Talk to me about GTV 3.0 v6

[bqf]

Sorry I posted and then forgot about it.

My 3.0 V6 is a silver car with red interior, 98 on an 's'. It's 67k miles, in A1 order all round.

I'm just having it serviced, powerflex bushes putting on all round and undersealing it. History wise it's missing some service history but condition more important to me. I'm a massive alfa enthusiast, I race them, drive them and know a good one.

Might still sell up, but I'm tempted to keep it too! Bloody alfas

[cirian75]

oohhhh, sounds nice.

Do you have any pictures ?

[TA14]

cirian75 said:

oohhhh, sounds nice.

Do you have any pictures ?

You are aware that this is the Kent car from page one aren't you?

(FWIW IMO these cars are getting rare to find a good one and it's easier to travel 275 miles than to bring a poor car up to top spec., not that I know this car.)

[cirian75]

275 miles is the big hairy arsed baboon in the room

[Pat H]

TA14 said:

IMO these cars are getting rare to find a good one and it's easier to travel 275 miles than to bring a poor car up to top spec.

Quite.

I am in Lancashire, which is fairly central in the UK, but it seems that Alfas often live in the south.

I made a round trip of 440 miles to buy my 2.4 JTD 156 from Docklands.
I made a round trip of 480 miles to buy my 2.5 V6 156 from Southend.
I made a round trip of 410 miles to buy my first GTV from Barnet. Did that trip twice. Once to view, once to collect.

I would think nothing of doing a 500 miles trip for the right car. It is only a day out.

Compared with boring German stuff, Alfas were sold in minute numbers. For example, fewer than fifty 3.2 GTVs were imported to the UK. If you want a good one, you need to be prepared to travel.

If you ask the right questions and get some quality photos emailed and get your HPI done, then you can get a pretty good idea of whether the journey is likely to be fruitful.

Get on the train with a sack full of cash. If the car is good, call your insurance company and then drive it home. If it is crap, just walk away.

I made one very long journey for an Alfa Sprint, which turned out to be a dog, but apart from that I have been lucky.

Four out of the five Alfas that I have owned were bought from private vendors and you can often tell a lot about a car from the sort of chap who is selling it.

[JamesMK]

Hmmm . . . I'm not far from Kent, and I'd really like a silver one. Would I be content with a twin spark or would everyone advise me to get a v6?

bqf said:

Sorry I posted and then forgot about it.

My 3.0 V6 is a silver car with red interior, 98 on an 's'. It's 67k miles, in A1 order all round.

I'm just having it serviced, powerflex bushes putting on all round and undersealing it. History wise it's missing some service history but condition more important to me. I'm a massive alfa enthusiast, I race them, drive them and know a good one.

Might still sell up, but I'm tempted to keep it too! Bloody alfas

[TA14]

JamesMK said:

Hmmm . . . I'm not far from Kent, and I'd really like a silver one. Would I be content with a twin spark or would everyone advise me to get a v6?

Well you've got a Tasmin, it's similar to that: is the 2l worth having or is the V8 the only one to get? If it's a weekend car then it's hard to think why not the V6, for everyday (unlike the TVR unless you go Cosworth turbo route) the 2l twin spark is a good engine and you get the same interior but smaller wheels, just buy a lot of oil and cam belts.

[JamesMK]

My reasoning for looking at twin spark models is that the Alfa would be my sensible car, with the TVR for fun. A V6 might upstage the TVR and I couldn't have that.

TA14 said:

Well you've got a Tasmin, it's similar to that: is the 2l worth having or is the V8 the only one to get? If it's a weekend car then it's hard to think why not the V6, for everyday (unlike the TVR unless you go Cosworth turbo route) the 2l twin spark is a good engine and you get the same interior but smaller wheels, just buy a lot of oil and cam belts.

[cirian75]

done the insurance quotes, and V6's are out

looks like if its a GTV its has to be a TS, or if a 147/156 a TS/JTD

[CarlosSainz100]

Ive owned a gtv 3.2 (actually the silver one for sale at veloces now 10k!) And currently own a gtv spider ts. To drive the ts wins hands down, the 3.2 is nose heavy and the engine almost overwhelms the chassis. With the standard exhaust i never thought the busso engine sounded 'that' good.
If you do buy the ts then if the engine has ever been run low on oil then it will blow up requiring an engine rebuild from autolusso at a cost of 1500k. Ask me how i know that......

[JamesMK]

CarlosSainz100 said:

Ive owned a gtv 3.2 (actually the silver one for sale at veloces now 10k!) And currently own a gtv spider ts. To drive the ts wins hands down, the 3.2 is nose heavy and the engine almost overwhelms the chassis. With the standard exhaust i never thought the busso engine sounded 'that' good.
If you do buy the ts then if the engine has ever been run low on oil then it will blow up requiring an engine rebuild from autolusso at a cost of 1500k. Ask me how i know that......

I guess you speak from experience! I also have experience of paying for engine rebuilds but that's another story.

Main point about a GTV is the way it looks. Each time I see one, I have to stop and take a closer look. Few other cars, even Alfas, have the same effect.

[CarlosSainz100]

Agreed. They are fantastic looking cars. I find the ts quite chuckable round the corners, although over bumps it crashes, but that could be the old suspension on mine. I see the spider as more of a cruiser anyway. And alfa do the best leather of any manufacturer this side of ferrari or maserati.

[Harbuzi]

I used to have one (Phase 2 GTV V6) - always loved the way it looked and it was no slouch either.

This thread makes me miss mine

After 2 fairly trouble free years (once I'd had the cambelt, brakes and some suspension work done) I ran into a lot of issues with mine in quick succession (new exhaust, oil cooler and pipes, throttle potentiometer and other things) which threw up a bill in the region of £2k. At the time the wife and I were saving for a wedding and thinking about moving so she had to go (the car not the wife).

Now those life events are done I'm thinking about returning to the club.....(and then I remember the fun and games with the blooming locks every time the temp got below 3 degrees....though I do have a garage now....tempting!)