Normally, in this column, we usually celebrate the anniversaries of car models and not their versions; this time an exception is made given the extraordinary value ofAlfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 as a car for fans of beautiful cars and driving. Let’s assume that we have always been quite critical about the design of this machine that we think is not one of the best of Giorgetto Giugiaro; in fact, in our opinion, he was unable to harmonize the penetrating nose with the bulky cockpit; certainly the limits set by Alfa Romeo in terms of the roominess claimed did not facilitate his work, but we cannot forget the masterpiece that the designer himself completed shortly thereafter with theAlfasud Sprint, undoubtedly conditioned by similar specifications, to justify what has been stated.
However, the original car did not lack a trait of elegant sobriety but then, with the restyling of 1980, unfortunately we had to witness a beginning of an invasion of gray plastic applied in accordance with the fashion of that period that did nothing but vulgarize the line. It is on the same occasion, however, that the GTV6 version we are talking about was born: to be precise, in that year only a first batch of specimens identified, in the factory documents, as “loaded to internal bodies” was built: usually they are cars corporate or prepared for competitive use; it was only in 1981 that this jewel finally reached the hands of the specialized press and the first “lucky” customers.
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We use this adjective because then if the threshold of two liters of displacement was exceeded, VAT reached the terrifying rate of 35% (shortly afterwards it was gracefully raised to 38%) and it was therefore necessary to be adequately wealthy, as well as fiscally unassailable, to be able to grant such purchases. . And these customers certainly could not have been satisfied with the level of finish and accessories that the “plasticky” dashboard, the modesty of the upholstery and the proverbial Alfa Romeo austerity in terms of equipment made available.
Therefore, it can be safely stated that the more than twenty-three thousand units sold between 1981 and 1987 are the result exclusively of the spectacular mechanics that move it. Already at design levels of excellence with the two-liter four-cylinder, with the transplant of the two-and-a-half-liter V6 of the Alfa Sei sedan, the Alfetta GT becomes something to which one simply has to bow down: fast enough to play the role of Gran Turismo without complexes (210 km / h and 8.2 seconds in the 0-100 km / h), it is in the sporty driving on the fast mixed that this car stands out above the competition in terms of handling, road holding and braking and moreover with a background sound produced by the V6 which would be worth the price of the ticket alone.
In this context, very important for the driving pleasure mentioned above, very important are the 15 ”wheels with 195/60 tires which, on the GTV6, take the place of the more skimpy 14” of the four-cylinder GTV; on the other hand, the slight difficulty in maneuverability of the gearbox, located at the rear, remains, and for the sake of completeness we also point out the last outrage against the Giugiaro line consisting of the hump on the bonnet like a turbo diesel of the time; an outrage which, however, this time, it must be said, is fully justified by what this protuberance had to make room for.