“Have a cool car here if you’re in the area today. Dunno if you’re big on Euro”.

That was the message I received from Mike at Alpine Autowerks, inviting me to come hang out at the shop. I always appreciate the chance to visit the guys because they never fail to have some mind-blowing stuff sitting in their bays, either from customers or themselves. I knew that when he said “cool car” it would probably be a bit of an understatement but I didn’t know how big until he sent a photo…

…and it was a freaking F40. Okay, Mike. What on earth counts as a “crazy car” in your world then? Anyway, I wasn’t in the area at all but I made sure to change that! In hindsight I should’ve grabbed my other camera because I have an ultrawide for it which would’ve made it easier to shoot in the confines of the shop, but I still managed to get what I wanted. I didn’t go to capture a massive amount of photos but instead wanted to – and did – get a few to share here for a quick little post.

After quickly checking out the F40 as I entered, my first stop was to the back of the shop since I was excited to see Mike’s “FD3RS” again which was undergoing yet more revisions. Spy the new FEED fender braces up front.

Some new shoes too, serving as both cosmetic and performance updates.

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this thing in pieces more than I’ve seen it together, but that’s Mike being relentless in his pursuit to improve it. The grey bay, a change he made a few years ago now, still looks great against the red body. If this isn’t one of the most detailed builds in the city I don’t know what is.

Elsewhere in the shop, sitting near that nifty little Italian thing, was this 991.2 GT3 in Miami Blue. If you’re wondering about the OEM+ wheel setup, these are the street wheels and tires, borrowed from his wife’s 911.

This one had been set up for track use – even more than a GT3 is out of the box – with the addition of a half cage and harnesses, and smaller things like the tow hook up front which doubled as a GoPro mount. And in case anyone overseas is reading this, yes the cage has been added in because in North America these cars legally can’t be sold new with the scaffolding in place. Boo.

Interestingly, despite this obviously being a fairly serious track toy, it was optioned with the manual gearbox and not a PDK. What a world we live in, where it’s odd to see a manual ‘box in a track car (but it’s still what I’d pick)…

Another car I was excited to see again was Gugliano’s Civic, sporting that crazy M&M widebody. Apparently it was undergoing some engine work but hopefully we’ll get to see it out on the street again at some point. It’s hard to believe that it was almost 3 years ago now that this thing was first unveiled at Sunday School, following a mad 2.5-week thrash by the team to get it together in time (click here for its original feature).

It wasn’t the only EK about however, with this green example (which used to belong to Levi, I don’t know who owns it now) also inside. I’ve always liked this one as it looks like a perfect setup for a fun little street car.

It was then time to poke around the F40 for a minute more, since that was the reason I had stopped by in the first place. I mean, I guess an F40 is neat. If you’re into that kind of thing.

Fun fact: the embossed F40 logo on the wing inspired those on the Focus RS wing! Selsun and Pepper are basically Ferraris then.

Since I was by the shop near closing time – when the guys were winding down for the day – I wasn’t around for too long but it was great to visit, talk cars, and just catch up for a bit while also getting these photos to share here. Not only does Alpine always have neat stuff but where else will you find an F40 next to EKs like this? I never know what to expect when I visit, given what I’ve seen here over the years, but it’s always guaranteed to be pretty crazy. And Mike will always be pretty causal about introducing whatever it is. I’m waiting for the day he tells me there’s some old Nissan in for work and it’s a Z-Tune or something…

-Bill