THE BIG RESTORATION
Max Willcox restored an Alfasud with all the passion and flair of Italy… in the heart of England
AS FOUND
Max Willcox has enjoyed working on cars and driving since before he was old enough to have a licence, starting by building a buggy for off-road trials from a VW Beetle chassis he was given. His love of all things automotive clearly comes from his father, who owned a Lea Francis 2.5 Litre Sports that remains in the family and has been restored by Max’s brother, while Mr Willcox senior restored a 1932 Riley 9 Special many years ago. It was little wonder that Max eventually turned to restoration when looking for a new challenge.
When asked ‘why choose an Alfasud’, he replies: ‘I was looking at taking on a Rover 216 Vitesse that had been stored in a barn down the road for years, when my wife said: “If you’re going to take on a restoration, you should do a car that means something to you”’. He had fond memories of owning an Alfasud 1.5Tix back in the Nineties, and so the die was cast. Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Max dived straight into the murky world of cars ‘for spares or repair’ online and found a late 1.3Ti Cloverleaf for sale from a dealer in Leicester. A quick inspection preceded a little negotiation, then the Alfa was his. The Argento silver 1983 1.3Ti Cloverleaf Series 3 rolled off the back of a recovery truck and into his life in November 2018.
Displaying his customary enthusiasm, Max tore straight into stripping parts off the tired Alfa as soon as he had it inside his garage, though he quickly realised he should slow down and take care, so he wouldn’t later forget where everything fitted. He decided to start the restoration by repairing the body, which was liberally adorned with ferric oxide. Max recalls, uttering the refrain of classic car restorers everywhere: ‘It didn’t look too bad; I knew it was a bit rusty, but once I started there was more and more!’ He started with the wheelarches, determined to do a neat job although they would be covered by plastic trim when finished. Each arch needed old rusty metal cutting away, with new segments fashioned and painstakingly tacked up with the MIG welder, followed by seam welding, grinding back, finishing and painting. No preformed repair sections were available, making the work very time consuming.
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Engine 1351cc/4-cyl/OHV
Power 86bhp@6000rpm
Torque 88lb ft@3500rpm
Gear
