Captured this interesting combination of Alfas recently. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that they all belong to the same household, particularly when you consider that they live smack-bang in the middle of Range Rover Sport & Vogue/Porsche Panamera & Cayenne & Macan/BMW X5 & X6 territory. Which makes them an all the more welcome sight.
First up is an Alfetta GTV. This is a 2.5L V6 model with a bit of aftermarketness about it. It’s a later version of the body that came with the V6 hood protrusion and larger plasticised bumpers, but I don’t think those colour-coded ‘ground effects’ appendages are OEM, nor are the wheels. Please advise if I’m wrong. The original body with the chrome bumpers is one of my favourite ever shapes and even though I’m not totally feeling the love for this exact car, its interesting to see how the crispness of the body remains.
Next is an Alfa 75, or ‘Milano’ for USians. Not the prettiest of the three, but the most interesting. It features the Quadrifoglio Verde version of the 3.0 V6, which makes it the hottest of the 75 variants. Quadrifoglio means ‘four-leaf’ in Italian, and ‘Verde’ means green. When you see a green four-leaf clover badge on an Alfa from this period, it usually means that you’re looking at something approximating the GT version of the model. The engine comes from the Alfa 164 sedan and produces 141 kW, the highest output for any road 75.
Speaking of the Alfa 164, it makes up the last of our trio. This one also features the 3.0L V6, but with 132 kW, and in a heavier FWD package than the RWD 75. Particularly in bog standard road trim like this it is such a great-looking shape, styled by Enrico Fumia at Pininfarina using the same styling vernacular as the Peugeot 405. I was offered a pristine one of these for $3K a few years ago, but since I wasn’t looking for another car, I declined. Maybe one day…
Sometimes two of these cars are absent at the same time, so I’m figuring they belong to a couple. It might even be the fleet for a whole a family of Alfisti. Perhaps a wagon is on the horizon.
That’s a street I’d like to live on. I’d get to know those neighbors very quickly.
+1
The last time I saw an Alfa Romeo in the USA was clear back in the early 1990s. It looked like the red Milano. I’ve seen plenty of Alfetta GTVs. I was still a boy when they were being produced. I couldn’t afford to buy one, let alone drive one, nor did I have a driver’s license to legally drive one. For exotic cars like this, I’d prefer RWD over FWD. The best looking Alfas I’ve seen in this article are the Alfetta GTV and the 164. Red is my favourite colour for Alfa Romeo, but the 164 is the best looking of the trio. 🙂
Marvellous Melbourne.
+ over 9000
While it is less reliable than a toaster in the rain, I will always love the 75. I had a ride in one when I was about 16 (a 3.0 litre, with the Recaros and the works), and that sealed the deal.
I’m not much of an Alfa fan, but I like that GTV. Although the tires are too low-profile for my tastes, those wheels complement it pretty well.
Currently the only Alfa to be seen in this area (north Florida) is the very occasional Spyder. 164s were popular, for awhile, when I lived in Memphis, Tn.
I’ve seen a Milano once or twice, in visits to California. And was offered a 2600 convertible in the mid 70s that I knew was rare but didn’t know how rare until many years later.
Oddly, 2 trips to Sicily (courtesy of Uncle Sam) in the 70s and I don’t remember seeing many Alfas.
BTW, the latest news is that Alfa will NOT produce a version of the new Miata….it will be badged as a Fiat, instead. And Alfa has changed direction (yet again) and will concentrate on RWD cars only in the future.
Mmm, Alfetta. Now that’s a hot hatch. Not as lovable as the ’60s GTVs, but not much is.
I always liked the 164, though it loses some of its “wow” from having been knocked off for the ’97 Camry.
Don’t get your comment… Knocked off for 97 Camry?
The only similarities, if ANY, is they both have very narrow tail lights.
The 164 Tipo was designed around 1982, in Turin, Italy… The body design came into production around 1987. The platform was shared with the Saab 9000/Fiat Croma/Lancia Thema.
The 164 was the only one with a different body shell, which was designed by Pininfarina… Who also designed the Peugeot 405, which did not sit well with Alfa Romeo.
With the 1st Alfa 164 on the road around 1986/87… The 1997 Toyota Camry could have borrowed a few styling cues.
As an owner of a 1991 164S(Sportivo), I can definitely tell you… they have NO performance similarities at all. 🙂
Bellissimo! Love that GTV6 especially–I’ve been a fan since childhood. While the sill extensions and rear bumper pan may be a bit much, I really like the wheels and front air dam, aftermarket or not. Haven’t seen one on the road in ages.
I tend to see quite a few other Alfas though. There are two Spiders in my neighborhood, and there’s a garage up the road that specialized in European cars and always has a few Alfas out front. Usually 164’s (a couple that seemed to be parts cars plus a rotation of customers) but a Milano or Spider will show up from time to time. This one carried the green cloverleaf:
Nice,I’d love to try one(but not buy one).A CCer said to find a mate with a perfectly running one and borrow it!
Those enormously large wheels on that Alfetta GTV break the ball joints and other suspension components.
Alfa never designed it to use those wheels. It’s not going to go well for that owner. Today I saw a lowered Mercedes W123. I kid you not. Lowered as far as possible. I can only imagine how fast things will wear out on that otherwise beautiful car.
Stylish neighbourhood…
What is the conversion between Kw and Hp?
1 kilowatt is approximately 75% of 1 horsepower – thus 75kW = 100hp.
To quickly convert kW to hp in your head, divide kW by 3 then multiply by 4 – eg using the Alfa 75: 141kW / 3 = 47 x 4 = 188hp (approximately).
To convert hp to kW is the reverse: divide hp by 4 then multiply by 3 – eg 240hp / 4 = 60 x 3 = 180kW (approximately).
Multiply the KW by 1.34 and you get the HP.
For the advanced exercise, there are two different conversion rates. Mechanical horsepower, used in the U.S. and (inconsistently) in the U.K., are about 745.7 watts (0.7457 kW). Metric horsepower, used in Japan and many other countries (and sometimes described as PS rather than hp), are about 735.5 watts (0.7355). So, an engine making 221 kW would have 300 metric horsepower (or 300 PS) or 296 mechanical horsepower.
The difference is not vast, but can cause all sorts of minor confusion because a lot of sources don’t consistently account for the different units.
Yumm.
I can no longer look at an Alfa without hearing Jeremy Clarkson in my head, saying “Alfa builds a car to be as good as a car can be. Briefly.”
I have always wondered if the Milano would have had a fighting chance in the U.S. but for that really strange side molding that kinks up at the back. The moment I first saw that design, I concluded that it would never sell. One of my automotive predictions that turned out to be right. I see the Spyders around the midwestern US occasionally, but that would be about it.
I loved the GTV6 the first time I read a review–I mught have been 13 and of course, I could look and dream, and not have to deal with the reliability issues, or Alfa’s exit from the US market not too long after…I’m surprised I haven’t seen more of these in LA, maybe 3-4 over the years. It’s a very striking shape.
I have been in love with Alfa’s since the late 60’s when I first read a review of a Spider in a (Sports Car Graphic?) magazine. The reviewers drove the car up into the mountains one fine day and liked the car but weren’t much impressed. They stopped at a small cafe and wiled away the afternoon until the sun started to set through the trees. For some reason I’ve forgotten, they decided to turn on the parking lights and noticed … Nothing. They tried the headlights and… Nothing. They fiddled around unsuccessfully until they realized that it there was only an hour to sunset, and they were 75 mountain road miles from home. It wasn’t practical to spend the night there- There was nothing for it but to make a run for home. And so they started, and they drove like Hell. And they discovered something – the harder they pushed the car, the better it was. The article ends with them pulling into the driveway just as the sun fades below the horizon and they conclude the article by saying “The only way to drive an Alfa is to drive like you’re an hour from sunset, 75 miles from home, and afraid of the dark”
I’ve owned three now, with my 71 Spider currently at the shop for a full restoration. I am hoping that Alfa will have a new coupe with which replace my BMW by 2016. I know exactly what I’m getting into, but I want one.
Great story. Makes me not only miss Alfas but also the way automotive magazines used to be written.
So you found those deep in Toorak tractor territory.
From those, my pick is the 75. I think I have seen that car going up Burke rd.
Move along folks, nothing to see here, just a herd of unicorns quietly standing around.
Three great finds Don! My favourite is the GTV – I’m not usually a fan of aftermarket bumper-bodykit fitments, but they work fantastically well on the GTV, really modernises the shape IMHO. Now, for your next trick Don, can you find a Giacattolo GTV…!
That would be an interesting car. I read an old Street Machine while waiting in a pizza shop and it featured an Alfetta GTV packing a 454! The engine was stuffed way back under the windscreen. Until then, the only Giocattolo I can bring you was at Como Park.
They only made 15 Giocattolos I think, I suppose they must park curbside occasionally, say once a decade!
Might the GTV6 have a Zepter body kit, that was almost factory.
Zender. Bingo!
Didn’t a racing driver kill himself in one of these, a few years ago? Just a stupid Power:Weight ratio.
The first few had the 2.5 V6 Alfa engine, which kinda makes more sense.
I’ve never really been attracted to the Alfetta. The smaller Sprint from the same era is much prettier – IMO.
Years ago my brother had a Sprint. It went through two engines in the relatively short time he had it. But it was heaps of fun when it went.
I also like the earlier GT’s – but then, who doesn’t?
Don – the photo is taken somewhere in Melbourne’s eastern or south-eastern suburbs. It doesn’t look like Kew and the slope suggests it’s not south. The road’s not really narrow, which suggests something not too close in. Hmmm – it could be Hawthorn but Hawthorn East is my guess. Is there a prize?
No prize. I try to keep owners, locations and numberplates as anonymous as possible as a general rule. The suburb is eastern, but more inner.
Dad’s had his Sprint since 1988. He still won’t let me drive it.
Nice Sprint. I’d pick an earlier one with the slimmer bumpers and no cladding if I had my druthers – but I’d guess the tin worm has got most of them.
Tin worm’s at this one around the windows.
Big +1 re: the earlier models. Haven’t seen an original Sprint is sooooooo long, and chrome-bumpered GTVs only very, very occasionally. And boy do I miss seeing them.
My old 75 was the best and worst car I’ve ever driven. I miss it badly.
Great find and picture – it’s nice to see true Alfisti who obviously love their cars.
As a former Alfa owner though, I have to say that either these cars were drained of fluids or there are several drip pans underneath each………
CC effect must have hit me today as I spotted a blue 164 when I was coming to the city this afternoon.
The coupe may probably benefit using 1″-2″ smaller wheels. The rubber band tyres do its style no favours.
Just a stunning 1974 Alfetta GT 1.8 I ran across on a classic car dealer’s website. Only 53,000 km on the clock.
Nice catch Don !