An Alfa Romeo 8C for a fraction of the price
US-based customising house SV Motor Company creates a Latin-inspired take on the C6 CorvetteUsing a Corvette as the sacrificial lamb for a show car or low-volume special isn't a new idea -- the stunning 2005 Holden Efijy concept was underpinned by 'Vette chassis, as was this modern-day Stingray -- and now there's another addition to the catalogue.
The svelte looking coupe you see here goes by the name of the Castagna SV 9 Competizione, and its moniker is a obviously a tribute to the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, from which it derives its inspiration.
The voluptuous bodywork clothes a Corvette C6 chassis and it retains the donor car's 6.2-litre LS2 V8, albeit with power hiked marginally to 330kW, thanks to revised intake and exhaust systems.
Its maker boasts of a 0-60mph (0-96km/h) time of 4.0sec, and the coupe allegedly dispatches the standing 400m in 12sec. It's not just a straight-line bully, as the SV9 is said to be capable of generating 1.03g of lateral grip.
However, it's the styling that's the real talking point of this car, and we have to say we approve. Sure, it's a blatant rip-off of the Alfa 8C, but who cares when the end result looks this good?
The Castagna SV9 isn't merely a pipe dream, as its manufacturer intends to produce 1000 examples, priced (in the US) from $120k -- and that includes the cost of the donor Corvette. Sounds like a pretty good deal to us.
It'll be offered in a choice of 25 exterior hues and with five interior trim options and four wheel choices. This means the odds of any two examples being exactly the same aren't all that high.
The vehicle is scheduled to make its public debut at the Concorso Italiano in Monterey, California, on August 14.
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