Sacrilege or true Alpha passion? Sieger put Busso V6 in Alfa Romeo Berlina

“It’s actually a racing car, but with a nice interior,” is how Sieger de Haan (34) succinctly summarizes his latest creation. And it must be said: when we come face to face with the bright red sedan (in Porsche’s color Carmin Rot) we can only agree. From the outside it looks quite dangerous, without bumpers and with a lowered Squadra chassis, but inside it is comfortable: electrically adjustable and heated front seats from the Alfa 166, air conditioning, power steering … Perhaps this is the best Berlina ever built. Sieger did not do it overnight, because everything had to be right, down to the last screw. “The spaghetti exhaust in particular was quite a puzzle!”, says the Achterhoeker.

Sieger de Haan with his Alfa Romeo Berlina 3000.

Fortunately, he had already gained enough experience. While other boys tinkered with their mopeds in their teens, he casually picked up a Porsche 928 at the age of fifteen. “It belonged to my uncle, but it was no longer in the best condition. That’s why I demolished it, to use parts such as the engine block and gearbox to get two other 928s running well again.” Although Sieger did that job under the supervision of his uncle, the tone was set: after high school he started studying to become a car mechanic. Not a moment too soon, because he had already completed his first Alfa Romeo Giulia. “Next to and in front of that 928, my uncle drove Alfa Romeo: a Giulia, a Berlina. He also had a beautiful Giulia 1600 Spider from the 101 series in his shed, with the 1,750 cc engine. This has further fueled my love for the Italian brand. I’ve owned several, as well as a number of BMWs E36, a Bertone Junior, a 916 GTV 3.0-24V, Berlinas and a few Giulias. I bought my first Giulia – of course – from my uncle. As a parts package, because its bodywork was completely rusted. So we started looking for a body. We found it in a chicken shed at a surgeon’s house in Apeldoorn. I paid 310 euros for it at the time and so I started restoring my first Giulia at the age of sixteen. I obtained my driver’s license accelerated, so that I drove my first legal kilometers in my own restored, lowered and bumperless red Giulia Super with a two-liter engine! A few months after the Giulia was finished, I exchanged it for a Bertone Junior parts package, including a 1.8 turbo engine. Many people thought that the power source did not fit, but it still worked. I was nineteen at the time, the student loans had run out, but the Giulia was ready!”

For the non-expert: this is what an Alfa Romeo Berlina looks like as standard.

It is clear: Sieger likes to tackle things and not half measures. He started his own company Vittorio Motorsport in Borculo in 2019, specializing in restoration, tuning and restomodding. Before that, he had worked for a Land Rover specialist for more than ten years. In his spare time he installed his first BMW engine in a Defender and sold the car. After a few years, the owner came across a nicer Defender (also equipped with a BMW power source) and sold the first ‘BMW Defender’ to Marijn van der Steen (46). Marijn: “My car love started with a Volkswagen T1 Split Bus, a car that I got into with a big smile every time. Off-road events with friends then drove me towards the Land Rover Defender. The first one I bought was tackled by Sieger. That’s how our contact started.”

Even though Marijn has no automotive background – he is a chiropractor and has his own practice in Doetinchem – the two immediately clicked in the automotive field. “Sieger has pure passion for the profession,” said the host. We are not at Sieger’s home in Laren, Gelderland, or at his company, but at Marijn’s, who lives between Lochem and Warnsveld. That’s where the reason for our visit is: the Alfa Romeo Berlina 3000.

3000 in the same typography as the normal 2000 on the butt of the Alfa Romeo Berlina.

Two years construction time

Sieger has worked hard. More than 2,000 hours went into the construction of the steroid Berlina. Everything is made by hand or ‘custom’. Marijn helped here and there (working on the chrome work and cleaning work) to also get a feel for the powerful sedan. For example, the Berlina, which was purchased in 2020, was completely ready two years later.

Sieger shows that this job was no easy task with a lengthy printout of the work, clearly arranged:

Body

• Alfa Romeo Berlina 2000 (1972)
• Completely sanded/blasted and built from bare metal to the color ‘Carmin Rot’ from Porsche in base coat plus another three layers of clear coat.
• Provided the bottom with epoxy as a base layer, then provided with Innotec body coating and Innotec cavity treatment.
• New Old Stock sheet metal parts: hood, trunk lid, front, tail, left and right front fenders, left rear fender, bottom right rear fender and inner, middle and outer sills.
• Body fully welded and reinforced.
• Engine beam adjusted to move the Busso just a little further back.
• Tunnel adapted to the ZF S5 dogleg gearbox to be installed
• NOS door handles, including keys.
• NOS grille heart.
• Enamel logos.
• Vitaloni clamp mirror sprayed in black wrinkle finish.
• LED headlights with side lights and indicators.
• NOS taillights.
• Custom grille with single headlights.
• All chrome work restored.
• 3D printed stainless steel ‘3000’ logo in the original spot on the back.

Interior

• Dashboard original Berlina 2000, repaired by myself.
• Tachometer converted from mechanical to electric due to injection engine.
• Odometer also converted to electric and equipped with GPS signal.
• Have the original wood restored by a furniture maker friend.
• New heaven installed.
• Complete bottom provided with a sound-insulating layer of bitumen.
• Complete car (floor plus roof) equipped with sound and heat insulating mats.
• Top quality Italian mat set in interior and trunk.
• Alfa Romeo 166 seats in dark blue leather, heated and electrically adjustable using buttons placed in the center console. The chairs were then renovated to the original color.
• Rear seat original Berlina, matching colored with the front seats.
• Door panels original Berlina in black.
• Center console adapted to seat buttons, gearbox and air conditioning, and equipped with USB connection and telephone holder.
• Air conditioning (original Berlina!).
• Height-adjustable steering column from an Alfa Romeo 6 with column switches and steering wheel.
• Automatically dimming interior mirror from the Alfa 166.
• 3D printed stainless steel ‘3000’ logo on the dashboard.

Undercarriage

• Squadra Bianca springs front and rear.
• Bilstein B6 shock absorbers front and rear.
• Rear springs/shock absorbers converted to ‘coil over’ and therefore height adjustable.
• massive 27 millimeter front stabilizer bar.
• Adjustable front camber arms.
• All parts powder coated in satin black and bolts/nuts passivated in gold.
• All balls and chassis rubbers are new (polyurethane here and there, the rest reinforced Montreal rubber).
• Rack and pinion steering box from an Alfa 6.
• Overhauled 10/43 locking axle with 25 percent locking.
• BMW 750i front brake calipers with ventilated brake discs and Pagid brake pads (rear original brakes).
• Steel braided brake lines all around.
• Maxilite 15×7 et29 GTA replica wheels with (at the time of writing) Yokohama Advan HF type-D summer tires (225/50R15).
• OZ Racing 16×7 ET25 ‘Cosworth’ rally wheels with Toyo Proxes 205/50R16 winter tires.
• 25 millimeter track wideners at the front.

Engine and gearbox

• Alfa Romeo 3.0-V6-12V-Busso from a 916 GTV Spider 3.0
• Bosch Motronic 3.7 injection system with DIS ignition coil (maintenance-free) and regulated lambda sensor.
• Engine converted from transverse to longitudinal.
• Carter pan from an Alfa 6 made to fit.
• Oil pump constructed from parts of an Alfa 6 and a Spider 3.0.
• Alfa 6 valve covers and intake mounted (and shortened) for ‘old’ look Busso.
• Handmade ‘equal length’ exhaust manifolds and exhaust in stainless steel (63.5 millimeters thick) with free-flow silencers, of which one valve silencer is remotely controlled.
• Custom made stainless steel inlet (76 millimeters) with open air filter.
• Alfa 6 flywheel and clutch.
• High-pressure fuel pump above the rear axle.
• Small, modern alternator installed, power steering pump moved, air conditioning pump moved and driven by multi-belt.
• Battery, including main fuse, moved to trunk.
• Aluminum radiator installed and adapted to the Busso.
• Electric cooling fan with thermal switch.
• Wire harness adjusted and concealed as much as possible for a ‘clean’ look.
• Car and motorcycle wiring harness separated, all extras, such as seats, cooling fan and air conditioning, on relays and fused.
• ZF S5-18/3 dogleg gearbox from an Alfa 6 with modified Alfa Berlina gearbox support
• Cardan shaft from Alfa 6 and Alfa Berlina combined and fitted together

This story comes from AutoWeek Classics 01-2024.