by HoTWire
6. May 2008 06:12
We love a rare car here at RSM, and few come rarer than this. The Alfa Romeo 164 Pro-car is unique, the lone legacy of an aborted race series.
The idea was to extend the BMW M1 Pro-car series that ran before Formula 1 races in the mid 80's to include more manufacturers. The only people that managed to get a car together before the idea was scrapped were Alfa Romeo.
The 164 Pro-car is essentially a 164 silhouette with a mid mounted 600hp V10 engine that could rev to 12,000rpm. It was the only car ever to use this particular engine, so not only is the car unique, but the engine is too.
The car was built in 1988 by Motor Racing Developments Ltd., who were the company behind the Brabham F1 team and the car is in fact classed as a Brabham BT57. At the time Brabham were owned by Alfa Romeo and this was one of their first projects for the company. Brabham ceased to exist as a company in 1992, having been through a number of buy outs and some turbulent financial periods. The car eventually ended up with Fiat before disappearing.
Check out these two videos of it in its prime :
There is good news though, it has recently been rediscovered and features in this issue of AutoItalia magazine. It is currently on display at the Alfa Museum so if you can get yourself over to Italy it will definitely be a chance to see this totally unique car.
If you want to learn more and are lucky enough to speak German there is a whole load of information here on Alfisti.net
So... what else has a V10 engine that we can shoe horn into an Alfa 164...
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