1988 Huntsman Spyder Alfa Romeo

Footnotes

Born on 24th July 1947 in Geelong, Australia, Graham Smith graduated from Ballard University in 1962 with a degree in electronic engineering. He worked as an installer of audio systems in high-end cars before moving in 1970 to the UK where he built radio-controlled models with internal combustion engines, all of his own devising. In 1985 Graham wanted to buy a kit car but could not find anything that satisfied him so he decided to build the Huntsman Spyder, which was constructed between 1986 and 1988.

The Huntsman is powered by a 1.5-litre Alfasud Sprint Veloce 'boxer' engine driving via an Alfa Romeo five-speed manual transmission. Equipped with a rare Sprintex supercharger, the engine has a maximum power output of 175bhp and the Huntsman weighs a mere 632kg. With a power-to-weight ratio of almost 400bhp/ton, the Huntsman's performance is in the supercar league. The 0-100km/h time is estimated to be under 5 seconds.

Topped by a glassfibre body, the chassis is of square-section tubular steel construction, panelled in aluminium. The front suspension is of Triumph origin while the rear features Royale Formula 3 uprights, with double wishbones and Bilstein shock absorbers. The suspension is mounted on Rose joints and is fully adjustable. Smith's creation was registered in the UK in 1988 as a 'Huntsman Spyder Alfa Romeo' with the numberplate 'Q315 FLF'. The completed Huntsman subsequently featured in Kit Car magazine and a copy of the article is on file. Sadly, this exciting project never got beyond the construction of the solitary prototype, there being no funds available to productionise it as either a kit or a turnkey product.

In the summer of 1997 the Huntsman was purchased by Tiger Racing. However, they did nothing with the car and in 1998 it reappeared among the classified ads. It then disappeared from view again before resurfacing in January 2016. The Huntsman subsequently found a new home in a private collection in Italy and is presented today in restored condition. The car is currently Italian registered as 'FH 143 AX'.