Alfa Romeo Spider Touring Gran Sport
A long labour of love.

I started building this kit in 2002, before the birth of my first son. After completing the engine, gearbox and steering assemblies, wheels and part of the chassis, my son was born and I didn't have time to do any work on it (the kit). In January 2023 I finally got it out of the closet and started work on it again. After months of slaving away scraping and sanding the body, filling, sanding, filling, sanding, priming, filling and sanding again numerous times, eventually the bodywork got it's final colours and some clear coats. It was pretty exhausting so I started on several other kits and completed a few. Every now and then I'd get back into it. The build was not without issues. The cylinder head was badly warped when I got it, but the shop I bought it from were able to get a replacement for me from Italy, along with some screws that were missing. Credit to Pocher, they sent me a perfect cylinder head, and several complete packets of the screws that I needed. I was only missing a few but they sent me hundreds of various sizes. I needed quite a few of them anyway as some of the screws snapped while screwing into the plastic. The doors are glued shut as the door handle mechanisms snapped. The brass pipes on the underside also needed to be replaced as they had become extremely brittle and snapped while I was bending them to shape. Getting all the body parts to fit was a mission. There is quite a large gap between the radiator and bonnet as the radiator just wouldn't move back far enough. The brakes sort of operate if you push the brake pedal, but the linkages are very difficult to set up. The windscreen and side windows are made from 0.4mm clear polystyrene sheet. The original parts were a bit scratchy. I was able to sand them down and polish them to a reasonable clarity, but the plastic was a bit brittle. The windscreen developed cracks where the screws for the wipers go through it, and the windscreen did not fit the body shape very well, so I made new ones. The number plates are custom made with my initials and year of birth, printed on glossy photo paper and clear coated. The colours are SMS White and Blue, with SMS Cold Tone Hyperchrome for the trim on the side and the radiator. The Alfa Romeo script on the grill was done with a gold Sharpie pen.