The Alfa virus regularly strikes mercilessly. The only ‘dangerous’ virus that we tolerate at Prins. Ricardo van de Maat is one of the car freaks who was overwhelmed by the beauties from Italy. A Maserati Quattroporte was even within reach, but once he realized the great potential of his Brera, he still chose the Alfa over the trident. It may be…
“I was already standing with one foot in the Quattoporte until someone interested came to look at my Brera. After I opened the garage door for the viewer, the doubt suddenly struck: was the Maserati really nicer than the Alfa? The answer was no. The rest is history.”
Introduction:
Ricardo van Maat is 29 years young, lives in Rijssen in Twente (near the Sallandse Heuvelrug – a must for touring) and has been an idol of cars since childhood. As a shop manager of a telephone shop, he has to deal with a completely different kind of mobility during the day. All the more reason to focus on his hobby outside working hours: driving.
“The Ferraris and Lamborghinis that I dreamed of early on have not yet come – with the exception of the many scale models. Nevertheless, I am loyal to Italy: in addition to the Brera, I drive a Fiat Seicento Sporting. It goes without saying that the car is a lot lighter. But you should also consider the Alfa Brera as a GT rather than a sports car. Especially in combination with the 3.2 liter V6 it is a wonderful grand tourer. That is why, in my opinion, the V6 is also the engine for the Brera.”
How the love for Alfa blossomed
He says it himself: the start of Ricardo’s car adventure is like ‘swearing in the church’. “My first car was an Audi A8. Not the least, you might think. However, I found the limousine quite boring and moreover this VAG product turned out to be unreliable. A broken gearbox meant the end of the A3. Audi fan as I was then, there was a second (facelift), but unfortunately it brought me even more misery. The Audi fire in me slowly died out.
The A3 became a Golf 3 Convertible and the Golf became a Hyundai Excel, until the moment I decided to go for ‘more car’. A solid BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class or an Audi A4 seemed the most obvious candidates. Nothing could be further from the truth: I fell in love with the ‘underdog’ Alfa Romeo 159. A Berlina. Once I had seen the model before; that beautiful design with those three round lamps next to each other on each side of the front were forever burned on my retina. Where I had first seen the 159 at the time? With Prince! That can hardly be a coincidence…”
Royal interior upgrades
Back to the present: the Alfa Romeo Brera 3.2. “Well, once you catch the Alfa virus, it’s impossible to get rid of it. You shouldn’t want to either, by the way. And so one day I exchanged the 159 for a Brera: similar in many ways to the sedan and yet so different. The interior, for example, is almost a copy.” Since Ricardo took his Brera in hand, that has come to an end. “What have I changed on the car? What not?”
Ricardo shopped at our colleague Corné for the complete leather/Alcantara interior and all carbon interior parts. “He thought along with me very well at the time, explained and offered everything perfectly. It therefore felt good to have this part fully tackled by Prins. And to be fair: the result is also good. Every time I step into my Brera I think: ‘wow, this is really cool!’ I am regularly told that the (leather) still smells like new.” In addition to a lot of leather, Ricardo had various details covered with Alcantara. Including the headliner, door panels and A, B and C-pillar. The icing on the cake are the illuminated door sills and the new Android navigation system.
Rosso Alfa: from flashy to pale
However, it didn’t stop there. Thus, the technology has been thoroughly overhauled. A lot was replaced: from rims + tires to cardan shaft, battery, drive shafts, brakes all around and even the fuel pump had to make way for a new one.
The optical part was also critically examined by Ricardo. “Basically it was exactly the way I wanted it. Moreover, I had selected the car for this color. And let that color have just caused problems: the previous owner (s) were significantly less punctual with the Alfa, so that, for example, the repainting of the paint in the past had been performed dramatically badly. The clear coat was missing; the Rosso discolored again and again.”
Optically completely pampered
Repainting was inevitable. “MCW van der Meij added no less than 9 layers of paint to the completely stripped body, and that is excluding primer. I then outsourced the detailing to the experts at Dino Carrozzeria. This party really goes the extra mile when it comes to optical beauty. Floor, engine compartment, carpets, leather, plastics; everything has been cleaned, coated, polished and steamed. The double glass coating has also been thought of. To top it all off, the steering wheel and handbrake lever were covered in leather and the airbag cover received an Alcantara finish.
Finally, the Brera has been converted to an English SV6 spec, including matching decals to make it even more special. All in all, this whole project took almost a year, but then you have something! No, this Alfa is not going away anytime soon…”
For the enthusiasts: Ricardo’s Brera is also on film!
