Italian automotive design, in my opinion, generally fits into one of two categories: an object is either heart-achingly beautiful and an icon in its category, or it’s unusual and polarizing (to be kind). Alfa Romeo has vehicles that arguably fall into both categories. Today’s Good Find Friday car, a 1997 Alfa Romeo GTV, was somewhat polarizing in its design and widely lauded for its capabilities.

The Alfa Romeo GTV and Spider (916 generation) are sports cars produced by the Italian automaker Alfa Romeo from 1995 to 2004. Designed by Enrico Fumia at Pininfarina, the 916 series marked the automaker’s return to the grand touring and roadster segments. The GTV (Gran Turismo Veloce) was a sleek, front-wheel-drive coupe, while the Spider was a convertible variant featuring a power-operated soft top.

Both models shared a wedge-shaped profile heavily influenced from Fumia’s previous work on the Audi Quartz concept. The design is characterized — and made Alfa Romeo — by a distinctive sloping bonnet, short rear overhang, and bold shield grille. Built on the Tipo Due platform, the GTV and Spider utilized independent front suspension and a rear multilink setup, offering engaging handling and a comfortable ride.

Powertrain options included a range of petrol engines, from the spirited 1.8-liter Twin Spark inline-four to the potent 3.2-liter Busso V6, renowned for its sonorous exhaust note. The V6 variants delivered impressive performance, with the 3.2-liter engine producing 240 horsepower in later models. Interior appointments reflected a driver-focused layout with sporty instrumentation and premium materials, though rear seating in the GTV was limited.

The two variants underwent a facelift in 2003, featuring subtle styling updates and improved equipment. While production concluded in 2004, the GTV and Spider were highly celebrated in their time. The car was highly celebrated for its style and performance by the automotive press at the time. The GTV won Autocar’s 1995 Car of the Year and described the cars as “Even better than they look.”

While the Alfa Romeo GTV was never offered in the United States, they are making their way here now that the 25-year mark has been crossed. Today’s Good Find Friday car is already on our shores, and is for sale by a dealer in Blue Ridge, Georgia with an asking price of $10,900.

The exterior design of the GTV is where it really stands out from its competition, such as the BMW 3-series. A dramatic wedge design converges at a sharp front end punctuated by Alfa Romeo’s signature grill shape. Red painted brake calipers shine from behind 16-inch 5-hole wheels. It’s hard to tell from the photos, which are not the highest resolution, but the body appears to be in generally good condition. Black is notorious for showing every swirl and spiderweb and the car is in desperate need of a paint correction.

The leather interior features Alfa Romeo branded sport seats wrapped in leather with silver contrast stitching. The interior is a much more standard affair compared to the exterior, and includes the typical gray carpet and tall gear shift lever. The seats look a little shiny to my eye, but there do not appear to be any tears and the wear seems limited.

While the Twin Spark (1.8 or 2.0) is sprightly due to its lighter weight, the 220hp Busso V6 in this car is the one to buy, in my opinion. It sprints to 60mph in just 6.6 seconds and makes glorious noises on its way there. If there’s one thing Italian automotive engineers do best, it’s exhaust note tuning.

Aside from typical 30-year old car maintenance stuff, the V6s are rather stout. In typical Italian fashion, some parts, such as the alternator, can be a bit of a bear to replace (ask me about the starter location on a Lancia Delta integrale sometime).

The front suspension is the old stand-by of MacPherson struts with lower wishbones and anti-roll bar. The rear is a multi-arm independent affair with a rather clever ‘rear steer’ characteristic in hard cornering. Very cool.

The chassis is, naturally, a unibody construction and was galvanized from the factory. These cars still rust, however, in the floor pans and elsewhere. Typical old car stuff to look out for includes faded budges and trim, worn seals and the like.

No photo of the trunk is provided, but it’s probably just as well as it isn’t very spacious. The rear seat room is similarly lacking in commodiousness.

In the post-pandemic market, where collector car values are still higher than they were in 2019, it is nice to see a car that delivers both performance and style at an affordable price-point. What’s affordable? In this case, the average market price for an Alfa Romeo GTV — across all variants — is around $9,500. That’s an awful lot of car for not a lot of money.

After a cursory review, it would appear that the V6 Busso variant of the Alfa Romeo GTV is the vehicle that drives up the average, with Twin Spark variants being almost half the price for similar mileage cars. A GTV could be a great way to pass the time until we can start importing the Alfa Romeo Brera.

If today’s car checks out mechanically and cosmetically during a pre-purchase inspection, it could be a very nice deal indeed. Personally, though, I’d want my Alfa in red.

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisal and auction services for sellers and buyers of collector European cars. We also provide importation services. Give us a call or drop us a line!