Alfa Romeo GTV and Spider (1995 – 2004) Review

Alfa Romeo GTV and Spider (1995 – 2004) At A Glance

4/5

+Fabulous engines, super fast 'Quick-Rack' steering and gorgeous styling

-Tiny boot and barely any space for legs in the rear seats, mechanical problems common

The Type 916 Alfa Romeo GTV Coupé and Spider cousin followed the Fiat Coupé onto the market, establishing the Italians as the ones to beat in this market sector. Like the Fiat, it was a car underpinned by a heavily modified Tipo platform, but Alfa Romeo engineers worked extremely hard on this car to give it world-beating front-wheel drive handling. The body was super-stiff, and the steering and suspension was tuned to beat all existing coupés – rumour has it that the M100 Lotus Elan was used to benchmark prototypes. The GTV was offered with Alfa Romeo’s brilliant Twin Spark and Busso V6 in 3.0-litre form. All were quick, and fun, although the lighter 2.0-litre car possessed the most balanced handling.

Fabulous to drive and far more reliable than anyone expected, the GTV proved quite a hit – and many examples came across to the UK. Until a couple of years ago they were plentiful, but numbers are thinning rapidly, with many having been lost for good as a result of low values and high cost of repairs. 3.0-litre GTVs with the right suspension modifications are thing of real joy – but buy wisely.