If there were more cars like this...

...the world would be a much better place. I'm talking, of course, about the Alfa Romeo Bertone Coupé. Not your everyday car, but a popular classic among enthusiasts. First of all, it's probably a good idea to point out that the car isn't actually called Bertone Coupé. Its original name was... well, nothing, really. There were several models ranging from 1963 to 1977, all with the same basic design. But they all had names like GT, GTV and GTA. Which is like calling a Volvo stationwagon "the Volvo StationWagon". But, being designed by Bertone, and having a coupé body, the fans quickly put two and two together and started calling it the Bertone Coupé.

The one featured here is a bit of a treat, though. Owned by the former editor of a legendary Norwegian car magazine called Carburetti, it has undergone several modifications throughout the last years. The owner had something special in mind. He, like all Bertone Coupé fans, had always wanted a GTAm. Pretty much on the same level of realism as wanting your own island, or becoming the first Norwegian in space. Only 40 GTAms were built, and quite few have made it through these four decades. In other words, a good example costs a mountain of money. And you don't exactly take it for a regular spin if you own one. Most examples are kept in private collections or exhibited in museums. But our guy had something else in mind. He wanted a GTAm which he could drive any time he liked; both on public road and racing.

So he took his existing Bertone racer and got to work. And, after years of labour, he got as close as he possibly could without turning it into an exhibition piece. Soon it was racing in the Norwegian Corsa Italiana series, featuring race-prepared Italian classics. But it didn't stop there. He wanted it street legal. As most Norwegian car enthusiasts know, our department of motor vehicles isn't known for its forgiving and sporty nature. Actually, getting anything certified other than a TÜV-approved suspension kit is like trying to understand quantum physics. But here it is, race-ready and a stop for groceries on the way home.

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When shooting the pictures, we noticed that one of us had brought an (almost) standard Bertone Coupé, by pure accident. Double shots for comparative reasons were inevitable.

The owner informed me that both the GTAm replica and the green coupé would be put up for sale, in order to finance an even more exciting set of wheels. Still, when looking at the cars bathed in the low evening sun, he couldn't help getting a bit sentimental. I don't blame him...