Facebook Marketplace is becoming the new Craigslist, in that you never know what you’re going to find. There’s all sort of weird, historically significant stuff that pops up out of nowhere, like this highly modified Alfa Romeo Spider built to race at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The seller claims it’s the fastest Alfa on earth, and you can own it for just $35,000.
According to Grassroots Motorsports, the idea of a land-speed racing Alfa came from a few enthusiasts from the Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club. The car was born out of a wrecked 1991 Spider, built by Besic Motorsports of Glen Ellyn, Illinois. It has a roll cage inspired by NHRA top-fuel dragsters, with a cocoon-style surrounding that encapsulates the driver’s head and shoulder area. The body has been re-sculpted to cut through the air, and painted in a lovely shade of yellow.
The car ran a total of four engines throughout its competition life, including a 1.5-liter supercharged motor, a supercharged 2.0-liter engine, a naturally aspirated unit from an Alfa Romeo Milano, and a turbocharged twin-spark 2.0-liter from a 155, which made around 500 horsepower.
It was the latter engine that propelled the car to an average speed of 230 mph on the Salt Flats in 2009, breaking the G/BGMS class record, with a highest trap speed of 234 mph. That is wildly quick for any car, much less an old, four-cylinder Alfa convertible.
The car suffered a cracked cylinder head in 2011, and there hasn’t been much action from it since. It recently popped up for sale at a shop in Lake Barrington, Illinois, without an engine or transmission included. They say they can do all the work to make it race-ready again, so if you’re interested, reach out.
Source: Read Full Article