Overview

The Alfa Romeo GTV (Gran Turismo Veloce - English: Fast Grand Tourer) and Alfa Romeo Sider were two sport cars manufactured by the Italian carmaker Alfa Romeo, a division of the FIAT Group. The Alfa Romeo GTV is a 2+2 coupe, in which the back seats could be removed as optional to increase boot space, and the Alfa Romeo Spider is a two-seater cabriolet version of the GTV.

The Alfa Romeo GTV was produced from 1995 to 2005, the Alfa Romeo Spider was built from 1995 to 2006. The cars were introduced at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show. THe GTV was the successor of the Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT, GTV & GTV6 and the predecessor of the Alfa Romeo Brera, were the Spider was the successor of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider and the predecessor of the Brera based Alfa Romeo Spider. The production of the cars was at Alfa Romeo's plant in Arese, Milan, Italy until 2000 and at Pininfarina's plant in Turin, Italy after 2000.

Both the GTV and the Spider were designed by Pininfarina. The car featured the typical Italian design with the Alfa Romeo grille with dual round headlights, recalling the 1750 GTV of the late 1960s and 1970s, it had a low nose and high kicked up tail that improved the aerodynamics of the car. In 1998 the car was facelifted with the most notable changed were a chrome rim around the Alfa shield in the bonnet, and colour-coded side skirts and bumpers, on the inside the center console got a alloy-look finish. A second, more comprehensive facelift was done in 2003 when the car received a restyled front end with a much deeper 147-style grille and the frontplate-holder moving from the centre to the left, on the inside the instrumentation lighting was changed from green to red.

Variants

Alfa Romeo offered the GTV and the Spider only with petrol engine. The entry level engine was a 1.8 liter straight four that developed 144 hp @ 6500 rpm and a maximum torque of 125 lb/ft @ 3500 rpm. The engine came with a five speed manual transmission that delivered the power to the rear wheels. In terms of performance the car could do zero to 60 mph in 8.8 seconds, a standing quarter mile in 17.2 seconds and a top speed of 131 mph. As for the fuel consumption on average the car returned 26.4 miles to the gallon. This engine was available only from 1998 to 2001.

Second engine as displacement was a 2.0 liter straight four that was updated with every facelift, from 150 hp to 155 hp and to 165 hp in 2003. The 165 hp were delivered at 6400 rpm and the maximum torque of 152 lb/ft was available from 3250 rpm. The engine came with a five speed manual transmission. With this engine the GTV / Spider could reach 60 mph in 8.1 seconds, cover a quarter mile in 17.3 seconds and do a top speed of 134 mph. The fuel consumption was good, returning 27.4 mpg on average.

Until 2001 Alfa Romeo offered the GTV / Spider with a turbocharged 2.0 liter V6 that generated 205 hp @ 6000 rpm and maximum torque of 206 lb/ft @ 2500 rpm. The engine came with a manual five speed transmission. The Alfa GTV / Spider 2.0 V6 TB were capable of getting from zero to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds, covering a quarter mile in 15.3 seconds and getting to a top speed of 146 mph. On average the car returned a fuel economy of 21.8 miles to the gallon.

From 1996 to 2002 a 3.0 liter V6 was offered. The engine produced 218 hp @ 6300 rpm and 195 lb/ft @ 5000 rpm. The engine came with a six speed manual transmission. The engine helped the Alfa GT / Spider to sprint from not to 60 mph in 6.3 sec, cover a quarter mile from zero in 15.1 sec and get to a top speed of 148 mph. The fuel consumption was 17.5 mpg on average.

The 3.0 liter V6 was replaced by a 3.2 liter V6, which developed 240 hp @ 6200 rpm and maximum torque output of 213 lb/ft @ 4800 rpm. The engine was available only with a six speed manual transmission. With this engine the Alfa Romeo GTV / Spider could accelerate to 60 mph in 6.0 sec, cover a standing quarter mile in 14.5 sec and do a top speed of 158 mph. The fuel consumption was 15.8 miles per gallon combined.