1981 Alfa Romeo GTV - GTV 6 2,5

Delivered new in Vienna

With its last owner since 2021

Rally-proven over long distances

Extensively mechanically overhauled

An Alfa Romeo with a six-cylinder engine was nothing new. One with the six-cylinder up front and the gearbox at the back, however, certainly was. With the GTV 6, Alfa Romeo brought together two things in the early 1980s that had traditionally gone rather well together in Milan: technical sophistication and the best possible soundtrack.

The basis came from the Alfetta. Its transaxle layout placed the gearbox together with the differential at the rear axle, providing almost perfectly balanced weight distribution. There were torsion bars at the front and a De Dion axle at the rear – decidedly ambitious engineering for a four-seater Gran Turismo.

From 1980 onwards, the crucial difference was Giuseppe Busso’s 2.5-litre V6, already familiar from the Alfa 6. With its six distinctive intake runners, around 160 hp and unmistakable soundtrack, it transformed Giugiaro’s coupé into the GTV 6. A bulge in the bonnet provided the necessary clearance and became one of its defining features. Power went to the rear wheels through a five-speed gearbox, while more than 200 km/h was possible.

This GTV 6 was one of the very early examples, delivered by Alfa Romeo Ges.m.b.H. in Vienna in June 1981, and has been with its last owner since 2021. Over the past five years, considerable investment has gone into its mechanical condition. Among other work, the timing belt and water pump, radiator and shock absorbers have all been replaced.

Back in the day, the GTV 6 enjoyed considerable success in both touring-car racing and rallying. Its owner took that as inspiration and used his Alfa for rather more than Sunday drives. Among other adventures, the GTV 6 completed the “Tour de Peloponnes” – including the journeys there and back, around 5,000 kilometres entirely under its own power.

A more than convincing long-distance test for an Alfa over forty years old, and one that allowed the GTV 6 to prove its qualities in suitably emphatic fashion.