RE: Shed(s) of the Week: Alfa GTV and Fiat Coupe
Discussion
Liquid Knight said:
My GTV...
...from a few years ago. Great to drive, spectacular to look at; almost as spectacular as the electronic failure. Nothing a new fuse box every three weeks didn't solve.
Did it have the heated rear window relay mod?...from a few years ago. Great to drive, spectacular to look at; almost as spectacular as the electronic failure. Nothing a new fuse box every three weeks didn't solve.
T16OLE said:
I'd imagine it was a pretty rare colour combo Navy Blur with
blue seats. Love it know if it's still around
blue seats. Love it know if it's still around
Check the reg. on MoT history check website?
There's a 51 reg. Vela Blue (dark metallic) Twin Spark on Autotrader that's had loads of work done on it but has now developed an undiagnosed mechanical noise for about £600.
carinaman said:
There's a 51 reg. Vela Blue (dark metallic) Twin Spark on Autotrader that's had loads of work done on it but has now developed an undiagnosed mechanical noise for about £600.
Cambelt variator, I'd wager. Makes a petrol engine sound like a diesel. Not terminal (initially, at least), and fairly easy to fix on a Twinnie.Unless of course, I am wrong, and it's big ends, caused by previous oil starvation. In which case, it's a scrapper.
Both noises are very different, however, so a test drive/listen would reveal the truth.
Top shedding! I always preferred the Fiat back in the day and the 5-pot appeals but the Turbo was always the one. They both sound like they have been looked after pretty well but I was never keen on that dark green colour on the Coupe. I do however like the colour and wheels on the Alfa, so that would be my choice and whereas I have owned several Fiats, I am still an Alfa virgin! It also looks like the more expensive car.
Started Shedding after after a 2.4 156 JTD, gorgeous car thought I would be OK with Italian idiosyncrasies having owned a Laverda Jota and Guzzi Le Mans, turned out to be the biggest pile of s
te ever in the world, had to forgo two Livaboards in the Red Sea to keep it on the road.
Obviously did not learn anything from the harsh lesson as I would have the Alfa.
te ever in the world, had to forgo two Livaboards in the Red Sea to keep it on the road.Obviously did not learn anything from the harsh lesson as I would have the Alfa.
I chose the GTV - with the Busso (was parked up down the road from me for six years with out moving, got drunk over Christmas last year & left a note on the window, few days later £400 changed hands & I have a one owner, 120k miles smile enducing, wallet emptying piece of art on my drive way. Now T&T and a few have been done - great chassis, very light stearing &......that engine!!! 
There is a very big difference between these two. The Fiat is a very good car, and the Alfa is a terrible car, at least in 2.0 form. My mother bought a new '98 Spider Lusso in '98 , red, red and black leather , 17" Momo alloys bought aftermarket from new, all the options. What a beautiful car, it looked like a concept car. People thought it was a Ferrari. However it was absolutely dreadful to drive, and had 17 different faults at point of delivery, including a tear in the back of the seat, new from the dealer. I overtook a 106 Quiksilver - very much not a GTi - and this brand new so-called sports car from the company that made all those wonderful Mille Miglia cars could barely get past once the 106 floored it (driving in the 90s was more enthusiastic by which I mean more fun) . After the failure of the roof, the separation of the plastic rear window and the alarm starting to go off while driving the car, it was sold and replaced with a 1 year old Z3 M Roadster which had 321 BHP, looked even better, and most of the 17k upgrade price came from the Alfa''s woeful residuals - I.E. The market knew they were no driver''s car - rather than the Z3M being overpriced.
Now to the Fiat. One of my best friends has two really nice 20v Turbos now, and they are marvellous. Years before he had a 16v Turbo, which has the integrale engine. That was brilliant too. I have had an integrale long enough to compare it to the dreadful Alfa when new, and the wonderful Fiat when it was about 8 or 9 years old. The 9 year old Fiat Coupe was a far superior car to the brand new, no expense spared, Alfa.
Now to the Fiat. One of my best friends has two really nice 20v Turbos now, and they are marvellous. Years before he had a 16v Turbo, which has the integrale engine. That was brilliant too. I have had an integrale long enough to compare it to the dreadful Alfa when new, and the wonderful Fiat when it was about 8 or 9 years old. The 9 year old Fiat Coupe was a far superior car to the brand new, no expense spared, Alfa.
I work for an Alfa specialist, here's what to know about the GTV - cambelt interval 36k, water pumps normally reliable, twin sparks burn oil, awkward exhaust setup with many boxes, oil pumps reliable, rear suspension needs powerflexing to last and is a complicated setup, front suspension is much simpler, airbag light issues, windows can cause wind noise and leak water, rear brakes are crap and handbrake effort is poor, awkward to get in and out of car, gearbox reliable on twin spark but common to leak oil, rust not normally a problem, bonnet lifters wear and bonnet is extremely heavy. Personally not a fan of them but the cup versions are nice.
I bought my first Alfa 4 years ago. I bought a 1.6 147. Without a doubt, if I made the same choice again i would have bought a GTV with ANY engine. The v6 is obviously what you want but they all look great and this is a "real" Alfa as opposed to the diesel mitos that everyone is buying these days. Granted I'm young and a "real" Alfa is before my time really but it's a brand you can love
mikEsprit said:
This sure looks a lot like the Qvale Mangusta to me, but I think the designers are different? Designer
Marcello Gandini is credited for the Mangusta.
Such a sad looking car... Marcello Gandini is credited for the Mangusta.
Exterior of the Coupe was Chris Bangle of BMW fame. Interior was Pininfarina and loved to have all of its rubberised plastic turn sticky over the years.
Edited by muppet42 on Friday 9th December 21:08
myhandle said:
There is a very big difference between these two. The Fiat is a very good car, and the Alfa is a terrible car, at least in 2.0 form. My mother bought a new '98 Spider Lusso in '98 , red, red and black leather , 17" Momo alloys bought aftermarket from new, all the options. What a beautiful car, it looked like a concept car. People thought it was a Ferrari. However it was absolutely dreadful to drive, and had 17 different faults at point of delivery, including a tear in the back of the seat, new from the dealer. I overtook a 106 Quiksilver - very much not a GTi - and this brand new so-called sports car from the company that made all those wonderful Mille Miglia cars could barely get past once the 106 floored it (driving in the 90s was more enthusiastic by which I mean more fun) . After the failure of the roof, the separation of the plastic rear window and the alarm starting to go off while driving the car, it was sold and replaced with a 1 year old Z3 M Roadster which had 321 BHP, looked even better, and most of the 17k upgrade price came from the Alfa''s woeful residuals - I.E. The market knew they were no driver''s car - rather than the Z3M being overpriced.
Now to the Fiat. One of my best friends has two really nice 20v Turbos now, and they are marvellous. Years before he had a 16v Turbo, which has the integrale engine. That was brilliant too. I have had an integrale long enough to compare it to the dreadful Alfa when new, and the wonderful Fiat when it was about 8 or 9 years old. The 9 year old Fiat Coupe was a far superior car to the brand new, no expense spared, Alfa.
With more than twice the power between the Alfa and the z I would certainly hope to see a big difference!!Now to the Fiat. One of my best friends has two really nice 20v Turbos now, and they are marvellous. Years before he had a 16v Turbo, which has the integrale engine. That was brilliant too. I have had an integrale long enough to compare it to the dreadful Alfa when new, and the wonderful Fiat when it was about 8 or 9 years old. The 9 year old Fiat Coupe was a far superior car to the brand new, no expense spared, Alfa.
Edited by flight147z on Friday 9th December 22:33
Daninoxon said:
I chose the GTV - with the Busso (was parked up down the road from me for six years with out moving, got drunk over Christmas last year & left a note on the window, few days later £400 changed hands & I have a one owner, 120k miles smile enducing, wallet emptying piece of art on my drive way. Now T&T and a few have been done - great chassis, very light stearing &......that engine!!! myhandle said:
There is a very big difference between these two. The Fiat is a very good car, and the Alfa is a terrible car, at least in 2.0 form. My mother bought a new '98 Spider Lusso in '98 , red, red and black leather , 17" Momo alloys bought aftermarket from new, all the options. What a beautiful car, it looked like a concept car. People thought it was a Ferrari. However it was absolutely dreadful to drive, and had 17 different faults at point of delivery, including a tear in the back of the seat, new from the dealer. I overtook a 106 Quiksilver - very much not a GTi - and this brand new so-called sports car from the company that made all those wonderful Mille Miglia cars could barely get past once the 106 floored it (driving in the 90s was more enthusiastic by which I mean more fun) . After the failure of the roof, the separation of the plastic rear window and the alarm starting to go off while driving the car, it was sold and replaced with a 1 year old Z3 M Roadster which had 321 BHP, looked even better, and most of the 17k upgrade price came from the Alfa''s woeful residuals - I.E. The market knew they were no driver''s car - rather than the Z3M being overpriced.
Now to the Fiat. One of my best friends has two really nice 20v Turbos now, and they are marvellous. Years before he had a 16v Turbo, which has the integrale engine. That was brilliant too. I have had an integrale long enough to compare it to the dreadful Alfa when new, and the wonderful Fiat when it was about 8 or 9 years old. The 9 year old Fiat Coupe was a far superior car to the brand new, no expense spared, Alfa.
You need to know your tools with a GTV. Lots will go wrong but most issues are easy fixes. You buy it expecting a generic garage to keep you on the road.......... then it's a whole world of pain and you will be put off for life.Now to the Fiat. One of my best friends has two really nice 20v Turbos now, and they are marvellous. Years before he had a 16v Turbo, which has the integrale engine. That was brilliant too. I have had an integrale long enough to compare it to the dreadful Alfa when new, and the wonderful Fiat when it was about 8 or 9 years old. The 9 year old Fiat Coupe was a far superior car to the brand new, no expense spared, Alfa.
myhandle said:
the Alfa is a terrible car, at least in 2.0 form. My mother bought a new '98 Spider Lusso in '98
Oh here we go, you can see how this post is going to turn out as soon as the mother's car get's brought in to it! There's always the "my mate had blah blah....they're crap", or "my dad had blah blah blah....they're crap", or "my neighbour had blah blah blah....they're crap" line trotted out isn't there? Or the guy who gets burned so badly by a bad example of a car that his opinion is for ever more disenchanted and he makes it his mission to tell everyone what awful cars they are, and you must never buy one yourself.Every model of every marque has at some time had an owner who had nothing but problems and disappointments. Having experience of just one such example does not make your experience the baseline.
TartanPaint said:
How the bloody hell have I managed to never, ever notice that the Fiat Coupe and Alfa GTV are the same car? I have literally, despite having been in both at various times, NEVER seen them mentioned in the same article, and my brain has never associated the two in any way.
How is this possible? They're practically twins!
Yep, they have a lot in common. Apart from the engines, the main mechanical difference is the rear suspension which is a simple trailing arm system on the Fiat and a multi-link system on the Alfa that has a reputation for consuming bushes at an annoying rate.How is this possible? They're practically twins!
Fitting the lovely Fiat 20V Turbo engine to the Alfa is apparently quite possible according to a specialist I spoke to, and would give the the looks of the Alfa and the performance, economy and sound of the Fiat (The Alfa V6 has the sound nailed, but is very thirsty).
CDP said:
Coming from N. Staffs it reminds me of the way everybody seemed to say "We've got an ST postcode but definitely not Stoke"...
Personally while Oxford's a bit of a dump I wouldn't group it with Stoke.
Haha - reminds me of when I worked in Windsor and we had an SL4 postcode and an 01753 exchange, but it is nothing to do with Slough!! Personally while Oxford's a bit of a dump I wouldn't group it with Stoke.
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