Fantastic Alpina E21 restomod, an oldie to fall in love with!

Markus Castedo 30 January 2024 -> Cars from AZ, -> Tuner from AZ, Alpina, Premium vehicles, Tuning classics

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The Alpina brand, known for decades as the in-house tuner of various BMW models, and recently completely taken over by the BMW Group, is one of the absolute legends of German automobile manufacturing. Furthermore, Alpina is (almost) the only tuning company in Germany that has achieved the status of an automobile manufacturer and is listed separately in the KBA's registration statistics. As early as the 1970s, these very special BMW-based conversions, which were created in Buchloe, fascinated BMW fans of all ages. Today we would like to show you a very special restomod example of an Alpina E21-Model, which was rebuilt by British tuner Shane Moriarty and is doing its rounds in Great Britain.

Alpina E21 Restomod

When Shane purchased the vehicle, it was a pile of misery. Only one tire was available and a body including an engine. The interior was completely missing, and rebuilding it at this point was extremely difficult and extremely time-consuming.

The vehicle sat abandoned in a barn for 13 years, receiving no attention after the car's original owner passed away. However, Shane and his late father Michael recognized the potential of this car, which was only built 11 times for the British market and was manufactured by the English automobile manufacturer TWR on behalf of Alpina, and did not miss this opportunity. So Shane and his father Michael decided that the extraordinary Alpina should be restored as close to its original condition as possible.

with angel eye headlights

However, some original parts were no longer available, and as a result the Alpina has angel-eye headlights from a Ford Capri Mk3 2,8, which, however, fit extremely harmoniously into the body image of the classic. The front splitter and rear spoiler, on the other hand, are original parts from BMW-Alpina, while the bumpers of the restomod are not certified by BMW. In 2023 the car also received a new grill and a new hood. Of course, the Alpina was repainted in the original color and now shines again in an innocent white, which has also been enhanced with green-blue decorative elements. Shane also chose to paint the door handles black to create an unusual contrast.

Classic interior with a sporty touch

The interior was of course completely redesigned from the ground up, as the original vehicle that was found in the barn no longer had any interior space. Recaro seats in beige leather found their way into this car, as did an original Momo sports steering wheel, which was also installed in the production versions of the Alpina E21. The newly built BMW also received an original Alpina gear knob with emblems and a contemporary Blaupunkt radio with speakers. The handbrake, on the other hand, is an in-house creation that features an Alpina logo and is in the same black as the outer door handles.

A 2,7-liter four-cylinder naturally aspirated gasoline engine powers the oldie

The classic BMW four-cylinder petrol engine, which was bored out to 2,7 liters, has various modifications, and three Weber carburettors produce a whopping 206 BHP on the test bench, and the classic Bavarian is therefore completely adequately motorized. Unfortunately, we don't have any information about the performance or top speed, but power is transmitted to the rear axle via a five-speed manual transmission.

Our conclusion:

A fantastic classic, and a true masterpiece by the two tuners to bring this former pile of metal to new splendor. We give it high praise and a thumbs up.