Little Alfa: 1977 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 2.0

Chances are I will never own an Italian car, and I'm not really sure my grass roots mechanical abilities would afford me the skill to maintain such a beast.  If I did consider wading into the world of Rosso Corsa, I would want to cut my teeth on something less recognizable and forgiving of my mechanical malaise. That way, I could make a complete mess of it and no one would be the wiser.  Find this 1977 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 2.0  near Los Angeles, CA for $4,500 via craigslist. 

In 1972 Alfa debuted their newest model, the Alfetta which was the nickname of their highly successful 1951 Tipo 159 Formula One car.  Alfetta's were available in either saloon or coupé configuration and were an instant hit due to modest weight and powerful engines.  Consisting of a totally new chassis layout for Afla, the clutch & transmission were mounted in the rear of the car with the differential.  This resulted in excellent weight distribution and the cars were highly praised for their handling characteristics. By the end of production in 1987 over 400K units had rolled off the assembly line.

The GTV 2.0 coupé became available in 1977 and included Alfa's 2L power plant as standard equipment.  Dual overhead cams helped increase power to 131 HP, the most available during the full 15 years of production.  The seller states in the ad that the engine has been gone through, and looking at the pictures of his shop instills confidence in that disclosure.  Hopefully the fussy transmission has had similar treatment.

These cars were made for driving, and nothing screams that more than having only a tachometer dead center in front of the driver.  You want to know how fast your going?  Well, if you must, look yonder to your right son, as the speedometer is sitting in the middle of the dashboard.  Oh yeah, so are all your other indicators & gauges...but who needs them anyway??

The seller has already undertaken some modifications to this car and it looks like he has decided to move on mid-project.  If the powertrain is as stout as he suggests then this could be a fun project.  Learning to appease the fickleness of Italian automobiles hasn't yet found a way onto my bucket list, but if it did this example would be worth a further look.  If I were to render the car completely unusable with my ham-fisted wrenching skills then surely the parts are worth more than the sum of the whole?

See another quasi-exotic ripe for use as a lab rat ? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com

When not receiving complaints of "distracted by cars...again" from his wife, Glenn can be found in the kitchen whipping up exotic cuisine and nourishing nosh.