Turbo Alfa Coupes Alfa Romeo 4C & GTV 2.0 V6 Turbo

There you have it: the two last great coupes Alfa made in the last 20 years. The beloved 4C, a rear wheel drive, carbon fiber mini-supercar put up against the less loved, front wheel drive Alfa Romeo GTV V6 2.0 Turbo.
Please, don’t take this due as a rather unfair way to criticize the GTV not being a proper Alfa for being front wheel drive and it was designed under the first Fiat administration. As a matter of fact, the pictures show two rather good cars, great for what they were conceived: sporty driving.
Although the GTV is a 2+2 and built to be a GT rather than an all out performer like the 4C, it was Alfa’s compact performance coupè for the 1990ies and for most of the 2000’s. It was such an unappreciated car as it was built on the chassis of the humble Fiat Tipo with Fiat pars and it was front wheel drive. However, few people know that this little Alfa had perhaps one of the best and most characterful V6 ever to come out of Italy: the Legendary “Busso” engine. It also had the 155 DTM rear suspension architecture, which made it incredibly stable.
It may not look as promising when you look at it, but the rare 2.0 V6 Turbo was (and in many ways still is) a great driving sporty car. Considering the rarity of this particular version of the Alfa 6 cylinder engine there is also a chance that this coupè will be a future classic.
It drives as good as (allow me to express my real feelings here) it looks. The Pininfarina-clad and Alfa powered Fiat is not as humble as one would want to believe: it holds the distinction of a smooth yet consistent power delivery, great suspension balance between the front and the rear and a great sound. The exuberance of the engine and how fast it take revs make you wish it had at least an 8.000 rpm red line. Somehow, the needle stopping at 6000 seems that is cutting off the fun!
The engine pulls vigorously after 2500 rpm, just when the turbos kick in and the Alfa really feels like it is taking off. The anger and the aggression of the engine can’t fail to put a smile on your face. The “accelerating game” becomes addicting in the 2.0 Turbo and with a proper manual transmission, you just enjoy the driving experience.
202 hp ain’t much and are 38 less than the 4C, but the character of the GTV is something we probably won’t see anymore.