DESTINATION AMERICA

Feb 14

American car enthusiasts don’t like to be told what they can and cannot buy or drive. Unfortunately for them, the USA has a 25-year Import Rule. This states that it is illegal to import a vehicle that wasn’t homologated for the US market until it is at least 25 years old. Therefore, when a 18-year-old right hand drive UK spec Alfa Romeo 147 GTAm (more on the GTAm later) appears on the scene people are unsurprisingly either confused or amazed. In fact the two most common questions I get asked are “what is it” and “how is this here”.

OK, so first of all, how the hell did I get past the 25- year rule and bring a 147 GTAm to the States? Well, if you caught a glimpse of the license plate, you might have already worked it out. The car and I are on a diplomatic holiday from the UK, here in the colonies. A perk of the job which very few of my colleagues exploit. For a little under £1000, the car was shipped from Southampton to Baltimore via Amsterdam and Halifax. When the car arrived, I simply signed a few forms and some dude tossed me the keys. No inspection, no emissions, no taxes, nothing. Just stick on the new license plates and hit the Interstate. That’s it.

In the 12+ months the car has been in the US it’s been out on a host of adventures and tracks. This includes tackling Watkins Glen, Summit Point and the Tail of the Dragon. All of which are now stamped under the bonnet alongside the likes of Goodwood, Castle Combe, Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps and, of course, Nürburgring Nordschleife. So, what about the car? Well it’s a 2005 RHD, manual UK Spec, 147 GTA in Nero Metallico with Grigio Silverstone interior. The car was sold new in the UK on 25th March 2005 and I acquired it, completely stock, on the 4th Jan 2008 as the second owner.

As you can see, it didn’t stay stock for long, with the essential Q2 differential, Eibach ARBs, KW V3s and a personalised reg (E11 GTA) amongst the first modifications to be fitted. Since then it’s been a nonstop quest for aesthetic and performance improvements whilst finding somewhere to channel my compulsions and pocket money. At this point it’s only fair to acknowledge the contribution of Ned Kirkham from Autolusso, who has been fair and tireless in his support for the development of this car and 147/156 GTAs in general. The signature modification is a rebored Autolusso 3.8 V6 Busso coupled to an SCS Delta ECU which arms this lightened 1300kg (reduced by 60kg) GTAm with 330 bhp (increased by 80bhp). These figures give the car a new power to weight ration of 253bhp per ton versus the standard 183bhp per ton and explains why I’ve taken the liberty of adding a GTAm badge at the rear.