When Ford first developed the Mustang, they were armed with a critical piece of information: The mid 1960's were about to witness the transformation of baby boomers to automobile consumers. Armed with this knowledge, they strived to create a car that would attract the attention of this younger generation. For…
Affordable Classic Cars – The Alfa Romeo GTV-6
Alfa Romeo might not be a company that is as well known as Chevy and Ford, but anyone that is into classic cars should by now at least be familiar with the name. Alfa Romeo is an Italian automobile manufacturing company that was founded in Milan in 1910. Historically, their company has been greatly impacted by the two world wars. You can read more about the history of the Alfa Romeo company here, it is actually a very fascinating company story, at times even being under the ownership of a Benito Mussolini run government.
Alas, we are not here to talk about the company, we are here to talk about one of the coolest looking modern classics of recent memory, the Alfa Romeo GTV-6 which was first offered in 1980. When you think about Italian sports cars, what comes to mind? Do you instantly think of famous designer Giorgetto Giugiaro? He designed it. Do you think of deep booming V6 engines? The GTV-6 has it in the name and under the hood. Certainly, you think of a spacious yet compact leather two seater interior – and that’s where the GTV-6 diverts from stereotype – it had room for four and luggage, but certainly not at the expense of looking cool.
Consumers could choose between the classic 2 liter 4 cylinder or an aluminum V6, which boasted 158 HP from its 2.5 liter displacement. Clearly, the V6 was the better choice and is our focus in this article. At the time, many people considered it the best sounding V6 available, and boy did it sound beautiful. Bosch fuel injectors were also an integral part of the setup. The car also featured 15 inch OEM alloy wheels, as opposed to its predecessors 14 inch OEM steel wheels.
One noteworthy point about the V6 was its atypical transaxle design, which was featured in both the GTV and its four door counterpart, the Alfetta. This design was especially unconventional due to the fact that it had rear driven wheels while the engine was obviously mounted under the hood in the front of the vehicle. This lead to an equally unconventional way of shifting into first – drivers needed to first shift into second before entering first gear or they would hear a cacophonous crackle in the gear box.
These days, you can find Alfa Romeo GTV-6 in the $5,000 – $20,000 range, depending on condition and miles. Once you get this bad boy running, you won’t question why we decided to post this article. The low boom of that V6 and the smell of fine Italian leather make this a great entry level classic car. Just make sure you have an Alfa Romeo mechanic’s number handy, as these things are notorious for being difficult to both work on and source parts for. They are also notorious for rusting issues so make sure you give any GTV-6 a thorough inspection before making a final decision.