THE AETHER ALFA
You’d be forgiven for not placing in the same mental frame an Alfa Romeo and trackless off roading adventures. Even the company’s first SUV - Stelvio - will be much happier zig-zagging through its namesake alpine pass’ chicanes than cutting them directly. But Alfa has been around for so long, that it even had the time for some wild experiments. We take the aptly called “Matta” as being Alfa’s first off road vehicle, but actually that honour goes to the lesser known 6C Coloniale, an ill-fated war effort. While the latter (due to the obvious circumstances in which it was born) couldn’t do with the luxury of racing, the 1900 M one even tried its luck in the Mille Miglia. Off road Alfa na racing an unusual association? How about an Alfa in the Dakar rally? Yes, it happened in the ‘80s.
And this where the hero of our feature picks up the trail: designed to tackle all terrain, from sand to snow - inspired by African rallies, capable of taking on anything between Sahara and Kilimanjaro - enter the Aether Alpine Alfa, created in California by AethER Apparel in collaboration with Bridan Nikita, cofounder of Oilstainlab automotive design studio. Not the Alfa you thought you needed, but one that brings out the Indiana Jones in you...
Should you belong to those adventurous Alfisti who just can’t stop wondering which tools to pack and how to better prepare if they were suddenly presented with the chance to go on the exciting raid for a long lost ancient artefact (let’s say the still-buried cup of a son of a carpenter?), let us just present you the Aether Alpine Alfa : a 1985 GTV6 restomodded after a throughout 3d laser scanning process, allowing for a modern digital design and engineering process.
● A specially engineered, full coilover front and rear conversion, stress-tested to 10 tons
● A body lifted 6.5 inches from the stock ride height
● A rear hatch that accommodates two full-size spare tires, an outdoor trunk area, and integrated storage for 10 gallons of fuel – you surely don’t want to run out of fuel on your way to the Canyon of the Crescent Moon
● 205/75R15 fitted tires to grant access to a wide array of terrains and conditions
● Front and rear skid plates with integrated fog lights and tow hooks, and protected
exhaust in the rear
● A Roof rack with integrated lightbar and aero spoiler to deflect air around the spare tires
Ready to embark on an epic adventure? Then don’t lose any more time on your 9-to-5 job, unable to make any way in the clogged veins of the urban jungle, looking back and forth with just nowhere to go but eventually finding yourself jammed between all these wannabe exploring machines aka the current breed of urban SUVs that only get stuck on the next road curb exceeding the height of a medium-sized armadillo.
The only thing left to do is to gas up the adventure-ready AETHER Alpine Alfa , born from a desire to create an unorthodox tool for adventure that celebrates the space where streetcar meets backcountry skier, and blast into the unknown where, if you are lucky you’ll find, for the first time in history, a Quadrifoglio that marks the spot where it lies - your long sought-for ancient artefact.
