The latter was a constant point of debate, being referred to as a “monkey position” requiring short legs and long arms.

The GTV6 with the characteristic “hump” on the bonnetĭriving-wise the GTV provides the typical 70’s and 80’s Alfa experience in everything from the mechanics to the seating position. The transaxle construction with both the gearbox and the battery in the back gave the car a nearly perfect weight distribution, and as mentioned, it was also rear-wheel drive. As other popular coupés in the early 80’s the GTV6 had fuel injection, another difference to the smaller engines with carburettors. The power output in the GTV remained at around 160 hp but there was a small problem in that the engine didn’t really fit the car, so the bonnet of the GTV6 has a “hump” that differentiates it (and makes it look even cooler!) from the 2-litre version.

As Alfa prepared for a face-lift of the GTV in 1981, they had the brilliant idea of adding a more powerful engine and for a while considered the V8 from the Alfa Montreal, before the final choice fell on the 2.5 litre, six-cylinder engine from the limousine Alfa 6 (a big, luxurious Alfa limousine launched in the mid-70’s). The GTV (“Grand Turismo Veloce (speed)”) from 1976 and onwards was powered by two four-cylinder engines, one 1.6 and one 2-litre, the latter producing around 130 hp and the only engine in many export markets. Giugiaro did an excellent job at the time and the GTV looks as cool today as then, in my own, completely unbiased opinion! The former was a very unspectacular family sedan, the latter a cool coupé with a low, four-eyed front and a sloping, hatchback-like design. The looks of the Alfetta however had very little to do with the GTV. The Alfetta on which the GTV was based, was a 4-door sedan produced since 1972 in a transaxle construction and with the same chassis that all rear-wheel drive Alfas would use until the takeover by Fiat in 1986 – including the GTV. Business was however far from good, with the company only managing to scrape by thanks to frequent capital injections from the Italian state, and with limited success seen for its various models. This was the time when Alfa was still Alfa, i.e. The GTV was born in 1974 and was called Alfetta GT for the first two years of production. That’s a reason as good as any to have a closer look at it in this week’s post!įace-lifted GTV left, original 70’s version right. To me, the Saab could however never compete with the Giugiaro-designed GTV which since that day has a solid place on my 80’s car list. Given that the winter in Sweden is VERY long and that there were at the time at least 30 Saabs for every Alfa sold, that was probably a wise choice. He didn’t and we ended up with a Saab Turbo instead. It was love at first and regular sight, and since my father was about to change company car (a common feature in Sweden back then…), I begged and implored him to go for the Alfa. It was a black Alfa GTV that to my young eyes had not only a cool, coupé shape, but was also the only car I had ever seen (still to this day!) that had what looked like fish nets in the center of the headrests. There was however one memorable exception – a car I would regularly pass on my way home from school. As a young boy growing up in central Stockholm in the late 70’s-early 80’s, what I saw on the streets were mostly a mix of more or less boring Volvos and Saabs.

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