Automotive Masochist Anonymous - Alfa Romeo 147 “GTA”
A manic V6 Italian front wheel drive hot hatch for the price of a new Myvi. What could possibly go wrong?
Welcome to Automotive Masochists Anonymous, an occasional posting on Drive Every Day about the really great cars you, yes YOU, can buy instead of the sensible boring mainstream econoboxes (only if you have taken complete leave of your senses that is).
That line has since gone down in petrolhead-dom as the gospel that all shall abide in. Every self-proclaimed petrolhead who has not been baptised by the pain and suffering of owning an Alfa Romeo is not a true petrolhead.
Making good on this biblical verse is rather tough for the majority of petrolheads however, as outside of Italy from where each Alfa Romeo is birthed from the vestal virgins (or so I’m told) and indeed the greater Europe, the ownership prospect of an Alfa Romeo is rather difficult.
More so in Malaysia where the last official Alfa dealership shut its already empty showroom doors nearly a decade prior, but if you are still adamant for an Alfa Romeo there is still a healthy used market of old temperamental Italian stallions in Malaysia and hence here we are today having a closer look at one of the madder variants of the Alfa marque — the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA. On sale to you today for the very reasonable price of RM59,000.
Full disclosure: Drive Every Day is in no way advocating of the purchase of this particular GTA but to go out an buy any weird and wonderful car that you may find instead of boring econoboxes. This particular “GTA” is incidentally the one that was selected to showcase the breed.
A manic V6 Italian front wheel drive hot hatch for the price of a new Myvi.
A bit of background on how the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA came to be before we proceed:
The Alfa Romeo 147 was launched in the beginning of the new millennium as a replacement for the Alfa Romeo 145 and 146. It was a relatively good little Italian car having won the European Car of the Year in 2001. However also in 2001 there was a new battle frontier brewing in the automotive market — the hot hatch horsepower war. During this time, the Ford Focus RS Mk1 was launched and Volkswagen also brought out the Golf R32 Mk4. It was a good time to be a hot hatch enthusiasts with several different alternatives to choose from, but Alfa Romeo had nothing to offer as the most powerful engine in the Alfa 147 at that time was only a 2.0 pushing out only 150 hp which was nothing compared to the big boys from Ford and VW.
So (in my fantasy world I imagined that) one day some Italian engineer at Alfa Romeo, wanting an Italian hot hatch to compete with the others on the market, decided (probably while drunk as that is the only reasonable explanation) to fit the companies’ most desirable engine, the Busso V6, into the little 147, and ergo the 147 GTA was born.
Fitting a 250 hp 3.2 V6 into a front wheel drive car is not unheard of (see Golf R32 Mk4), but what VW did to contain the 200 odd rampaging horses is fit four wheel drive to the Golf; Alfa on the other hand just squeezed the V6 in to the engine bay of the 147 and called it a day.
This had an adverse effect on how the GTA handled on the road. It did indeed have blistering straight line performance, a six-second 0 - 100 means easily wiping the floor against any of its contemporaries, but it was the handling of the GTA that was its undoing. The combination of heavy V6, front wheel drive and lots of power made for really hilariously bad handling. The early GTAs were especially horrendous at tackling corners due to the fact that they had open differentials.
So knowing that the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA is a potential death trap that will one wheel peel you all the way to A&E, what am I doing writing about it convincing you to get one instead of a Myvi?
Because it is gloriously amazing.
Look at it.
Truth be told the 147 is not the prettiest Alfa Romeo, but hey even the ugliest of Alfas is still prettier than most cars. Something something Italian design flair and charm…
This particular example on sale is sitting pretty, resplendent in blue - an unusual departure from the Rosso colours usually associated with the Italians.
In my opinion the front end does let the side down on the looks department (even the ad didn’t show the front of the vehicle), but look closer at the slatted triangular grille (that resembles the lady parts for the immature among you) and you’re instantly reminded that this is indeed an Alfa Romeo.
Adding to the regular 147, this GTA brings with it 17 inch Teledial alloys on all four corners and that cloverleaf boot badge signals the fact that this car does indeed have sporty intentions.
Stepping inside and you’re greeted with more Italian design flair and charm with curves and swoops everywhere along with the added bonus of somewhat Germanic (read: logical) layout of the switchgear instead loading the buttons into a blunderbuss, firing it and sticking the switchgear where they land.
The materials are also of typically Italian, nice leather everywhere with this particular car coming with the typical black and tan interior combo for more of that Italian flair. Aluminium pedals are also a nice addition on the GTA models.
More shocking however is that everything still works (sort of), which is amazing for a 15 year old Alfa Romeo. Saying that however, the airbag cover came apart the minute I opened the door, so there is still some of Alfa “charm” for any masochist that buys it.
There is also a Bose speaker which I was assured is standard with the car but I presumed rarely used because of the pièce de résistance of the GTA — its 3.2 24v Busso V6. The swan song of the Busso V6 range.
Just take a listen:
And that ladies and gentleman should be reason enough for this car to be in your garage.
The Busso V6 is a masterpiece of an engine. It sounds like an Italian tenor that just gets better and better the higher up the rev range you go. Who needs a stereo when this is the sound track every time you hit the gas? This engine and that glorious soundtrack is probably why Alfistas put up with the niggles of owning an Alfa, just for that noise emanating from that glorious Busso V6.
However it is not just the noise that makes this engine a legend, open the bonnet (cue jokes about Alfas breaking down at the side of the road) and you’re not greeted with an engine, but a piece of artwork. Those chrome inlet pipes draw your attention right away, but also then your eyes wander to notice the brushed aluminium cam covers with the Alfa Romeo script painted in red. Even the oil cap has the Alfa emblem on it. Name me one other engine that looks half as good as this. I’ll wait.
This car isn’t also completely mad that requires you to take leave of all your senses to buy it. It has a large boot. And although its just a three door, you can fit human adults with legs attached in the rear seats, which should be enough to convince her indoors to allow you to splash out on this purchase.
The handling issues shouldn’t also be a problem with normal day to day driving, but if you are worried there have been improvements that are on the aftermarket like the Quaife LSD that will remedy all the GTAs handling quirks. With some choice modifications (read: fixing what Alfa should have done from the factory) you should end up with an Alfa that will pull your face off at the traffic lights and still be able to tackle the next bend.
Now before you ask where to sign your name on the sale, there are a few provisos and details that you should know. Servicing the GTA will be financially more ruinous than the sensible Myvi. Independent specialists are out there but then again they are not cheap. Parts availability and prices are also an issue so be warned. Do remember you are buying an Alfa Romeo, so no matter how passionately in love with it you are, it is still an old Italian car. And old Italian car means big bills.
Another thing particular to this car is the selespeed gearbox, which is the automated manual transmission used by Alfas. It’s not the brightest of gearboxes and this car should really have three pedals to maximise the fun factor.
Another detail that I neglected to mention (like any good used car salesman who leaves the most important detail to the last possible moment) about this particular blue example is that is a “GTA”. In which the previous owner actually converted a Malaysian 147 shell into a GTA using a Japanese GTA running gear. The conversion has been done flawlessly with every minor detail of the GTA faithfully implanted into this 147 but for the sticklers for originality out there it might be a niggle to far for you all, for the rest of us though its a freaking Alfa with a V6 for RM60k. Now where do I sign?