ALFAGTV6.COM

[Proscriptus]

Hi,

Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car is planning on running a Buyer's Guide on the Alfa GTV-6 later this year, and we are in search of a feature car to photograph. If you think you have what it takes, check out the following criteria:

--The car MUST be located in the northeastern US

--The car must be unmodified

--The car may be either original or restored, but must look correct

--Most importantly, a Buyer's Guide car must be an outstanding example of the marque, one that you might expect to compete for concours prizes.

Please contact me directly at dadolphus@hemmings.com if you are interested, or know of a suitable car. We will be doiing the photography this spring.

Thanks, and don't hesitate to spread the word,

Dave

[SamW]

Does that go as far as having the original leaky t-belt tensioner and the cold engine timing retard crap on it? And if it is an '85, does it have to have the crapy metric tires on it?

[Greg Gordon]

Those are great questions Sam! This whole originality thing gets way out of hand by the "collectors" out there.

[Barry]

Sam,Gregg,interesting direction you guys are headed in here..
I had a post all set up to submit and then deleted it..

My problem is that the last car a mag had of mine cost me big bucks and a lot of aggrevation to fix..

This particular yahoo managed to break the gearbox casing and propshaft.Now,years of my driving never did that ,but this batman did so within a day of having the car..

Im incredibly wary of giving my cars to hacks..

With that,Im NOT IMPLYING that Dave and co. are there to abuse your car-quite on the contrary..

[SamW]

I think the whole original thing is sort of unfair to the car, because the first thing they will print is, "well, by today's standards..." In 20-25 years tire technology has made tires much better, and today we get to use these tires, plus the whole timing retard thing for emissions was crap and no-one uses it anymore, to the point Alfa say's don't use it. Then you get into everything like timing it up to 7 degrees instead of the factory spec 2 degrees. Also how many of us have gone to Greg's site and made simple inprovements to make our cars enjoyable.

Let's face it, these are not garage queen cars, they are driver's cars, and as drivers, we all attempt to improve the experience in our own ways, how many different directions have we gone. If the magazine goes out and publishes a garage queen car, it will not give the true modern old Alfa experience, and then a bunch of readers who have no idea about our cars will judge them by the impression of a garage queen, and not by the experience of a modern old Alfa slowly improved by those who love the cars...

OK, I am off the soap box...

[SamW]

Oh, by they way, I do subscribe to the magazine, and I like it, just not this idea...

[DaveH]

Does that go as far as having the original leaky t-belt tensioner and the cold engine timing retard crap on it? And if it is an '85, does it have to have the crapy metric tires on it?

Sam is remembering the 1st time he opened the hood of my car. Talk about originale. Cali smog wiring still intact. Slippery TRXs hardened by winter's frigid breath. Dribbly tensioner happily depositing Mobil 1 on the t-belt. Ah, she was a 43k mi garage queen back then...

My car has since been de-concoured.

[Proscriptus]

In an ideal world, we'd have a "perfect" car as a sort of Platonic ideal of the type, and a real-world example that has a few problems, common modifications and updates so we can show an example of a real car.

We like to have an 'original' car so people know what they're looking for, and at. We can't just say, "This should look like this, but doesn't," we have to be able to show what it should look like. We have decided to make a serious effort to use realistic cars as well, though, and to that end we're not going to reject a candidate that isn't perfect. We ask for a perfect car, in part, because from experience we know that won't discourage anyone with a less-than-perfect example from offering.

And unlike most of the other publications, we actually know how to drive around here.

Dave

[John in Denver]

Original. what's original?? I have to post this 'cause it's such a good story (just in case any of you has not heard it). Jason and his shipmates start off in the Argo on their journey into myth. Well, it turns out that the trip takes takes longer than planned, in fact several years, and the weather isn't always nice, so repairs are required on the way..... a bit here and a bit there. After their many adventures what's left of the crew returns home in the Argo. The thing is that those repairs have added up over time and now the Argo they return in has NO original parts left at all. It is (start compared to finish) an ENTIRELY new ship. Yet, it is recognizably the Argo they left in, the ship they have spent years sailing in.... but not a single timber is the same. So, is it the Argo or is it not??

[SamW]

I don't mean to discourage you, I hope you find a good one, but mine is not what you are looking for, and a show car brings to mind someone who is more concerned with clean and polishing than tinkering. I think my car is a fine example of a GTV6, in great shape for 20 years and 230k miles, but I have made changes along the way, different wheels, poly bushings, Bilstein shocks, CSC headers, shortened shifter, lowered front ride height, which brings up a good point, are you looking for a car so original that it has the US front ride height or the European ride height the car was intended to have? Sort of a Form vs. Function question.

[Mericet]

Good luck in finding a car Dave. Mine has too much rust and bad body panels to even be a candidate.

BTW, your store in Bennington looks really good at night. I happened to have a stopover there this week (Tuesday night) and saw it as I drove through town.

[Mezevenf]

Ah, my GTV6 would be perfect for it.

Pity its in another country.

[Barry]

Dave,Auto Italia mag is in South Africa on the 21 feb. to drive a whole lot of Alfa`s for an upcoming feature..
From Kevins mint ,ORIGINAL carb 3.0l(30 000km) to some fire breathing turbo and race cars..Including a 500hp rotary powered Fiat 131 Abarth (yea,I know...)and the Lancia evo 3...

Roberto Giordinelli will be peddalling...

The same deal can be setup for your magazine at any time here....

[x-rad]

Maybe by "original" they mean: Any part manufactured by Alfa between 1977-1989 that fits your GTV6? In that case, I'm 100% original!!

Anyway, I still think it's cool that some USA car mags are still interested in old Alfas....

[Peter A]

That sounds right. The same mag did a piece on a GTV a few issues ago, the car was not original, think it had the 1600 replaced with a 1750 with 45's, modified suspension, later style cromadora wheels, non-stock paint color I think.