Dealer Alpine GTA for £6k

[Garlick]

Didn't know they were this cheap?

If they are £6k from a dealer, private sales must be a bargain

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1959950.htm

I love these cars

[LHD]

Garlick said:

Didn't know they were this cheap?

If they are £6k from a dealer, private sales must be a bargain

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1959950.htm

I love these cars

Great cars.

Getting difficult to get certain bits for them now, you can't get the perspex headlamp covers any more for example.

The speedo cable is a common failing too and nearly all cars need repainting if it hasn't already been done.

Oh, and you can't get the metric tyres for the original wheels very easily, hence why lots of them are running staggered AZEV's.

Cars with leather are much more desirable as the velour looks and feels its age.

If i was buying one, i'd try and seek out an A610 (in Marcus Tandy blue)

Oh, and in the real world the turbo isn't that much faster than the N/A cars.

[rottie102]

Imagine how many things could go wrong though

The seats are cool...

[cml]

Still too much!

Sorry couldn't resist. It's just not good-looking enough (handsome at best) to offset the fact its not much cop in any other department either.

At least it is reasonably rare.

[anonymous-user]

Had a long hard look at the GTA back in the day and ended up with an Esprit instead.

That GTA interior, expecially in velour, was IMO quite unbelievably nasty. And people make jibes at American cars! Nonetheless it was good to see a few of the GTAs/Alpines/610s at St Saturnin last June. Also the rather better MVS/Venturi Atlantique.

[Egg Chaser]

Can't see the appeal myself, horrible cars IMO.

Each to their own I suppose

[MX7]

A friend has one, and I love it. Plenty of better cars, but it's very cool, and goes very well.

I doubt you'd lose any money on it.

[al1991]

I've always had a sort of odd fascination with them.

That one looks nice.

[Save Ferris]

I was watching this one on eBay recently. A non turbo, in need of some TLC, it went for £1800!



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[spikeyhead]

Garlick said:

Didn't know they were this cheap?

If they are £6k from a dealer, private sales must be a bargain

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1959950.htm

I love these cars

They consider it good that the "majority" or dials and gauges work, however these will need ongoing work. They were an exciting car 25 years ago but soooo much has moved on since then.

[B Huey]

Save Ferris said:

I was watching this one on eBay recently. A non turbo, in need of some TLC, it went for £1800!



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

A very apt number plate considering the potential heartache involved.

Great cars, but I wouldn't buy one.

[GKP]

I ran one of these as a daily many moons ago, alongside an Esprit SE. Nothing serious fell off, just the radiator required a refurb. Electrically operated door handles and handclap wipers - awesome! I once managed to transport four tyres for my Land Rover in the car.
Imminent arrival of my daughter meant it had to go. (Px'ed it for a 190E 2.3 16v)

[NLB]

Private sales do get much cheaper than that, indeed Mr G.

When, in June last year, I sold my last motorbike, a 2001 R1 (not worth a very large sum, as you can imagine), the proceeds bought (ok, plus a few hundred quid) a GTA non-turbo (the GTA-istas call them the “Atmo”, which term I can’t quite come to terms with). It had (has) scruffy paint – 1980s red, over ‘glass and plastic – you can imagine, but had 11 months MoT, and everything including the speedo but not including the cassette deck, working. It has just passed it’s MoT with very little trouble; the cassette deck still doesn’t work, and the speedo is a bit intermittent – TADTS – in the case of mine, it is the multi-pin connector in the back of the instrument binnacle that is at fault; one of these days I’ll pull it to bits and re-make the connections, but for the time being I don’t worry, and use the satnav speed reading when the speedo decides not to work.

So far it has had a total of maybe £200 spent on bits and pieces (basically very simple, and easy to work on, although some parts are tricky to get), and about £250 spent on two years classic insurance, and has done 3000+ miles. It is not especially fast by modern standards, but is huge fun to drive, with that big-engine-in-a-light-car feeling; 2.9 litre 90 deg V6 on carbs, officially 160 hp, so not going to set the world alight, but it sounds and feels great, and only weighs 1100 kg, so pulls really well. You can stick your foot down in top, and it surges smoothly away, with that offbeat sound from the “odd-fire” 90 deg. engine. Fun. The real fun, though, is the way it steers and handles; it has pin-sharp un-assisted steering, which gives that immediacy and precision that one gets from good ‘bikes, and that very few, even sporting, cars achieve (makes my E39 feel like a bus, which it is really). Again, the true limits are not that high I am sure, but it is a genuine hoot to drive on windy roads, turning in instantly, sharp if heavy brakes, nice noise... etc. etc. It even has fine-for-kids back seats (mine love it), and manages over 30mpg on a run....

The interior and looks are subjective – I like them, but I am a former CX owner... I also don’t like leather interiors, and am quite happy with the velour in mine. Very comfortable, and also very ergonomically sound, whatever you think of the appearance (much better IMHO than an Excel I once drove...). Also, they are really quite rare – only about 7,200 of all versions in RHD and LHD; just over 200 RHD non-turbos built, and the owner’s club had some remark on the website a while ago about there being only 32 of all versions insured for use on the road in the UK.

Cheap, useable (mine does weekends away, trips to the office – a 260 mile round trip – and even the school run sometimes, as well as back road fun trips), different, and lots of fun. I love mine....

Rant over.



Oh, and those "turbo" -type wheels are not metric - the tyres on it are fine but a bit old, so I am buying a full set of new T1-Rs shortly, for £340.

Edited by NLB on Sunday 31st October 10:00

[rottie102]

NLB said:

loads of stuff

I love those wheels! They suit the car perfectly.

[AlpineA610]

Yeh, the one in the advert sold to Holland and the owner has said it's a complete dog. Will probably be broken.
I'm biased but they are exceptionally good cars when they are looked after but can cause problems if not.
My car (pictured) has 123,000 miles on and runs like a dream. It is the later A610.

Save Ferris said:

I was watching this one on eBay recently. A non turbo, in need of some TLC, it went for £1800!



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[Lordbenny]

I had one of these You got to have leather IMO. Oh, and finding rear tyres is.....difficult!

[dufusmuppet]

Great to see these are still around,had a drive of one years ago,like them very much....

[300bhp/ton]

Anyone know what this one is, the front looks different ans I was amazed at how small/short the car was. Saw it as a show this summer.

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Sunday 31st October 18:17

[plasticpig]

LHD said:

Garlick said:

Didn't know they were this cheap?

If they are £6k from a dealer, private sales must be a bargain

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1959950.htm

I love these cars

Great cars.

Getting difficult to get certain bits for them now, you can't get the perspex headlamp covers any more for example.

The speedo cable is a common failing too and nearly all cars need repainting if it hasn't already been done.

To be fair getting bits for them when they were new was a bit of a struggle.

[Motorrad]

The Alpine GTA has always appealed to me, I seem to remember road tests comparing them favourably to the 911 of the time.

A really well sorted one for 3.5K has to be worth a punt. Not sure I would be paying 6K to a dealer for one unless it was mint.