Taking the 105-series Alfa Romeo GT Junior as a base, the Totem GT is available as an EV or with a monstrous V6.
With achingly pretty styling and well-engineered fundamentals, 105-series Alfa Romeos serve as the perfect blank canvas for classic Italian restomods, as Alfaholics has demonstrated with the scintillating GTA-R. The trouble for potential Alfaholics customers is that GTA-R order books are full for the next nine years, which leaves the door open for a new player in the space: Totem. The Italian firm has produced its own rendition of a 105 coupe called the Totem GT, which will make hit the stage at Salon Prive later this month.
Originally announced as a modernised, all-electric classic back in 2020, the Totem GT has since spawned a petrol powered V6 model that uses the same basic design language and chassis. With a bespoke, wide-body carbonfibre exterior, very little is carried over from the donor car – Totem takes the bulkhead of an original Alfa GT Junior and marries it to a new carbonfibre chassis, with steel subframes front and rear. Billet aluminium double wishbones are mounted to these for a layout that’s significantly more advanced than the GT Junior’s unibody chassis and solid rear axle design.
The V6-engined model is dubbed the Totem GT Super, and uses a bespoke dry-sumped 2.8-litre twin-turbo V6 with 441kW and 702Nm of torque. The motor revs to 7500rpm and drives through a six-speed manual transmission mounted at the rear axle, and there’s scope for obscene levels of power with Totem’s stage 2 performance package. Thanks to a supercharger and a raised 8500rpm rev limit, the stage 2 engine produces 552kW and 850Nm of torque; performance figures haven’t been announced yet, but given that the GT Super weighs just 1180kg, it’s sure to sit in the realm of supercars.
To reign in all that power, Totem has fitted four-piston monobloc callipers all round, which sit behind 18-inch wheels built in the style of the 13-inch items fitted to 105-series GTAm race cars. Pirelli P-Zero tyres are equipped as standard, with Trofeo Rs available as an option – electric power steering has been fitted to manage the forces generated by the wider modern rubber.
The EV version is simply called the GT Electric, and Totem has chosen a motor drive unit with an integrated limited-slip differential to power the rear wheels alone. Generating more than 373kW and an astonishing 1100Nm of torque, the GT Electric sprints to 100km/h in just 2.9sec and on to a limited 254km/h top speed, but beyond the raw numbers, Totem has tried to inject some personality into the powertrain with a host of adjustable parameters. Through the GT Electric’s 13-speaker external sound system, the driver can choose to simulate different types of internal combustion engines, with user-specified gear ratios and rev limits. There’s also a drift mode that initiates slides through regenerative braking on the rear axle.
Drawing from an 81kWh battery pack the GT Electric can achieve up to 500km of range, but the electric drivetrain does carry a 120kg weight penalty over the ICE version. All GTs are built with a custom interior that harks back to the GT Junior with a pair of round gauges perched on top of the dashboard. Bespoke leather, metal and carbon finishes have been integrated into the design, with the option of 1750 GTV-inspired seats or lightweight carbon-shelled items. Connectivity is provided by a vintage-style head unit with a 3.5-inch digital display.