You Can Buy An Alfa GT For Just Over £1000 And I'm Actually Quite Tempted
Alfa Romeo really does have a lot of making up to do. Sure, in the Giulia the Italian manufacturer now has a genuine BMW 3-series rival with a - shock horror - newly developed rear-wheel drive platform, but the era of shoddy Alfas we’re only just getting away from leaves a lot to be desired.
Case in point? The GT coupe. Under its handsome Bertone-penned flanks it’s essentially a rehashed, front-wheel drive 147 hatchback, a car derived from the 156 saloon, which itself sat on an old Fiat platform.
When I first passed my test I wanted one of these really badly, until I sat in one at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and experienced the laughably cheap-feeling cabin first hand. I do like the idea of the 3.2-litre ‘Busso’ V6 version, but the slow 2.0-litre ‘JTS’ petrol or 1.9-litre ‘JTDM’ diesel? Forget it.
However, when cars depreciate enough, they can become tempting propositions despite what you might have thought about them previously. And these non-V6 GTs are getting cheap: while the six-pots require a budget of £5000 and up, prices for other versions start as low as £1000 these days.
Yes, these aren’t the last word in handling and they’re hilariously slow (you’re looking at 9.6 seconds to 60mph for the 150bhp diesel for example), but as a pretty - potentially disposable - runaround for a little while? If I needed such a thing right now, I’d be tempted.
This one has done just under 100,000 miles, and is up for £1295. It is the diesel however, which has a habit of breaking. Expensively. So if you’re serious about buying one, maybe wait until a cheap JTS comes up. Either way, that’s a lot of car for £1295, isn’t it?
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
IT’S A COLIN!!!! AKA LEMON!!!
I’d much rather spend some extra money and get the Brera
One of the most beautiful Alfas to my eye (I hate the back of the GT to be honest) and also better to drive
Is it just me or does the front look like this
•v•
My number one criteria over anything else for a “runaround” is reliability……
I don’t think it’s worth it, we’re talking a car that breaks just by existing not to mention the funny looking repair costs which can sometimes have upwards of 3 numbers in them. In my opinion a lemon not worth saving.
isn’t the GT also have a TwinSpark engine?
I’m sorry but this is ugly
Plus however it costs to import it to the US for the ‘MURICANS who are interested, plus the cost of a LS motor :p
I NEED IT
It’s not the engine where is the problem with reliability. Unfortunately it’s everything else.
But I see them with over 250 thousands km with mjet engines,those were great for a remap.