Following last week's 21 Turbo, we couldn't help but notice
this GTA Turbo freshly added to our classifieds
. On the one hand, they were an arse-engined, plastic, not-that-fast French wannabe-supercar from the Eighties with the instrument binnacle from a Renault 5. On the other hand they were an exclusive, attractive, refined French wannabe-supercar from the Eighties with the instrument binnacle from a Renault 5 which - say it quietly - was by all accounts more than a match for a Porsche 911 in terms of driving experience.
Whatever your opinion, commercially it was... well, if you wanted to be kind you'd call it an 'expectations shortfall', and if you didn't you'd call it a flat-out disaster.
Despite a rapturous reception by the motoring press at the time, they just didn't sell. Maybe it was the use of the diminutive R5 fascia, or maybe it was that feeling of 'well this is huge fun, but I get the feeling something's going to go wrong with it soon' which accompanied so many fast French cars from the Eighties...
Today of course there aren't so many about, which makes this one all the more special. The vendor sold GTAs when they were new, and when he saw this one he said that it was 'too good to say no to'. Apparently this one really is 'like new'. It sat in a museum for the first five years of its life, and since then has had just one lady owner.
Price-wise, fifteen grand is top money for a GTA-Turbo. You might even get an A610 for that much - or would you prefer the peace of mind of 911 ownership?