Old Alfa Romeos are generally cars that demand your full attention, both in on-the-road driving and ongoing mechanical upkeep. Accordingly, when you buy a vintage one, the owners usually have the full assortment of books, records, binders, and the whole lot of materials that this Alfa Romeo has been looked after by the only kind of caretaker that’s acceptable, which is one that is highly detail-oriented. That’s why the listing for this 1986 Alfa Romeo GTV6 featured here on craigslist is a bit puzzling, as it’s quite light on information. The seller is asking $15,000 and claims it runs well.
Thanks to Barn Finds reader Barney for the tip. When I had my Alfa Romeo Milano Verde, I bought it as a total project, a non-running car. The seller was more or less an Alfa enthusiast, which helped me feel better about the purchase, as the surrounding confines where I found my project convinced me I was buying from the right guy. However, even as a project, the car turned out to be so much worse than expected, so the logic of “buying the seller, not the car” doesn’t always bear fruit. Still, it seems like perhaps the seller of this otherwise clean-looking GT V6 maybe just doesn’t know much about the car but simply bought one because he heard good things.
And the GTV6 is a fine driver’s car, and perhaps one of the last great bargains of its kind. The interior was always a spectacular place to spend time, with deeply bolstered Recaro seats, a factory 3-spoke steering wheel, and the kind of instrumentation that only the Italians could come up with. However, these are not cheap cars to tinker with, especially if you need the help of a professional shop – as I would come out find out. Parts are not hugely expensive, but also not exactly cheap, and there are numerous big-ticket items that could need replacing if maintenance hasn’t been on the up and up. Transmissions grind and engines implode if the timing belt isn’t serviced on time.
The best examples at auction tend to command around $25,000 to $30,000. Those cars usually have pristine cosmetics and stacks of paperwork. Cosmetically, this Alfa looks respectable, but I wouldn’t call it a show car. The listing describes a vehicle that starts up “quickly” and likely has a rolled-over odometer due to the 16,736 showing not being accurate. For $15,000, there’s not much out there in the enthusiast world that sounds or looks like this GTV6, so calling the owner and feeling him out via a conversation is likely worth the time investment for any serious parties.
I’m feeling the urge to jump on this Alfa, but frankly, at $15K it’s a hard “no.”
At that price, I would have expected the seller to spend time giving it a good scrub. In fact, I would have expected that anyway. To me, anyone pushing a grubby car is not going to have given it the kind of car that any car — especially an Alfa — requires.
I love GTVs, with a slight preference for the four-cylinder examples, which to me exhibit slightly better balance, with not all that much loss of performance. I will say the sound of the Busso V6 pretty much evens things out, though.
Some people think you need to be crazy to want an Alfa. I’m crazy.
I have been “crazy” enough to own several Alfa Romeos from an 850/124/125s/3.0L V6 GTV/2000cc Spiders/2.6L Spider/ Giulietta’s/Alfettas etc. You name it and I’m pretty sure I have owned one. One of the best parts of owning a Classic Alfa is that you HAVE to maintain them and working on them occasionally was, to me, therapy! Never once did having to work on any of my Alfa’s deemed to be a “chore”. If you want to own an Alfa Romeo, don’t be afraid, after all they might be just another car, but what a car!
me too….
Give 15k for the Herefords, better return on your investment.
Former GTV owner. These cars tug at your heart, and hurt your head (and wallet). This one is a dumpster fire in disguise.
Located in McKinleyville, CA
Not too far from where we used to live.It always irritated me
that people like this would avoid taxes & fees by registering cars
in Oregon.I always paid them,as that was the honest thing to do.
That said,I’ve always liked these Alfas.
When considering buying a specific car, I first look at the car, then the owner, then the price. Here, the car looks decent but needs the driver’s seat repaired ($400), a paint correction, and a good detail ($500). The owner is an unknown, but the condition of the car indicates he’s kinda careless. The price seems high, but if you can bargain on it, you could get a fun car for fair money. My ’65 Alfa is among the most reliable cars I’ve owned, and as they say, ALFA means “Always Looking For Another.”