Many of us have had to come to terms with what we'd do with our down time in the last few months, but master mechanic Ant Anstead from the show Wheeler Dealers had a clear plan for the 12 weeks between the shooting of the show and the birth of his child - build his dream car. Far from the fast and dirty refreshes he gives cars for the long running car flipping show, Anstead's new project is a build it from scratch recreation of an Alfa Romeo 158 Grand Prix car.
Ant Anstead
Ant Anstead took over for the departing Edd China who had been the mechanic on Wheeler Dealers for 13 seasons. Anstead took over wrenching duties in 2017 bringing his restoration skills to the show, but also showing his fabrication chops as well, like when he added a third wing to the Ford Escort Cosworth. Anstead's television career in the UK began doing both restoration and fabricating work on several shows before joining Wheeler Dealers.
Related: 15 Really Weird Cars They Fixed Up On Wheeler Dealers
Alfa 158
Anstead's project is to recreate a favorite classic race car, the Alfa Romeo 158 or "Alfetta", one of the most successful race cars ever made. In pre-war races the 158 and its 159 update the car won 47 of the 54 races entered, continuing its winning ways for two years after World War II when racing returned. The 158 was powered by a 1.5 liter straight 8 cylinder engine.
Special Build
In the second video of the series Anstead returns home to the UK to cast a body for the car from a mold. The underpinnings are donated by an MG-TD that Anstead is trimming and stretching in order to recreate the Alfa Romeo. While he'll be using period suspension he does plan on disk brakes for the car. Keep up the good work, Ant!
Source: YouTube