Few car manufacturers evoke as much passion as Alfa Romeo, you will scarcely find an automotive enthusiast that hasn’t at least desired to own one of their sports cars.
Although their cars are almost always beautiful and offer exceptional performance, that only creates part of the allure; it is the driving experience that sells their cars. Anyone who says they hate Alfa’s or don’t see what is so special about them either doesn’t like cars or hasn’t ever had the chance to sit behind the wheel of one.
A glorious example of this is the 1750 GTV, if you haven’t been in one you won’t truly understand why people get so carried away about these unassuming little cars, then once you get in it all becomes clear.
The Elephant In The Room
Reliability. It is still a swear word for just about any Italian automotive enthusiast (no exceptions to their bikes here).
In no way shape or form are these little GTVs an exception to the rule, at some point this beautiful little car will betray you and that is just the way it is. For most people familiar with classic cars, not many would be considered reliable by modern standards anyway, pretty much anything with a carburetor needs a little more tender loving care. So with that fun fact in mind, what might actually go wrong with the little GTV? Well, you would be better off asking what doesn’t go wrong, but the most common gremlins will always be found with the wiring.
It is the root of just about all evil when it comes to anything out of Italy (some European brands are also guilty here), so once you are sure you have a healthy battery then you can start your diagnosis from there. Keeping your battery healthy is another story though, as Alfa Romeo in their infinite wisdom decided that the key would pretty much only shut off the engine. You can operate just about all the accessories without the key even in the ignition, so if you are a little forgetful, or have children, you better have a battery charger at the ready.
One Of Bertone’s Greatest Hits
It might be a bold statement when you look through their supercar-laden portfolio but just look at the thing.
It is one of the most striking designs of the 20th century and over 50 years later, remains relevant. From the quad headlights to the swooping tail, it is a thing of immense beauty, but we would argue that its beauty doesn’t necessarily lie in the details, but rather the exquisite simplicity of the design. At its core, it is just a very simple two door coupe, but the way it has been sculpted makes all the difference. Its thin A-pillars do nothing for safety, but what they do is give the driver incredible visibility, which is a rather underrated feature of design as it helps connect the driver to the car like nothing else, enhancing the driving experience more than any amount of horsepower can.
Performance To Match Its Looks
It certainly wasn’t all show and no go, producing a solid 130 horsepower from the factory and only weighing just over a ton, it was already a spritely little car.
Without anything more than an aftermarket exhaust and a good tune up, it will make over 150 horsepower, putting it in a very special class of sports car with this kind of power to weight ratio. Its rev-happy twin cam was unusually smooth and with most of the power available to you from 1500 rpm all the way to up to 6000 rpm it makes for a fantastic drivers car and can calve up any canyon road with its excellent chassis. It is still a popular choice for historic racing series around the world, although with prices starting to get out of hand it is becoming ever more unlikely that anyone would want to convert a good, solid car into a track day car.
It is a painfully hard car to sum up, the only way to really understand why so many people get so excited about these cars, why they are willing to spend so much on them, is to get in one and experience them for yourself.