Stupendous Alfa Romeo GTV Cup for sale
Low mileage, sensibly upgraded, recently restored and perfect plate included - Alfisti, form an orderly queue
It’s 30 years since the GTV first arrived on our roads, and two decades since the last ones were built. We all have in our minds an image of the classic Alfa Romeo two-door, the accessible and attainable Italian sports car - but that impression is probably dated now, too. As the really old stuff has become ever more expensive, so the Type 916 GTV and Spider have become the Alfa starter classics. And yes, we’re all older than we think.
More pleasingly, there’s plenty to recommend all of them. The 2.0-litre Twin Spark was always one of the more characterful four-cylinder engines, and offered a slightly sharper steer than the heavier V6. But with the Busso you get that sound, that speed, and that underbonnet view. The GTV looks fantastic; the Spider perhaps even better. It’s easy to understand why more people now want one and why higher prices are being asked: even hailing from a decade jam-packed with racy two-doors, the Alfa remains desirable.
A Cup like this one is arguably the holy grail. While it wasn’t perhaps as hardcore as the name suggested, there were plenty of reasons to like it. The model celebrated the GTV Cup one-make race series, though instead of emulating the spec of the competition cars the roadgoing versions got a snazzy bodykit, a new finish for the teledial wheels, a plaque and a half-leather interior. All 155 UK cars (apparently a nod to Gabriele Tarquini’s BTCC-winning machine from 1994) were red. Hardly an extensive overhaul, then, but still a very smart 3.0-litre GTV. It's hard to imagine a world where there could be too many of those.
This is a very early right-hand-drive Cup, number 007, and the rarity of these machines will undoubtedly contribute to how prized they are almost 25 years later. At the most recent count earlier this year, HowManyLeft suggested 53 Cups were on the road and another 68 SORN’d. Get your Alfas back in business, people! This must be one of the very best remaining, offered up by Alfa specialists Autolusso with a whisker under 60,000 miles on it. The car is known to them, too, having had its underside and interior ‘completely overhauled to the highest of standards’ three years ago in-house. It’s only covered a few hundred miles since then.
In addition, a few modifications have hopefully made this Cup into something like the GTV it always should have been. There’s the Q2 diff that’s a must-have for any V6-engined, front-drive Alfa, plus KW V1 suspension, Powerflex bushes and a Wizard exhaust. It really ought to drive as good as it looks. Once you’ve finished gawping at the engine bay, take a look underneath - it’s truly spectacular.
This Cup is some way from your average tired and tatty V6, then. Which does mean you’ll pay for the privilege, at £24,000. These GTVs really have snuck up without anyone noticing a great deal; a standard Cup with more miles sold at £17,250 in an auction earlier this year, and there are cars with six-figure mileage and a good few owners for not much less. All without the upgrades and recommissioning that make this one stand out. Probably not enough to convince those who would buy a Lotus or a Porsche instead, but something very special indeed for anyone who loves Alfas. And we all know there are plenty of those folk around.
The lacquer will peel. The electrics will be moody. And for twenty odd grand that's just not good enough anymore.
But £24k?
Not a chance I'd pay that.
Instead I had a 3.0V6 Lusso in Proteo Red metallic, tan leather and tan carpets. That car was a joy for the 3 years I owned it. Pretty reliable too.
Yet I would t go back. Different priorities now and that boot was tiny.
But the engine? Ah, now that was special. I remember driving a Ferrari 355 round Thruxton. I got back into the Alfa afterwards, and wasn’t disappointed. The engine was magnificent. What a sound!
Oh go on. Just one Quick Look in the classifieds…
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