Fast X’s Alfa 2000 GT got a 2.3-litre Ford engine and was tuned by Alfaholics

The Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce was many things, but a mobile bomb disposal unit was not one of them. Mercifully, the producers and car builders behind Fast X – 2023’s most explodey film – have added a new feather to the delectable Alfa’s cap.

And they’ve done it with the help of the world’s leading Alfa Romeo specialist, Alfaholics, and the engine from a hot hatch. Speaking to TopGear.com, Fast X stunt coordinator Alex King confirmed the orange GT was a very special car.

King told TG how he’d already had experience with Ford’s 2.3-litre Ecoboost engine for the new Indiana Jones movie. “We put it into what looks like a 1940s Mercedes, but we cheated – it’s actually a 1957 Mercedes cut in half and extended by about a foot. We put a 2.3-litre turbo in there with a Mazda gearbox.

“And because that performed magnificently, we did the same for Han’s Alfa in Fast X – the 2000 GT Veloce. That car is the mutt’s nuts,” he added. He reckons it’s producing around 280bhp for the film, which is ‘huge’ because of the car’s light weight. “We went to Alfaholics for the geometry and suspension – why would you go anywhere else?”

Indeed, Alfaholics – a family-owned company based out of North Somerset – has been fettling gorgeous little Alfas for years and builds the mighty GTA-R, too. They had one standard 2000 GT, mind, “because if you’re opening the bonnet you want to see an Alfa Romeo engine”.

Other standard cars used – or blown up – in Fast X include a battalion of Dodge Chargers used for that bomb disposal scene in Rome, a gold Lamborghini (because of course), a 997-generation Porsche 911 dressed up to look like a GT3, and a load of H2 Hummers.

Of the latter, King said: “We had some LS3s crated up and ready to go if we needed to put some in the H2 Hummers for a sequence in Rome, but we didn’t need to because they did enough. Where we can, we leave it as standard because that saves time and money.”

Naturally though, all of the ‘hero’ cars – except Han’s Alfa – got V8s; a trusted unit for King’s US-partner Dennis McCarthy. He’s built a tonne of Fast and Furious machinery over the years, and between the pair of them, can get pretty much anything the producers and directors need.

“Dennis and I have done several films together, we know what each other is capable of,” King said. “He lets me get on with my stuff, sends stuff over, and I send stuff to him depending on what the requirements are.”

And the requirements were to have many disposable cars, because unless it’s not abundantly obvious, Fast X is very, very explodey. “You’ve got purchases, you’ve got testing, you’ve got background rentals, you’ve got hires… maybe between 200 to 300 cars?” King said of how many cars he reckoned Fast X burned through. All sourced via King and McCarthy’s extensive contacts book.

“A lot of my crew are ex-motorsport, some Formula One, and they will know someone,” he said. “They’re all in that world, where they’ll say ‘hang on, let me just call so and so’. Sourcing stuff is good fun, we're buying stuff from all over the place. And it’s not just one, we’re buying six or seven or eight, and they all look different.”

Lamenting the car industry’s fascination with various trim levels and facelift cycles, King said: “One will be a slightly different series, one will have different wheels, different bumpers, headlights and so on. You think, why can’t they just leave cars alone?”

Of course, the film didn’t leave the cars alone. “I reckon we must have destroyed at least 50 or 60 cars. I might be way off with that figure though, it might be a conservative estimate!”

Thankfully, Han’s car fared better. “The 2000 GT wasn’t destroyed, which was nice,” he added. Indeed, so nice is the build, King’s looking to do one for himself. “I bought my own [2.3-litre Ecoboost engine]. I’ve got one of the Alfa bodies. I’m going to build my own. I’ll let you know if I get it built.”

Watch this space. And if you want to see an Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce do service as a mobile bomb disposal unit in Rome, Fast X is out now. Have a read of TopGear.com’s review right here.