Sports car in disguise

Alfa GT/GTV

A model that many Alfa enthusiasts will remember with pleasure (and maybe even wistfulness) is the well-shaped and well-driving GTV. Personally, I think this is the "real" GTV. The model came in 1974 and was for its time (and still is) one of the most beautiful sports Coupés the world has seen. It was Bertone who designed this beautiful car, and many will probably see it as a design masterpiece.

The Series I editions ran from 1974-1980, and the Series II edition from 1980-1986. The Series II was a regular facelift of the model, which entailed less chrome and more plastic.

This model was based on the Alfetta sedan version, and it was not a bad starting point for a smooth-driving Coupé. These models were known for the fine weight distribution, where also the gear part of the transmission was moved to the rear and combined with the rear gear, which was built according to the De-Dion rear axle construction principle. Alfa called this Transaxle. This was thus the last GTV with rear-wheel drive.

Unfortunately, it went a bit overboard with the gear change, which could have been better, but on the other hand it gave the car a completely unique balance in turns. Steering in this model never got service assistance, so it was a bit heavy on the steering wheel, but you forget all about that when the car is rolling. Then you feel the road unfiltered through the steering wheel in a way that service assistance would have isolated from.

The model originally had "only" the 4-cylinder Nord engine. The facelift in 1980 also meant that the fine Busso V-6 engine in the 2.5 version finally found its way to the GTV. Gasoline injection also found its way to this model. But it was actually not a huge advantage, because the well-adjusted Dellorto carburettors sounded much better.

This Alfa model was also built in a small series with a turbo engine, as far as is known, again one of the Turbo models found its way to Denmark. That model is the holy grail of GTVs.

The car had many fun style details such as the tachometer in front of the driver and the rest of the instruments in the middle of the dashboard (logical if you are an Alfaist), but it was not to everyone's taste. The driving position wasn't quite optimal either, but if you could ignore these little things, this was and is a real Alfa, one of the last ones before Fiat took over.

Although rust has killed many GTVs, it is still a car that is possible to find and even at affordable prices. This is definitely one of the car models that will increase in price.