Down On The Mile High Street: Alfa Romeo GTV6

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

You’ll see the occasional Alfa Spider or Milano on the streets of Denver, maybe even a 164, but it’s a special day when a GTV6 appears. This one lives in my neighborhood, just a block or so from the ’52 Kaiser Henry J Corsair daily driver.

The GTV6 was a member of the Alfetta family, but instead of the old familiar Twin Cam engine it had a 2.5 liter V6. Along with the new engine came new, intensely 80s styling. I don’t have the Alfa expertise to ID the year on this car (the GTV6 was sold in the United States from 1981 through 1986), but the lack of a third brake light (probably) means it’s a 1985 or earlier model.

The list price for these cars ranged from about 16 grand to nearly $19,000, or roughly the same price as a BMW E30. Sure, the E30 was more reliable, better built, and more powerful, but who cares?







Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Prattworks Prattworks on Feb 24, 2011

    These things just sound fantastic. I used to run early in the morning on the edge of town, and a guy with a GTV6 used to drive past me almost every morning. He might have had an ANSA exhaust, too. He was clearly enjoying the buzz.

  • Carlo Di Paolo Carlo Di Paolo on Feb 25, 2011

    I was too young and poor to be able to buy one of these. I would go to the showroom, drool, stare, sit in it, stare some more, drool some more then go home till the next time. Much later when they were gone I bought a new Milano (75). I drove that Milano for the next 22 years. I love these cars and miss mine; I hope I could get a new Alfa soon, its been too long.

  • Jeff One less option will be available for an affordable midsize sedan. Not much can be done about GM discontinuing the Malibu. GM, Ford, and Stellantis have been discontinuing cars for the most part to focus on pickups, crossovers, and suvs. Many buyers that don't want trucks or truck like vehicles have moved onto Japanese and South Korean brands. Meanwhile large pickups and suvs continue to pile up on dealer lots with some dealers still adding market adjustments to the stickers. Even Toyota dealers have growing inventories of Tundras and Tacomas.
  • Lorenzo This car would have sold better if there was a kit to put fiberglass toast slices on the roof.
  • Lorenzo The Malibu is close to what the 1955 Bel Air was, but 6 inches shorter in height, and 3 inches shorter in wheelbase, the former making it much more difficult to get into or out of. Grandma has to sit in front (groan) and she'll still have trouble getting in and out.The '55s had long options lists, but didn't include a 91 cubic inch four with a turbo, or a continuously variable transmission. Metal and decent fabric were replaced by cheap plastic too. The 1955 price was $1765 base, or $20,600 adjusted for inflation, but could be optioned up to $3,000 +/-, or $36,000, so in the same ballpark.The fuel economy, handling, and reliability are improved, but that's about it. Other than the fact that it means one fewer sedan available, there's no reason to be sorry it's being discontinued. Put the 1955 body on it and it'll sell like hotcakes, though.
  • Calrson Fan We are already seeing multiple manufacturers steering away from EVs to Hybrids & PHEVs. Suspect the market will follow. Battery tech isn't anywhere close to where it needs to be for EV's to replace ICE's. Neither is the electrical grid or charging infrastructure. PHEV's still have the drawback that if you can't charge at home your not a potential customer. I've heard stories of people with Volts that never charge them but that's a unique kind of stupidity. If you can't or don't want to charge your PHEV then just get a hybrid.
  • AZFelix The last time I missed the Malibu was when one swerved into my lane and I had to brake hard to avoid a collision. 1 out of 5⭐️. Do not recommend.
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