 |
|
Alfa Romeo GT Gallery
|
|
The Alfa GT (surely the shortest Alfa Romeo model name in history), is a proper four-seater and can even swallow five at a squeeze. It is also a hatchback with foldable rear seats, and that fact alone gives it an advantage over the BMW 3-Series Coupe that is its head-on rival.
The GT is based on the front-wheel drive platform of the 147 and 156, is built at the same Pomigliano d'Arco factory near Naples, and contains a 147 dashboard. But this time the styling is not by Alfa Romeo's in-house team but by Bertone, the design house responsible for the best-known of Alfa coupes - the Giulia GT and its descendants made from 1966 to 1977. That said, Bertone must have worked to a tight brief because the GT contains all the current Alfa styling motifs: the front view of the Brera concept car, the scooped-out sides seen in the 147, 166 and 1960s Duetto/Spyder, and slender tail-lights like a 156's but wrapping around the corners like the 147's.
Three engines are offered: a 2.0-litre, direct-injection JTS petrol unit with 165bhp, a 240bhp, 3.2-litre V6 (a slightly detuned and refined version of the 147/156 GTA engine), and a 1.9-litre, 16-valve, JTD turbodiesel with power up from 140 to 150bhp in this application. The 2.0 has a five-speed transmission with a clutchless sequential-shift Selespeed option, the V6 and JTD have six-speeders with no automatic alternative. A Selespeed V6 is on the way, and a convertible could follow if Alfa Romeo can convince itself of the business case. It has already built a prototype.
The buying and servicing experience should be better than in the past, thanks to Alfa Romeo's plans to invest a lot of money in its dealer chain including the appointment of solo Alfa outlets. Some of these will be past dealers dropped during the days of forced Fiat dual-franchising, but which have remained loyal specialists in the marque.
|
