panels. The doors, trunk lid, and hood are all carbon fiber, as well. Just for reference, the entire body "skin," as Alfaholics calls it, weighs just over 88 pounds.
Engine Upgrades To Match
Depending on original spec, the Alfa Romeo GTA would have produced between 95 and 113 horsepower in road-going trim. Alfaholics has upgraded the inline-four under the hood extensively with a Motec ECU, electronic fuel injection, and aluminum for the coolant radiator and oil cooler to allow for the twin-spark setup to produce up to 270 horsepower at 7,000 RPM. That grunt is routed to the rear through a lightweight close-ratio five-speed transmission, a limited-slip differential, and titanium rear axle tubes.
A Spotless Interior
The suspension has been reworked to shed weight, as well, utilizing as much titanium as possible for the upper and lower front wishbones, wheel hubs, wheel studs, and fasteners. The shock absorbers are even aluminum, as are the trailing arms, brake calipers, and pedal box. On the interior, the seats and door cards have been refinished in red leather, with Alcantara visible on the transmission tunnel and a simplified roll cage installed for good measure. Lightweight glass has replaced the windshield, rear, and side panes, while an aluminum fuel tank has even been installed. Given the GTA's original curb weight around 1,800 to 2,000 pounds, there's a good chance this little stylish screamer could tip the scale much lower—with a ton more power on tap.
Sources: facebook.com and alfaholics.com.