CARS OF THE WORLD

Alpha Montage 2023.

A very expensive toy: a retro Alpha Montage coupe without a motor for $499,000.

U.S. electric car startup Alpha Motor Corporation continues to shock the public with non-standard forms of business: the company, which has not yet released a single car, but has already announced more than ten novelties, this week offered everyone to apply for a very strange Montage coupe for crazy money and with an unclear purpose.

Alpha Motor Corporation, a startup headquartered in Irvine, California, USA, first went public in late 2020 with the announcement of the Ace compact electric coupe and a promising family of multi-car commercial vehicles.

Since then, the concept of the startup has changed, commercial vehicles are no longer in question, but the company has presented a virtual full model range and each model is designed in a retro style.

The founder of the startup is an Asian-American designer Edward Lee, who previously worked at Lexus and Audi — he is the author of the distinctive style of the future Alpha electric cars.

Sources of its funding Alpha Motor Corporation does not disclose, but last summer the company’s website has appeared a section for investors, which indirectly indicates that there are some problems with money.

That section says that production of the first model — the Wolf pickup — is expected to start in 2025, not 2023 as previously reported.

The production site will be in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

The company wants to sell only 3,150 vehicles per year (60% in the U.S., 25% in Europe and the Middle East, and 15% in Asia), with just under 50,000 orders already picked up.

The Alpha Montage coupe unveiled this week is the most expensive and the strangest model in the range.

The model reportedly has its own platform, different from other Alpha models, and is limited in production, which partly explains its exorbitant price.

The engine for this model is offered as an option: it is mounted on the rear axle and rotates the rear wheels through a two-speed transmission.

Maximum power is only 150 kW (204 hp). It has a range of 250 miles (402 km) on a single charge, battery capacity is not disclosed.

If the customer wants to install his own engine on the Alpha Montage, the «range» may change.

If the previous Alpha models are made in the style of the 70’s, the Montage coupe recreates the aesthetics of the 50’s — hence the wide fenders and sills, 18-inch spoke wheels and headlights in their own housings on the legs.

Overall length of Alpha Montage is 4400 mm, width — 1850 mm, height — 1384 mm. The two-seater body has two trunks. The interior is trimmed with expensive, but environmentally friendly materials.

Alpha Montage price is not specified in the press release. There is only an electronic application form.

Foreign colleagues (in particular, Autoevolution magazine that loves to cover all sorts of curious projects) have filled it in and found out, that Montage costs fabulous $499,000 and the company wants $249,500 as prepayment.

The response letter says that the car will have a waiting period of at least 6 months, that the final price is subject to change, and that it will not be possible to resell the electric car.

But the funny thing is that Alpha Montage is not intended for public roads! That is, it can be used only in closed areas — for example, on his ranch, a golf or yacht club, on the racetrack, etc.

To all appearances, with the help of Montage coupe, a young company, which went worse, than it expected, decided to make a fast money, made a homemade retro model of purchased components on a sandpaper and offered it to wealthy fans of auto-exotic.

We won’t be surprised if the analytical agency Hindenburg Research, which has sunk more than one startup, will dedicate its next scathing investigation to Alpha Motor Corporation.