As a petrolhead, receiving a car as a 21st birthday present is surely the ultimate gift. How on earth the seller of this
Alfa GTV Cup
reacted on being given this we can only imagine. A V6 Alfa Romeo on turning 21? It's the stuff dreams are made of. Let's hope the insurance was covered too...
Driving position terrible; do you care?
And moreover this isn't just any V6 Cup, if such a thing exists. It is number 001 of 419 produced globally and 155 offered in Britain. This is according to
alfaowner.com
, which encouragingly does list this very car with its current owner and for sale. So it's a pretty important Alfa.
The GTV Cup road car was produced off the back of the GTV Cup championship (can you imagine the noise?) and launched in 2001 as a run out special for the GTV before the GT replacement arrived. All UK cars were V6s (some four-cylinder cars were sold in Europe) in Alfa Red, of course. The Cup was identified by a unique bodykit, a pair of Momo sports seats and the silver production plaque. But then the GTV was hardly in need of much visual enhancement, was it?
That glorious 3.0-litre Alfa V6 continued unchanged in the Cup as well, making 218hp, 199lb ft and probably one of the finest noises to be made by a combustion engine. Contemporary reports suggested it wasn't a bad steer either, with decent traction and a nice amount of adjustability. It did lack the ultimate finesse of something like an E46 330Ci though. And at £26,995, the Alfa wasn't a huge amount cheaper.
If Carlsberg did 21st birthday presents...
But, tired old cliche though it certainly is, rationality doesn't often figure in an Alfa Romeo purchase. If you wanted one in the early 2000s, nothing else would have sufficed; today it will be much the same. POA seems a little ambitious but the seller could probably name his price to the right Alfa enthusiast. For some reference, there's one
other Cup
available in the classifieds at £8,995. Again, pointing out that an ostensibly very similar
GTV V6
can be had for £4K (with more miles, yes) probably won't be a factor at all.
You may have noticed this entire feature has not mentioned the 4C. We hope to bring you some UK driving impressions just as soon as possible. Wonder if we can get a Cup along too?
ALFA ROMEO GTV V6 CUP
Engine: 2,959cc V6
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 218@6,300rpm
Torque (lb ft): 199@5,000rpm
MPG: 24.1
CO2: N/A
Recorded mileage: 68,000
First registered: 2002
Price new: £26,995
Yours for: POA
See the original advert here