My Allante Project

 

Around January 2004 I was looking for a new car, It had to be American, relatively modern and exciting. I knew about the Allante but I had never seen one in Britain, so I checked out ebay, no results, then checked completed items and there she was, a 1989 red, complete with hardtop, only problem it was crash damaged and quite bad.

   

 I contacted the guy selling it as it had not sold, went to see it and did a deal.

I was now the proud owner but needed to get the car sorted out. Now if I was in the U.S. I would source some panels, order a radiator a bit of body work and sorted. But try getting parts shipped from the U.S. most companies just refuse and if they will the shipping is out of the question. Lucky for me I found the Allante forums on the net, what a wealth of info and such great people. I discovered that a company makes fiberglass front bumper covers (www.4rreparts.com) and agreed to ship to the U.K. but not only that, he had all the parts I needed and would put them in the box with the bumper. So I had the car checked on a jig, fitted the panels and bumper, some bodywork to the hood and paint the front. The job is finished, and the car looks great. I’m not 100% happy with the hood, it doesn’t sit quite right but It will do for now and maybe I will get it replaced some time.

  

My car is an export model and the differences are the rear lights are shorter so that the longer euro plates can fit. They also have orange indicators and rear fog lights. The side mirrors are set in front of the quarter-light windows. The seat belts only reel at the top and the buckle slides.

   

The front indicators are orange and the side lights are covered up front and rear with after-marker side lights on the fenders. The front head lights are different to comply with European laws and also for diving on the other side of the road. The radio has a different frequency range but it’s not right.

When I go the U.S. people are always amused by the different terminology used between our countries here are a few examples.

In Britain we say	In the U.S.A.
Boot	Trunk
Bonnet	Hood
Hood	Top
Petrol	Gas
Windscreen	Windsheild
Bum	Fanny
Fanny	You don’t want to know.

 

If you have any questions please email me at info@allante .co .uk (remove spaces)

 

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