Revealed in 1972, Giorgetto Giugiaro’s striking Alfetta fastback wedge design directly resulted from the challenging brief of delivering a replacement for Alfa Romeo’s successful predecessor being the 105 series car. The final design wowed the public and its stunning looks are as beautiful today as they were some fifty years ago. Alfetta “little Alfa” in Italian, derived its name from the nickname of the 1951 Formula One Tipo 159 Alfetta which also paired a transaxle layout to De Dion tube rear suspension. The rear De Dion transaxle (clutch and transmission) provided the new Alfetta with excellent weight distribution and lower centre of gravity, with these handling advantages widely acknowledged by the motoring press. The transaxle design, in combination with a Watt’s parallelogram linkage, inboard rear brakes and a well-located De Dion rear suspension, resulted in balanced traction and handling. The front suspension design was unusual in that it incorporated independent longitudinal torsion bar springs acting directly onto the lower wishbones and with separate dampers. Overall, it was a sophisticated and progressive set-up and one that delivered outstanding results when the Alfetta went into competition. During its life, it won events and championships across the globe both on track and in rally guise. They continue to successfully compete to this today in classic race events. When launched the Alfetta GT was powered by the 1.8 litre version of the Alfa DOHC four (taken from the previous 105 series cars). In 1976 this was discontinued in favour of 1.6 litre and 2.0 litre options. Over the subsequent years several updates were made to both engines and the appearance of the cars. In late 1980 Alfa Romeo coupled the cars excellent handling with its legendary V6 ‘Busso’ engine and the GTV 6 2.5 was born. The V6 received rave reviews and it found its true home in the GTV 6’s striking body where it could demonstrate its ample capabilities underlined with its race successes. Indeed, it won the European Touring Car Championship an unprecedented fours year in a row (1982-85), the British Touring Car Championship in 1983 along with many other events across Europe. Incredibly it placed third in 1986 in a round of the World Rally Championship and at this point it was competing against the might of the Group B cars. More locally ,Colin Bond successfully campaigned the famous yellow Alfetta GTV6 at Bathurst and other significant events and as late as 1987, Greg Carr won the Australian Rally Championship with one. By this point the GTV6 cemented its position as an Alfa Romeo legend and its affection within the Alfa Romeo community is enduring. Our car; chassis 03003853. The current owner of this car is the former Test Cricketer Greg Ritchie, who has owned 4 Alfetta GTV’s and is fanatical about them. He purchased this car 7 years ago with the intention of fulfilling the lifelong ambition of taking a GTV6 to next level in terms of performance, comfort, and condition. He took the car which he’d owned for 2 years and then set about a full body restoration removing any corrosion and replacing with new metal where required. Originally silver, the car was repainted in correct Rosso 530. A full photographic record of this work accompanies the car. The paint shows some signs of wear with some stone chips to the front area and door edges. A sunroof is fitted however this has been sealed. The real focus was on the performance and a 3.0 V6 was sourced, completely rebuilt, and installed into the car. The performance of the motor was also improved, and the result is a car that is simply thrilling drive with an intoxicating engine note from its legendary ‘Busso’ V6. All work including the full engine rebuild was conducted by known specialists and this is documented. The interior was in excellent original order; however, the owner wished to improve the seating and sourced both front and rear seats in full leather. They are incredibly comfortable whilst the original ‘net’ head rests are a particularly appealing feature. Where required the gauges were restored and overall, the interior now presents extremely well, and is a lovely place to be. There is one small crack on the dash, but this is out of line of sight. The air-conditioning unit works perfectly and has been recently serviced. Every electrical item works as it should and even the clock keeps perfect time. Turn the key and the car starts with a familiar Alfa Romeo growl. Blip the throttle and the V6 provides its appealing tone. Out on the open road this car is exceptional and its lift in performance is very noticeable particularly in the mid-range where the additional torque is beneficial. When you push the ‘loud pedal’ this car really wants to go and keep going! Ordinarily the gearbox’s on GTV’s can be a little vague, however with recent work done this example it is precise and easy to work very quickly through the gears. Likewise, the brakes and steering are incredibly good, inspiring confidence when you want to push on.