His n Hers future classics - GTV and Z3 content
Discussion
Afternoon all
Some of you may have read my escapades in buying a written off Alfa GTV. Its been great fun putting it back together and today my future wife and I got both of our "fun" cars out for the first time and took them to a classic meet.
Ready to go......
So the cars in question:
Alfa GTV 3.0 V6 24v
Purchased in January 22 from Copart as a Cat N write off.
It had suffered a side swipe whilst parked up which bent the front suspension, cracked the bonnet (its composite) and snapped the wheel in half. I've spent the last 5 months getting it sorted with new front arms, driveshafts, antiroll bars links, new wheels, refurbished brakes, new rear spoiler and resprayed bonnet.
Im really happy with how it looks and drives now. I've uprated the wheels to Alfa GT Blacklines in 18 inches with Michelin Sport 4s
Only issue I have come across so far was some rough running and EML. I bought a Carsoft code reader and identified the MAF as defective. £60 quid later and all of the 220hp horsepower came running back!
The interior is mint in red leather and the car is just a nice place to be. Its not that quick and I've certainly had much quicker cars, but the sound of the Busso is fantastic and the car gets lots of looks!
64K miles and full history - it's a keeper for now!
BMW Z3 wide body facelift
A couple of years ago, when I met my future wife, she recounted how she had had some cool cars in the past - a MGB convertible, a SLK 320 etc.
She had gone off cars - particularly the MGB with its troublesome SUs!
So I managed to convince her she needed a modern classic and after some ebay trawling we came across this lovely Z3 facelift.
As you may know, specs vary greatly on these. We went for a facelift car which has the wider arches and the improved rear lights
It sits on some really nice 18 inch cross spokes which are colour coded and original to the car.
The car was a great price - circa £2400 - and came with a great condition hood (electric), black leather interior and some nice upgrades such as M sport gear leaver and steering wheel.
Handling is sublime - much nicer than the heavy nosed GTV and of course rear wheel drive. The only kicker is that it's the 1.9 engine. I would have loved the 2.2 or 3.0 but this was in budget and she wasnt that bothered about extra power.
To be honest it goes pretty well. Only issue we have had was some serious overheating issues. I was very worried about head hasket issues but it turned out to be an apparently common issue on these where the plastic casing near the waterpump cracks. GSF came to the rescue and its been great ever since.
The kids approve!!
Both the cars bring us lots of fun - now that the weather is out we have started going to a few shows together. I remember when these cars were new but now they qualify of interest at classic car shows!!!
They make a nice change to our daily cars - an XC90 and a FFRR. We have a nice 997 C4 but that never seems to get used and is currently in storage!
Its great to have a hobby where the cars dont cost you much money and the depreciation is almost zero!
Some of you may have read my escapades in buying a written off Alfa GTV. Its been great fun putting it back together and today my future wife and I got both of our "fun" cars out for the first time and took them to a classic meet.
Ready to go......
So the cars in question:
Alfa GTV 3.0 V6 24v
Purchased in January 22 from Copart as a Cat N write off.
It had suffered a side swipe whilst parked up which bent the front suspension, cracked the bonnet (its composite) and snapped the wheel in half. I've spent the last 5 months getting it sorted with new front arms, driveshafts, antiroll bars links, new wheels, refurbished brakes, new rear spoiler and resprayed bonnet.
Im really happy with how it looks and drives now. I've uprated the wheels to Alfa GT Blacklines in 18 inches with Michelin Sport 4s
Only issue I have come across so far was some rough running and EML. I bought a Carsoft code reader and identified the MAF as defective. £60 quid later and all of the 220hp horsepower came running back!
The interior is mint in red leather and the car is just a nice place to be. Its not that quick and I've certainly had much quicker cars, but the sound of the Busso is fantastic and the car gets lots of looks!
64K miles and full history - it's a keeper for now!
BMW Z3 wide body facelift
A couple of years ago, when I met my future wife, she recounted how she had had some cool cars in the past - a MGB convertible, a SLK 320 etc.
She had gone off cars - particularly the MGB with its troublesome SUs!
So I managed to convince her she needed a modern classic and after some ebay trawling we came across this lovely Z3 facelift.
As you may know, specs vary greatly on these. We went for a facelift car which has the wider arches and the improved rear lights
It sits on some really nice 18 inch cross spokes which are colour coded and original to the car.
The car was a great price - circa £2400 - and came with a great condition hood (electric), black leather interior and some nice upgrades such as M sport gear leaver and steering wheel.
Handling is sublime - much nicer than the heavy nosed GTV and of course rear wheel drive. The only kicker is that it's the 1.9 engine. I would have loved the 2.2 or 3.0 but this was in budget and she wasnt that bothered about extra power.
To be honest it goes pretty well. Only issue we have had was some serious overheating issues. I was very worried about head hasket issues but it turned out to be an apparently common issue on these where the plastic casing near the waterpump cracks. GSF came to the rescue and its been great ever since.
The kids approve!!
Both the cars bring us lots of fun - now that the weather is out we have started going to a few shows together. I remember when these cars were new but now they qualify of interest at classic car shows!!!
They make a nice change to our daily cars - an XC90 and a FFRR. We have a nice 997 C4 but that never seems to get used and is currently in storage!
Its great to have a hobby where the cars dont cost you much money and the depreciation is almost zero!
Lovely cars.
I nearly but a GTV V6 in 2011 for under £4k but just as I was about to buy it my boss in what was a start-up business resigned so I backed out. The Alfa interiors from this age were always good.
Having had lots of BMW's as well as Alfa's over the years I decided to buy a Z4 Coupe earlier this year and what's interesting here is that the Alfa MAF sensor was £60 where as I had to pay over £200 for my Z4.
I nearly but a GTV V6 in 2011 for under £4k but just as I was about to buy it my boss in what was a start-up business resigned so I backed out. The Alfa interiors from this age were always good.
Having had lots of BMW's as well as Alfa's over the years I decided to buy a Z4 Coupe earlier this year and what's interesting here is that the Alfa MAF sensor was £60 where as I had to pay over £200 for my Z4.
Were you at Towcester on Wednesday in the GTV? I think I was parked next to you (blue Commodore wagon)
I used to have a Vela blue GTV with a Ragazzon exhaust so it was nice to see yours looking so good, mine had a tan interior, no spoiler and the little 16 inch teardrop wheels, it sounded wonderful I just never ended up driving it enough, had it for about 9 years!
I used to have a Vela blue GTV with a Ragazzon exhaust so it was nice to see yours looking so good, mine had a tan interior, no spoiler and the little 16 inch teardrop wheels, it sounded wonderful I just never ended up driving it enough, had it for about 9 years!
SturdyHSV said:
Were you at Towcester on Wednesday in the GTV? I think I was parked next to you (blue Commodore wagon)
I used to have a Vela blue GTV with a Ragazzon exhaust so it was nice to see yours looking so good, mine had a tan interior, no spoiler and the little 16 inch teardrop wheels, it sounded wonderful I just never ended up driving it enough, had it for about 9 years!
Yes that was me!!!I used to have a Vela blue GTV with a Ragazzon exhaust so it was nice to see yours looking so good, mine had a tan interior, no spoiler and the little 16 inch teardrop wheels, it sounded wonderful I just never ended up driving it enough, had it for about 9 years!
Nik Gnashers said:
Lovely pair !
I really like them both, the Alfa looks mint, and I always wanted one but missed the boat.
I actually really like the facelift Z3 too, even if it's a bit of a girls car, I'd certainly like one as a weekend toy, and the price you paid was fantastic.
Great pics too.
Nothing girly about Z3 widebodies (not that being girly is a problem) 2.8 straight six, Manual, RWD with an LSD I really like them both, the Alfa looks mint, and I always wanted one but missed the boat.
I actually really like the facelift Z3 too, even if it's a bit of a girls car, I'd certainly like one as a weekend toy, and the price you paid was fantastic.
Great pics too.
Miss mine lots!
sshenton1975 said:
SturdyHSV said:
Were you at Towcester on Wednesday in the GTV? I think I was parked next to you (blue Commodore wagon)
I used to have a Vela blue GTV with a Ragazzon exhaust so it was nice to see yours looking so good, mine had a tan interior, no spoiler and the little 16 inch teardrop wheels, it sounded wonderful I just never ended up driving it enough, had it for about 9 years!
Yes that was me!!!I used to have a Vela blue GTV with a Ragazzon exhaust so it was nice to see yours looking so good, mine had a tan interior, no spoiler and the little 16 inch teardrop wheels, it sounded wonderful I just never ended up driving it enough, had it for about 9 years!
If a tail light goes out I have a spare bulb holder and bulb (although I forget which one!) if you need
I passed on all of the spares I could find when i sold it but missed that!Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff