Low Mileage: 1985 Alfa Romeo GTV6
A modest start marked the advent of the Alfetta GT coupe, a hatchback designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro for the 1975 model year. The car carried a 1.8-liter four-cylinder motor and handled very well, but was somewhat underpowered. A few years later, an upgrade to a 2-liter motor helped – but if a little was good, a lot was better, so in 1981, Alfa installed its 2.5-liter V6. This transformed the car. Here on eBay is a 1985 Alfa Romeo GTV6 with an asking price of $22,000. The car is located in Fresh Meadows, New York. The seller indicates that the car has been cared for by experienced Alfa mechanics, and it has been used largely for weekend drives.
The mechanical brilliance of the GTV6 starts with its 2.5-liter Bosch fuel-injected V6 motor. Making about 150 bhp, the engine could propel the GTV6 from zero to sixty in a little over 8 seconds. Two belts run the valves off twin camshafts, and this is an interference engine, so keeping those belts updated is critical. The magic didn’t stop with the motor: a rear transaxle put the weight distribution right near 50/50. And the suspension is double wishbone, tube shocks, and an anti-roll bar up front, with a De Dion tube, coil springs, tube shocks, and another anti-roll bar in the rear. This car is going nowhere you don’t want to put it. This GTV’s AutoCheck confirms an odometer reading under 73,000 miles but we note some corrosion in the engine bay. Looks like the car has spent some time outside under trees lately, too.
The interior is slightly worn, with cracks in the leather, an ill-fitting glove box door, and shabby carpets. Plenty of collectors will love the black-on-black color scheme, though it’s not my preference. The gearshift controls that transaxle, which does involve contortions in its construction. Those contortions contribute to frequent gear crunching at second.
The seller indicates that the car has “no significant rust” but I would want to lay my eyes on this one, or get it inspected. Alfas were still rusting enthusiastically in the 1980s. The paint could use some help both inside and out. Too, the front engine/rear transaxle arrangement involves a jointed driveshaft utilizing three rubber donuts called giubos which absorb vibration along the drivetrain. These don’t last forever. Replacement isn’t rocket science though it’s time-consuming, but making sure the drive shaft is balanced after replacement can be tricky. While the asking price of this car is about average, the brevity of the listing and slender set of photos leaves me with a lot of questions. How would you interview this seller?
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Comments
I think the seller is a little ambitious based on the cars condition. The Busso V6 used one timing belt that we used to recommend replacement at 30K intervals or until the water pump bearings failed which was fairly often. 85 cars had a lot of teething problems with the clutch. They used a twin disc set-up which was changed in 86 to a single disc unit. The clutch also resided in the transaxle not the the engine bell housing area like Porsche 924,944,928 so balance was even more critical. The driveshaft doughnuts were prone to fail and should be replaced with any sign of cracking. When Alfa balanced the driveshafts they sometimes added additional washers to the bolts that secure the doughnuts so I used to paint mark all hardware so it was replaced exactly as removed. Also clutch assemblies were balanced so a clutch replacement came as a flywheel, pressure place disc assembly ready to install. 85 GTV6 models came with TRX wheels which is why aftermarket wheels are probably installed.
Good information. Was service manager for the Alfas in ’84 and every service invoice given the customer had a note attached on when to come back for belt replacement. Don’t remember any clutch problems with the ’83 or ’84 cars but most of the buyers were using them for local commuting and not track days or racing. Good looking cars keeping Alpha’s reputation for designs intact.
I mind driving one of the smaller-engined ones; even more offset driving position than my Mini and I grumbled about it around town – but once I was out in the country it all clicked and the car danced.
So the seller wants $22k, has two really nice staged photos, then leaves the car outside under a pine tree (of all kinds of trees, pine!) and then couldn’t be bothered to clean out the dropped, dead needles. SMH.
Seller’s first eBay listing, talks about “owner” having it for two years, “no significant rust”, couldn’t be bothered to clean the leaves off, $22K?
A flipper all the way, and I’d run, not walk, away!
When cherished, these are great. I’m not getting that feeling here, however.
This is an extremely optimistic listing. The clearcoat is coming off, there is rust in the front shock towers, the signs of neglect are all over this poor car. This is sad because these are fantastic drivers cars when in top shape. One can bet there is more rust underneath on this and once the tin worm starts to eat it, it stays hungry. Having owned these cars and being a realist, this needs a $15,000 dollar discount applied to the asking price.
South Africa upgraded it even further by dropping in a 3 litre V6 Alfa engine in order to go against the 3 litre Fords and BMW’s etc. After either just one or two seasons they were banned because they beat everything else on the track. I am led to believe that most of them are now in UK and the continent where they race in historic events. When they do come up for sale they fetch very good prices. One currently for sale at £55k.
Larry @ APE (Alfa Parts Exchange) fit a 3 litre 24v 164 engine into a GTV6.
http://www.alfapartsexchange.com/larryjrprojects.htm
And Calloway turbocharged 35 standard GTV6s.
https://bringatrailer.com/2016/10/18/nicest-of-35-1986-alfa-romeo-gtv6-callaway-twin-turbo/
There are better GTV6’s out there for less, but there are fewer and fewer on the market so sellers do have an advantage. Love mine, a blast to drive and the busso is intoxicating – also easy to work on which is good since Alfa’s like attention.
dont ALL fine ladies?