Alfa Romeo GTV anniversary: 50 not out

Definitely time for some kind of celebration. My Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce coupe, a car very dear to my heart, is exactly 50 years old today!

Yes indeed, on October 31, 1972, a bright red Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce coupe came off the line at Alfa’s huge factory on the outskirts of Milan.

An eventful half century later, that particular car, chassis number AR 2411812, registered TLC 269M is still very much alive and well, I’m glad to say.

And there’s more. Get this, for the past 40 years this Alfa has been in my possession. Yes, that’s no misprint, I bought the GTV back in 1982 so 40 years under my roof so to speak. It wasn’t planned that way just in case you’re asking but just sort of happened…

What a journey it’s been.

Right from the outset, I knew my GTV was a ’72 car but it was only when I acquired a Certificate of Originality from Alfa Romeo Classiche in Arese that I discovered when it was actually made. As in 50 years ago today, Tuesday, October 31, 1972.

So five decades young for this Halloween-build GTV in Rossa Alfa (Alfa Red) which, through many adventures and the odd crisis, still enchants and seduces. It looks fantastic, sounds intoxicating and has many cool design touches that are so quintessentially Italian to lighten the soul and lift the senses.

The GTV body shape, designed by a young Giorgetto Giugiaro for Bertone, is what first attracted me. Compact, high waisted with that lovely sloping roofline, stylish four headlamp front end and elegant tail, to me, it’s one of Alfa’s classics.

When I bought the GTV, it seemed to me that all Alfas should be red and the 2000 GTV (with 2.0-litre twin cam) was the one to go for. Outside of a GTA, it was the latest, fastest, most powerful version of that 105-series GTV body shape with 131 bhp.

True, the earlier 1750 GTV revs more sweetly and is now more coveted by some yet the 2.0-litre wins on torque and day-to-day driveability. That’s fine with me.

There again, if I was doing it again today, would I be tempted by a 1750 GTV in ochre? Questions, questions….

I first “discovered” these pretty Alfa GTVs during a family holiday to Sicily. Then when I started writing about GTVs for Classic & Sportscar magazine in the UK in the early ‘80s, that was it. I was sold. My lovely but fearfully slow Citroën 2CV had to go and the hunt was on for a good Alfa GTV coupe of my own.

I remember calling Michael Lindsay, then secretary of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club, and a super guy, if he knew of any good cars for sale.

Michael put me in touch with Alfa doyen Jon Dooley who, besides fronting the plucky Napolina-sponsored Alfa Romeo Dealer Team in the RAC British Saloon Car Championship, also ran his own Brookside garage in the leafy village of Wrestlingworth. Jon, who had previously worked at Alfa GB at senior financial level, was Alfa to his finger tips.

Jon had this red one-owner 2000 GTV up for sale. When I saw it, it was 10 years old and been part restored (sills, wheel arches etc). It didn’t look great but actually just needed a repaint to be complete again.

Perfect. We agreed on a price of £2000 for everything when done.

Then on February 13, 1982, I pitched up at Wrestlingworth to pick up the GTV. The Alfisti adventure began.

Sadly, Jon Dooley is no longer with us. Neither is Brookside Garage. Both are much missed.

Just to go back, however, Alfa’s Certificate shows that my RHD GTV was  delivered to the UK on November 27, 1972. From there it must have hung around because the DVLA shows it was first registered on August 7 1973 to an Anthony Seton-Jones of Putney who worked for Esso. He then kept the car for nigh on 10 years, it seems.

He had the GTV serviced at Alfa Romeo (GB) at Staples Corner and at Ramponi Rockwell in Lancaster Mews in the interim, so it had a good history. It had 47,000 miles on the clock when I picked up it up from Brookside.

Today? Well, 50 years on, we are up to 110,000 miles yes, I remain the second owner…

To begin with, the GTV was my everyday car and it appeared in Classic & Sportscar and also on the cover of Brooklands Books’ guide to Alfa GTV coupes. That plus the TLC plate makes it stand out a bit, I guess.

Through luck or whatever, it’s also since made into Classic Cars and Auto Italia in recent times.

That first summer of ‘82, I came up with this wildly adventurous plan to drive down to the Italian coast just up from Rome. Driving to Italy in the GTV was a fantastic adventure. Still is, for that matter.

The trip went really well, aside from the troublesome moment of an engine mounting breaking going over the Grand San Bernard Pass. Fortunately, I managed to coast down the mountain and get that fixed at an Alfa dealer in Aosta.

Alfa 105 coupes were then pretty current cars and you saw many on the road. Geneva for instance was full of them at that time.

Posta Aosta fix up, everything was OK and we made it back without any other great traumas.

Four years later, I was in Italy again, driving down this time with my brother Richard. At that time, Richard had a nice square tail Spider (as well as a Sud 1.3 Ti).

There we met Richard Gadeselli (then a journo, later to be a big PR wheel at Fiat) who had a red GTV6. We did the San Marino GP, Alfa Museum and start of the Mille Miglia in Brescia.

Later, Richard G and I also went to Alfa at Arese to drive an Alfa 75 Turbo. Yes, it was a real ‘busman’s holiday.’

In the ‘90s I did a number of long distance GTV driving trips through Europe which seem slightly unreal today, such as heading across to the Belgian GP at Spa, then down to the welcoming shores of San Tropez.

Then up to Milan (Italian GP, Alfa Museum again) before the long drive back through France.

That was 3017 miles and yes, reader, the GTV broke down in France because the distributor timing hadn’t been set up properly by the guy who had serviced the car before I left. A French mechanic who owned a classic Alpine A110 berlinette subsequently fixed it. Then the GTV ran like a clock.

One year, I did Italy’s magnificent Stelvio Pass on a summer’s day at 6am, finding I had this spectacular mountain virtually almost all to myself at that super early time in the morning. Will never forget that.

The Futa Pass and the slightly terrifying Passo Gravia are two other climbs that I’ve done in the GTV and would love to do again.

In France, the Col De L’Iseran is another classic, same for Mt Cenis, a fabulous piece of mountain road running between France and Italy. Yes, please.

Way more stressful was the time when on a tight schedule, I had to do London to Stuttgart overnight, non stop. That was one crazy 12 hour enduro that had me questioning my sanity. No mobile phones or internet at that time and my only sat nav was a map book. Driving for hours on my own on an empty soulless French autoroute in total darkness. Hmmm.

But I made it to Stuttgart on time and happened to meet up with another 105 Alfa when getting there. Which was way cool.

The GTV’s most recent European adventure was down to Milan for Alfa Romeo’s 100^th anniversary in 2010.

The Alfa centenary event had its organisational problems, true, but just to be there in Italy with the GTV and my family again, later staying on the mountains near Sestriere, was very special.

Likewise over some great roads in Wales, the GTV has served up plenty of Alfa’s trademark cuore sportivo…Love Wales: Evo Triangle, Llanberis Pass, Elan Valley, bring it on.

What about work? In 40 years, I have had two bare metal resprays and the twin cam engine rebuilt. A clutch change farmed out to some bloke under the arches in Chiswick lead to some frustrating driveline vibration issues that literally took years and £££ to solve. Grrr…

David Thomas, above, Brookside Garage, John Goodchild, Alfetta Racing, Lambarda Carriage Co, Gran Turismo, Alfarama, Mike Spenceley (MGS), Gatwick Alfa, EB Spares. Classic Alfa; these are some of the Alfa specialists to which I’ve paid my respects over the years. Quite a cottage industry there, plus some others who won’t get a mention here.

In recent times, glad to report that Jamie Porter and his team at Alfa Workshop in Royston have done an excellent job in keeping the GTV with its occasional idiosyncrasies up to speed. Thank you guys.

Contrary to what many might believe, generally, over time, I can say my GTV has been extraordinarily dependable.  It’s handled the worst of that a wet M25 Friday night can throw at it with traffic jammed up for miles, and not missed a beat, as one example.

Geneva to London in one hit (656 miles), none too shabby either. And only a very few times in 40 years has it ‘failed to proceed.’ True story.

Problems? Yes, occasionally, but truthfully they’ve been rare: not bad for an Italian sports coupe now in its fifth decade. Last year, I had an electronic engine distributor fitted to improve starting and had the GTV wired up for hands-free mobile phone connection.

Alfa Workshop also managed to fit a set of hazard flashers despite the GTV’s venerable electrics not always wanting to play ball. This summer, I had the seats retrimmed, a job I’d been wanting to do for ages. Plus arranged to have the rear wheel bearings changed at Royston. Another involving job…

Visually, the GTV is exactly as it came off the line at Arese 50 years ago. Still with all its original body panels and distinctive 14-in wheels. Engine and gearbox are original although each has been rebuilt over time. Only a couple of differentiators from norm: the GTV today has yellow Koni dampers and a Harvey Bailey front anti roll bar to tighten up the handling. Subtle, eh?

So why have I kept the GTV for so long? Because I continue to love the way it looks, feels and drives. It’s still fast and involving on the road, talking to you every step of the way as the saying goes, although the ride can be choppy and I know first hand that that coil sprung live rear axle can get lively, and get way from you as I discovered on one dark night on the M1…

Steering is heavy at low speed but lightens up beautifully once rolling. The way the GTV responds though corners is a joy. That and the deep rumble from the iconic Alfa twin cam and shift action of the Alfa’s brilliant five-speed box still deliver, all these years down the road. They never go out of fashion.

And the detailing: the woodrim steering wheel, the clap hand wipers, the floor hinged pedals, just wonderful. I’m a big fan of ‘60s and ‘70s Italian culture, Claudia Cardinale, La Dolce Vita etc and all that, and the GTV so takes me back to that great period in time.