Our friends at Alpine Lab often complete some jaw-droppingly impressive projects, but this particular car has left our eyes wide in amazement of the restoration completed. Though the small, light, rear-engined fiberglass sports cars from Alpine are now in huge demand, this wasn’t always the case. At some point even a one-cutting edge Alpine Works rally-winning machine is simply and old race car—and is passed to someone else.
Alpine Lab knew about this car for some time, and as it states on its website, it initially was perhaps a bit frightening. The shop says, “Because we already had a project in work, we took distance from the purchase of this surely interesting, but also extremely complex restoration”. Another 10 years passed before they’d tackle the challenge—with the car sitting, waiting for its next suitor during that time.
Why was it so daunting? Well, its history as a rally car entered into some of the most grueling rallies ever held—most of them in Africa— made the car worth saving, but with its hand-made fiberglass construction and decades of abuse (not to mention modifications), bringing it back to original was more like restoring an already-cooked onion back to fresh.
The whole story is a highly-recommended read at Alpine Lab, and it’s not something I’m going to spoil—bringing this amazing car back from the dead was definitely the right thing to do.
Special thanks to Alpine Lab and photographer David Zu Elfe for sharing some shots from one of the car’s first outings after restoration.
