Alfa Carabo Concept Wannabe: 1981 Aztec 7
Some people like to stand out in a crowd and some people just like to stand out! Located in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas, this 1981 Aztec 7 Kit Car is the last thing that you would expect to see driving past the Alamo. The vehicle is for sale here on Craigslist for a price of $6,800. The car was recently posted so it has not been on the market long. We appreciate Pat L. bringing this one to our attention.
This unusual kit car is based on the 1968 concept by Alfa Romeo called the Carabo. The Aztec is built on a Volkswagen chassis and this one is powered by a 1,776 cc VW engine. The seller has spent some money installing new seats, wiring, tires, battery, exhaust and headlights. I have never seen a front end like this on an Aztec.
If you like blue, the seller has equipped the interior with blue LED lighting. The car has air conditioning but it is inoperable currently due to a bad compressor. The gull wing doors appear to work and look to be manually operated. The car is said to run and drive well. The seller states that it gets lots of looks and attention wherever it goes.
I think this car would be fun but I am 6’3″ and the buyer says anyone over 6′ may have trouble fitting in it. It might be my girth that is the problem and not my height! There were not many of these cars produced and this one appears to be in excellent condition. If this is your cup of tea, you should check it out. Has anyone ridden in an Aztec? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Comments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_C111
rather the TR6, but is that engine In Frnt of the rear axel? Can’t see…
WoW an OMB617 asa race engine? Now that;s something (the million mi motor)…
Some of the ideas in the kit are sound but think the TR would B better for my purposes~
Fiberfab in Santa Clara, My brother, Russ designed some of the cars for F-Fab in those days, and if I’m not mistaken this was one of the last projects working for Bud. The flavor was taken from the exotic concept car, ‘Scarab’ by Bertone, but adapted to fit a VW chassis. I would enjoy buying this to keep the design in the family.
I just looked at the Alfa Carabo images, and see I am wrong, it is the Alfa, not Scarab. Sorry ! We had made replacement glass for a variety of vehicles, and the Lamborghini Miura was used for this kit.
I like it!
I wonder if Mercedes has a comment or 2.
I guess steerin wheels do not necessarily line up with the drivers seats on Aztecs?
If the doors extended lower & were not rounded off, i guess it would have been conceivable to fit windows that rolled all the way down.
Gotta love those hood hinges.
That front end treatment just means he lost or never had the “bumper” cover. Second Aztec to come to light in the past couple weeks..
This frustrating year, Texas summer heat, no opening windows, no a/c. And it’s just now coming up for sale?
To each his own. Why the hostility?
Its looks pretty decent from the side, but the front end treatment with the weird spot lights as head lights and a mercedes star?
Mercedes?????
Out of all the possibilities Mercedes??
The only mid engined mercedes i can recal is the C111 and the C311 which later went to production as isdera. This looks nothing like any of them. Did someone found this broken mercedes star somewhere on a parking lot an decieded ” i need to put this on my kitcar!?
Even though I bet there’s not much weight here, just how fast can a 60? Hp VW engine power this? But there is an easy solution, Corvair Power! Just take any Corvair 164 c.i.d. flat six, with two carbs at 110 hp! Even use the Corvair transaxle! Mainly because the engines rotated opposite of each other, so you either swap transaxles, or need to flip the ring gearIn the VW transaxle, but you still end up with a VW transaxle designed for only up to 60 hp? Plus Covairs had optional AC, so there’s already hardware to accommodate that, plus the Corvair engine might be slightly longer, but I’d a lot lower, being almost flat! Plus with headers sounds amazing and will push this car as good as it looks!
Are those Buick Reatta wheels?
To me, it looks like nothing fits right. The front hood by the windshield looks off, the drivers door is definitely off and rear engine cover looks like an add-on.
This car is just a mess.
To install a Corvair mill seems to me to be a great idea.
Oh the stories I could tell! But I’ll just bore you all with the beginning of it all. Back in my later teen years I enlisted in The U.S.Army and was stationed at Ft. Carson, CO. Where I spent everything I made on cheep cars and one new dual purpose street legal dirt bike. But one of the cheep cars was a 1959 Karman Ghia, that was very solid with no rust at all, I removed the bumpers because they were not straight anymore, then had a friend paint it pearl white in the fantastic GI Autoshop the Army had for us, that was a fully equipped mechanical/machine/body/paint shop, with 14 bays that had lifts! Then we re-upholstered it in bright red/maroon. I also was able to add a complete front end with disk brakes from a wrecked 71 Beetle, but the engine was not any good! dam! That car looked amazing, but with only 34 hp, was Slow! In The Mountains at over a mile high-two miles high it was all it could do to get over the Mountain Passes, in either a screaming second gear at 42 mph, or third at the same 42 mph, but you could tell the little engine was straining and getting very Hot and would start pinging, so I’d be forced to downshift to get the air fan flowing faster. So another friend in my Company was into Covairs and jokingly suggested we add Corvair power!! I was open to any ideas that were cheap! So he sold me what at the time looked like a huge lawnmower engine in three boxes, telling me it was a 1966 140hp engine, minus the four carbs! So we rebuilt what we had in front of us, I was able to swap the 140 heads for 110 hp heads, but used the stronger 140 crankcase, nitrated crankshaft and cylinders with forged pistons. After adding a special manifold and two brl carb, with headers and two exhaust pipes that sounded amazing! I was also forced to rebuild a 71 VW Van transaxle that I figured might be stronger than those in the cars? But I still had to open it up, to flip the ring gear, because the Corvair engine rotates the opposite of the VW engine. So I ended up with at least 110 hp, in a car built for 34 hp! At least I had added the disks. On Labor Day weekend, of 1975, we all headed to a drag strip at the foot of the Mountains just west of Denver, I can’t remember the name but it was there I turned a sub 14 sec quarter! But sort of unfortunately I broke the 100 mph barrier, that kept me from running anymore without extra safety equipment like roll bar! But I was still thrilled as a pig in slop! To look at my Ghia, in pearl white looked fantastic, especially after I added some chrome nerf bars front an rear, plus it was hard to tell it was Corvair powered, till I started it up! With the Dune Buggy Torque Camshaft I added it sounded sort of like a big block?! About a month after the drags the car was stolen! Right out of my driveway at an off base house I shared with four other soldiers. I wish I had that still. But since then I have had other Corvair powered VW, plus nice Corvairs, one with an LT1 in the back seat of a late model coupe! That was the quickest car I’ve ever owned! That constantly turned in the 12’s!! All while getting 15-20 mpg! With a 2speed Powerglide!! The only Corvair that was quicker than that was one I raced against, that was powered by a 1967 Toronado 425 High Compression drivetrain! That he drove daily when not raining or snowing! Mostly on smooth flat roads, because the trans pan was only just over 3.5” off the ground, with no one in the car! Oh well sorry for the rant! Good luck have fun and stay safe and healthy out there!