Breathing new life into a driven hard and put away busted LeMons car.
Well, the mad scientist body magician, Darren Besic, behind that gorgeous piece of machinery you see above, as well as the also semi-famous LeMons Opel GT based Breadvan, has been hard at work on a new project. He and his brother Mike, a renowned Alfa mechanic and specialist, have gotten the opportunity to restore one of their old cars to new glory.
This GTV6 was built by Darren and Mike years ago for budget racing shenanigans. It ended up being sold to other teams, and continued to see plenty of action over the years.
Just look at the state this thing was in.
They reacquired the car from it’s most recent team, and decided to make it their new project. It pained Darren to see one of his cars looking like that, which meant it was time to plan another ridiculously ambitious LeMons build. Continuing on with the theme of drawing inspiration from iconic motorsports legends, he chose a new muse.
The Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI DTM car.
Well, first that $5 WalMart flannel inspired livery needed to be gotten rid of.
So it was stripped away and some normal body repair work was done to straighten out all the rubbin’ is racing patina.
Next, like any good DTM car, the GTV 155 (as I’ve taken to calling it) needed some ample flaring of the fenders.
These were made using conduit and scrap sheet metal, with the assistance of my friend Erik and myself.
And what good is a DTM car without a giant wing? None.
In order to get the properly aggressive front end style right, a ‘90s Mustang Cobra R front bumper was donated to be hacked up and made to fit.
This is the other part of the project that Erik and I helped with. It was very fun, albeit quite messy, learning to lay fiberglass to reshape the bumper so it would fit.
Keeping with the strategy of borrowing parts from America vehicles, the lights you see above are from a ‘90s Chevy Tahoe and a Dodge Ram 1500 hood was sliced up to create the raised hood scoop.
As if there weren’t enough parts from various cars on this thing already, the wheels were sourced from a BMW 7-series.
Once the bodywork and overall design were finished, it was time to make sure the car truly looked the part.
After a healthy coat a shiny new red paint, some “period correct” vinyl was added.
The results, as you’ll see below, speak volumes to Darren’s mad fabrication and body work skillz, not to mention the utmost pride he takes in his work.
The car, which features NASCAR-grade brakes and is powered by a 3.0L V6 from a Milano Verde, is now in Mike’s hands to undergo final tuning and preparation to make it race ready.