June Car In The Room by Michael Thorne 1985 Alfa-Romeo GTV6
I had been thinking of another classic for some time. Something that could take more than two people and a suitcase, but didn’t look like a family sedan. It had to be well presented, driveable and a little different. I’d always liked the clean lines and performance of the GTV6 but they are rare and hard to find in New Zealand. On the way to the Rangiora Muscle Car Madness in January, we were going to be passing through Leithfield, the home of Waimak Classic Cars so decided to go online to see what was in stock and to my surprise they had just listed a GTV6. Made an appointment to view the next day. It was well presented, started easily, no unhealthy noises or smoke, drove well with a good service history and Waimak Classic Cars organised transport to Rotorua. It was delivered to Rotorua first week in March on my return from the South Island. The Alfa’s first big adventure was the “Not The Spring Tour” to Napier, Masterton, Wellington, Taihape and home. The car performed well with good oil pressure and water temperature but the gearbox took some getting used to. THE HISTORY Alfas have always been about looks and speed, but reliability was often compromised. By the late 1970s sales were being affected by these issues so Alfa’s solution was to add more ‘fab-looking’ fast cars to the range. It had already produced the GT and GTV versions of the Alfetta but in 1980 a more powerful 2.5L V6 was added to the range under the name GTV6. Originally fitted with six Dellorto carbs, in 1981 the V6 was fitted with fuel injection 6
Side Curtains July 2021
