Feature: Motorsport Playground - Turning dreams into reality [+Photo Gallery]

I don’t think it’s any big secret that I’m a fan of Alfa Romeo, and have been for more than a decade. However, what many don’t know is that my affinity for the brand ends around the mid-90’s, and stretches back from there to the more ‘classic’ models, in fact, all the way to 1910, when the venerable ‘serpent’ was born and the world was introduced to the cuore sportivo or ‘sporting heart’ that Alfa Romeo stands for. Alfa Romeo is celebrating its 105th Anniversary next year (1910-2015).

Having had my fill of Alfettas – I’ve owned three in succession already – I’d already been harbouring lurid thoughts of getting another 155 for the longest time, when lo and behold, this one came along. The best part was its owner took a liking for my last Alfetta (below, right) and we agreed on a trade; car for car. It took only about a week for the paperwork to be settled, and I was the proud owner of a 155 2.0 Twin-Spark 16-valve ‘Wide-Body’ once again.

Using the ‘105^th Anniversary’ as an excuse, I decided to send a message to my buddy Remus Chang of Motorsport Playground, to see if he would undertake a ‘project’ to transform the 155 into something of a tribute to the brand. Never one to shy away from a challenge, his reply was simply “Bring it on!” With that, “Project 155” was born. But first I had to get the car painted the appropriate colour, bright red. As I’ve always maintained, an Alfa should always be red, and after 2 weeks, she was ready for Phase 2…

Anyone with even a smidgen of interest in Touring Car racing, and more importantly Alfa Romeo’s involvement in it, will remember Gabriele Tarquini and Alessandro Nannini, and their Alfa Romeo 155 race cars of that era. With their distinct red and white livery, they pretty much dominated the scene in the mid-90’s. Simply put, “Project 155” was to re-create as best as possible, Nannini’s #7 car, below, into a street-legal 155.

Gathering as much data and images from the ‘net was actually the easy part, seeing as how there are thousands of images of the said cars floating around, the hard part was the actual rendering and cutting of the decals that would eventually find their way onto the car, and placing them in about as accurate a position as possible, given the limited area.

As the Project 155 had to remain street-legal, and still be able to perform its duties as a ‘daily-driver’, I decided against the ‘ground-effects’ body-kits and huge rear spoiler of the actual race car, and opted for a more modest boot spoiler, courtesy of a fellow 155 owner Philip Victor (thanks bud!)

With all the actual decals cut, including a special ‘AR 105^th Anniversary’ laurel designed by Remus himself, as well as the AF.com URL, and at my insistence a special Motorsport Playground rear screen wrap, it was time for the painstaking work of actually applying the decals onto the car, a process which took a whole week.

Ever the perfectionist, Remus monitored the car closely despite his hectic schedule, and on a few occasions ripped-off existing decals because he felt they were not right, and remade them, even though they looked fine to me!

The result after about 10 days at Motorsport Playground was nothing short of breath-taking. It was as though the glory days of 90’s Touring Car racing had descended on Sunway. It really was a dream come true. And that’s exactly what Remus does at Motorsport Playground; he makes dreams come true.

As awesome as the Project 155 looked, it was far from the only car being worked on there, and it wasn’t the ONLY historic race replica being created either, for I distinctly saw a very nice white Celica GT4 being made into a Carlos Sainz rally replica (see photo gallery).

Amongst the other serious metal getting ‘wrapped’, the race replica cars really did stand out all on their own. The ‘Project 155’ is finally complete, and driving back from Motorsport Playground was a nail-biting experience to say the least, as fellow motorists moved in too close for comfort to get a better look.

It really is quite amazing what Remus @ Motorsport Playground created here; a piece of history that will never be repeated has actually come back to life. We will never again see an Alfa Romeo 155 racing in the Touring Car Championships, be it BTCC, WTCC or DTM, ever again, but thanks to Remus and his crew, at least a replica of one lives on, right here in Malaysia. If you can dream it up, Remus can make it come true.

If you have an itch that you’ve wanted to scratch for a really long time, insofar as turning your car into a replica, or simply wanting to give it another colour without painting over the factory finish, you should hop over to have a chat with Remus at Motorsport Playground, call 017-366 6666 or 03-56113802 or find them here: