The Alfa and I are back at home so it’s time to give you the run down on the car and the thought process that led me to buy it.
The Car – a brief history.
I thought it was a 1984 model, but it turns out my GTV6 was actually built in April of 1985. I’ve managed to get in touch with the car’s long-term owner, who had it from around 1990 to some time in 2008/9.
Click any of the images to enlarge.
Apparently the car started life as a dealer demo model, then it was leased on behalf a lady owner as her company vehicle. My contact, the long-term owner named Ross H, subsequently purchased it around 1990 with 89,000kms on the clock. To quote Ross, “It was the first one I saw, but after I had looked at about 20 more and it was still the best I’d seen, I went back and bought it – even though I didn’t really want a red one.”
Around 2002, the engine in the GTV6 was getting a bit tired, so it was removed and put to one side while a replacement V6 from an Alfa 75 was installed. A few years later, and just prior to a working trip to Asia, the original engine was torn down and rebuilt, a no-compromises restoration that Ross did with a view to driving and keeping the car on his return to Australia. The car had a lot of other work performed under Ross’ ownership as well (see below), all designed to make it the best a ‘stock’ GTV6 could be for an automotive engineer with a motorsport background.
Ross sold the car a few years ago to the guy I bought it from last week. Upon learning the history of the car, I was really surprised that the owner didn’t make more of it in his advertising. He complained that he hadn’t had much interest. I think talking more about the vehicle’s very impressive history would have helped a lot. Prior to contacting Ross, I first heard about it from one of his colleagues, Doug G, via a posting on the AROCA website. Learning the vehicle’s history convinced me to look further and finally, to have confidence in buying the car.
