Old Alfa Romeos tend to wear their age quite visibly when they fall down the slippery slope of neglect. While any vintage car will suffer when left to the elements, Alfas seemingly go to pot both mechanically and cosmetically in dramatic fashion. You tend to hope your next project is sound mechanically but needy body-wise, or rust-free but with an engine that needs refreshing. Alfas like this desirable 2.0L version of the twin-cam GTV are tempting to rescue because of the stirring performance promised by the drivetrain, but restoring both the engine and the body makes projects like these a labor of love. Find the Alfa here on eBay with bids to £820.00 and no reserve.
Alfa Romeos live in an interesting place in the collector car hobby. Truly vintage models, like those from the 30s through the 60s, are sought after to such an extent that even cars with significant bodywork needs are restored. The models from the 1980s are a bit more touch and go in terms of what a potential caretaker is willing to take on. I always judge cars by the frequency with which they show in salvage yards, and over the years, I’ve spotted more than a few GTVs languishing on the scrap heap. The same goes for the Milano sedan and the Spider, the former of which I had a short dalliance with before pulling the plug on what was sure to be an expensive project.
The seller notes that this GTV has equipped with twin Weber 40 carburetors, and given the sound of an Alfa twin cam engine at full song is one of the prettiest things you’ll ever hear, I can only imagine the noise it makes. Those are the sort of intangibles that make idiots like me pursue the restoration of needy cars because you just start to imagine what it’d be like to drive it. The seller doesn’t go into great detail about just how rusty the Alfa is, which usually means it’s pretty bad. The car does turn over with the key, so one can reason the drivetrain is mostly healthy. It also comes with a logbook which hopefully points to some occasional maintenance.
The engine bay looks relatively undisturbed, but of course, you really don’t know what you’re up against until it’s in your garage and half disassembled. Looking at the photos again, you can see there is indeed rust all throughout the body, so this GTV may be better suited as a parts car, as much as that breaks my heart to say it. Your odds are pretty good, still, of finding a decent one for sale, so I’d suggest snagging this one for its 2.0L mill and dropping it into a GT variant with the less powerful engine.
The images of the car were taken on the transporter at the factory.
I love these cars as they are a total delight to drive. Nimble with enough power to be fun, comfortable with sure footed driving stance. The interiors and the body are both made with inferior materials. The vinyl of the seats, door cards and dash do not hold up well to UV light over a long time frame and the steel that is used in the body is an import from Russia. I forget the reason but there was some form of trade agreement between the two countries and it was said that there were so many internal impurities in the steel that there was literally no way to stop corrosion from starting and the inferior paint and paint applications did not help. The engine, transmission and chassis are strong and very durable also very rebuildable but the shell is not. This is rusted too far to be more than a parts car sad to say.
I would love to see this design reproduced with better materials as I think it is a timeless design that would sell in numbers strong enough to be worth doing. This one is almost painful to look at.
Bruce: the story |I remember hearing is that the bodies were made from melted-down fridges and other appliances that had spent years out in the elements. When melted down into body panels there was rust already built in to the bodies! Talk about Trojan horses…
No thanks! Needs too much work for the price.
I owned two of these in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Loved driving them but maintenance was a chore and even when almost new I could not keep ahead of the rust. Run don’t walk from this.
I can’t claim to be an expert in the nuances of UK-market models, but I’m pretty sure an ‘82 would have a different chin spoiler and/or grille. (And yes, I realize that it’s wearing UK plates indicative of a MY 1982 registration, but that just doesn’t correlate with the car, unless it languished on a dealer lot for a loooong time.)