Shed of the Week: Alfa Romeo GTV Twin Spark

You only need look at V6 prices to see GTVs are in demand - here's why the Twin Spark could follow

A few years back Shed mentioned that his lovely wife liked Italy in general, and Venice in particular, and that she could think of nothing finer than being taken up the Grand Canal by a big gondolier.

Shed regrets saying that now, but the Shed family's love for Italian motors is genuine enough. This week's offering is an intriguing example of the genre: an Alfa GTV Twin Spark Coupé, with low miles and no obvious issues.

Nerd fact: you could, in some LHD markets, get a turbocharged V6 version of the GTV. For us Brits though the GTV choice was between the 217hp 3.0 Busso V6 (which delivered a 155mph top end and a 0-60 of 6.6sec) and the 148hp Twin Spark. Naturally, the 1,415kg Busso car was the one to have if aural drama was your ting and you weren't that bothered about the lack of a standard limited-slip diff or a wandery front end.

If you can hack a four-pot, however, our fizzing 1,370kg, 0-60 in 8.0sec, 130mph Twin Spark - built on the Fiat Tipo platform and chassis-benchmarked against the Lotus Elan M100, no less - will provide more than enough performance for British roads. It really sings above 4,000rpm, and the gearlever is good to twiddle. Although it's not as smooth a GT-type cruiser as the Busso, the TS is also a lot less prone to wasteful understeer. Look under the bonnet of a TS and then a V6 and you'll be amazed at the difference in engine positioning. It looks natural in the TS, but way too far forward in the V6.

Next, we need to address the not so small matter of cost differential between six and four. You won't be seeing a Busso in SOTW even under our newly inflated '£1,500 maximum' regime. Absolute snotters rarely dip below £2k, and you could easily find yourself looking at £8k for a concours 3.0. Good-to-concours examples of the TS, on the other hand, are a relative bargain at somewhere between £2,000 and £3,000 - and surely we must be at the bottom of the depreciation curve on these now. It's a Pininfarina design, and a good one too, so that must be worth something.

It is an Alfa, though. That obviously means much despair and disaster, with a side order of woe betide the poor fool who takes this one on. Thing is, though, that these GTVs really aren't that horrific.

On the bodywork side, they're known for picking up stone chips and the floors, though decently rustproofed at the factory, will eventually perforate. The suspension arms give out, but our Shed has been spruced up with some Eibach gear so you'd like to think it's OK in that department.

The Twin Spark engine has been around for a while, the light alloy block and 8-valve head design first seeing action in the 1986 Alfa 75. Later motors like this one in our Shed had an iron block, alloy head and cams driven by a belt that Alfa confidently stated had a 72,000-mile service life. In 2006 they sort of admitted that maybe 36,000 miles would be better. Owners who know what's good for them actually change the belts at 24,000 miles. Odd dieselly noises may be telling you that the cam variator is on its way out too. Keep an eye on the oil, as the TS can use a bit. Mass air flow sensors will give away their frailty by taking the edge off the acceleration. Electrics are not going to be perfect, but then you could say that about any 20 year-old car.

The GTV's 1980s design means that lanky types will need to check their legs in at the gate before proceeding into the cabin, and if you're expecting oily-smooth battleship-quality switchgear then you've caught the wrong plane altogether. But if you fit inside and you enjoy the clack of plastic then you'll also enjoy a GTV.

This particular GTV seems like a good 'un. Other than a leaky exhaust in 2006, a couple of advisories for cracking front brake flexi hoses and worn subframe bushes in 2007 and a high headlamp beam in 2009, the MOT history over the last 12 years has been completely spotless - unusual for any car of this age, let alone an Alfa. Having said that, it does appear to have been put into storage for six years from 2009, but before then it was covering fewer than 2,000 miles per annum. Whoever Annum is.

With a full service history, a spare set of Spider wheels and the possibility of value growth going forward, our Shed's £1,500 price is starting to look anything but high. Especially when you realise that a lot of scruffy Twin Sparks have been or are in the process of being scrapped. Buy this unscruffy one and then go around spraying salt water underneath every other one you see. In no time at all your investment will come home to roost in a most satisfying manner.

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