Back in an Alfa: GTV V6

[MiniMan64]

Many moons ago I owned a 156 SW V6 that I bought by accident but really should not have sold. 156 V6 It was a car that absolutely adored the noise and looks but that I never really trusted for main family car duties. It also seemed to be a magnet for other people to drive into.



It was replaced by a surprisingly brilliant Octavia VRS which lacked the drama of the 156 but has been absolutely faultless for 6 years, massive inside, still relatively rapid and actually pretty good to look at too to my eye. The main problem with the Skoda is that s just a bit too good at what it does (a VRS Estate really ought to replace MX5 as the go to answer for any car buying question), so good to the point of boredom. I looked at options to replace it with a bit more drama and a few more cylinders up front, an E43/63 was top of the list, but more and more I found myself wondering why when the Octavia was just so good already.

So in finest man PistonHeads maths I decided the best option was actually another car to fulfill the noisy, more cylinders bit and retain the VRS as the family workhorse.

What was on the list? A thread in Car Buying threw up many intriguing options for around £8k..

XK8 - Strongly disliked the interior
350Z - Seemingly impossible to find in molested
3200/Contential GT - Bottom end of the market money pits
Z4 3.0 - Really, really like these, very nearly bought a couple
Brera - Looked stunning, wrong V6

In the end though there was really only going to be one option an Alfa V6 GTV.





Fantastic to look at, sounds incredible and I d always wanted one. It s not insanely quick but I live in the deepest south west where track days are never going to be an option and let s be honest here, how often do you get to drive properly quickly, legally, on UK roads these days? I wanted something with looks and noise and this ticks both those boxes massively for me.

There seems to be massive variation in the price of these, £10k plus gets you a pristine show car and £2-3k gets you a mistreated one with no history and after market wheels. Hopefully what I ve bought sits somewhere in between that. It s not perfect but there s plenty of history of key work being done (and a few surprising extras) and it s in a colour I love rather than the slightly over the top bright Alfa red that I m sure most would prefer.

It s made the drive home faultlessly last week and I ve done nothing but enjoy it since.

Edited by MiniMan64 on Monday 31st August 12:16

[E-numbers]

Congrats! They look so good in that (vela?) blue. In any colour really. Smart call for something that you can actually use and extend on the road. Sounds like you will be aware of all the busso and GTV stuff to keep on top of.

[shalmaneser]

Such cool cars, and looks great on those Teledial wheels.

[TV8]

Great choice and a lovely colour. Shame they are not ULEZ compliant.
Enjoy

[MiniMan64]

TV8 said:

Great choice and a lovely colour. Shame they are not ULEZ compliant.
Enjoy

Fortunately not an issue for those of us who live nowhere near London!

It's been out and about as much as possible in the last week and so far it's been nothing but brilliant, that engine is an absolute stonker and the noise is just addictive and it's rather a shame that my house doesn't have a drive so it can be sat and admired.




Of course, being 26 years old and Italian it is no where near perfect and nor did I expect it to be. We haven't managed to get it up on a lift yet but a pop underneath has revealed a surprisingly clean undersealed floor and a surprisingly new looking at exhaust. A rifle through the history has revealed repeated underseal treatments over the years and a new Cybox exhaust system fitted several years ago which was a bonus. There are some slightly rusty sill edges visible which I'm hoping won't be a sign of some worse but we'll see.

Exterior wise the colour is lovely but definitely showing it's well driven (104k miles) age. The bonnet in particular has plenty of stone chips and a few spots of lacquer peel which ultimately might necessitate a respray although as this will be no show queen it's not urgent. Although a new badge, DIY grille respray might be on the cards a little sooner. Any suggestions for the chrome surround which has seen better days too?

[Jonfylane]

Autosol metal polish on the chrome grill and rattle can the wire mesh, i did mine like this and it came up surprisingly well. I did go a bit ott on the Busso though !

[shalmaneser]

TV8 said:

Great choice and a lovely colour. Shame they are not ULEZ compliant.
Enjoy

Some 3.2 bussos are compliant fyi. I guess not the slightly earlier 24v units.

[Mr Tidy]

Congratulations on the GTV purchase - it sounds like you're in love!

[VSKeith]

Lovely.

[courty]

TV8 said:

Great choice and a lovely colour. Shame they are not ULEZ compliant.
Enjoy

Cf3 engines are ulez compliant, so any v6 or twinnie from about 2001....unfortunately tgey come with the dodgy engine ecu sited on the rear bank air plenum, cf2 ecus being totally reliable, the size of a hardback book, above the passenger footwell inside the cabin.

[courty]

Very nice, I also had 2.5 156es, and a 3.0 166. Beautiful engines, works of art.
AROC (Alfa Romeo Owners Club), we have a members only track day at Castle Combe every April. Grouped according to driver experience/model of Alfa Romeo, 12 max on track...we get a few from Cornwall, and quite a few 916es...really good vibes, a brilliant day out. Pm me if you want more details for 2027 (I organise them), or join AROC and you'll get an email around Christmas/New Year. Sign up in the first day or two after the email as 60 places sell out very quickly.

[51mes]

courty said:

Cf3 engines are ulez compliant, so any v6 or twinnie from about 2001....unfortunately they come with the dodgy engine ecu sited on the rear bank air plenum, cf2 ecus being totally reliable, the size of a hardback book, above the passenger footwell inside the cabin.

The worst part about the CF3 engines was not only the move of the ECU to ontop of the plenum, but the introduction of precats directly below them - with no heat shielding. There are two things that happen - 1 the ECU gets baked and solder joints pop, and/or the heat from the precats (effectively directly bolted to the head) bakes the exhaust valves causing sticking valves and loss of compression - leading to an EML and a top end rebuild. The precats also cause a loss in power too ... Not the best Idea ever - and yes I've had this somewhat expensive problem ;-(

Lovely GTV, one of the best looking and sounding engines ever made, and in the second best colour too! - Love mine even though it's cost me a fortune in the 7 years I've owned it.

Enjoy..

[courty]

I also had a 916 GTV for a short period. I found the open diff no problem, smooth as butter on the 916. However, a Quaiffe or Q2 was a real upgrade on the 156 GTAs I had, and also, funnily enough, eliminated torque steer on the 166. However, I was convinced the GTV must have a Quaiffe diff as it was so smooth, but no, just standard diff...no torque steer and pulled out of corners fine.

Edited by courty on Monday 31st August 22:37

[courty]

I would also concur, one of the best colours and the 17" teledials are also up there the 916, perfect for late 1990's era. As for stone chips etc. I would give some distance, enjoy the car, enjoy the patina and history, let it live and breath. Expensive resprays rarely come up to factory standards or customer expectations...save the money for belts, pulleys and petrol, which are the three big costs of these cars in my experience.

[courty]

Also for the chrome trumpets, you can relive your youth at Easter. Save the Easter egg foil and go out with a beaker of water and polish your chrome up, same as your Chopper or Grifter in 1980 :-)