Lighter than the Brera and with the right V6
The last Alfa with the choice for a ‘real’ (non-GM) Alfa six-cylinder under the hood. And, according to some, the last ‘real’ of the brand from Milan at all. The beautiful GT in 2003 is in any case a grand encore to the theme 147/156. A look back at the arrival of the Alfa Romeo GT and what we at AutoWeek did with it.
In 2003 we are completely out of our house of that beautiful GT. “Automotive history is being written near Monaco: we are making the first kilometers with the new Alfa GT!” But then the AutoWeek sobriety immediately returns in the pen ink of editor Vranken: “I’m switching from top model V6 to diesel: a nosedive from 240 to 150 hp (…) and what do you think? That JTD is the finest version! There is only one problem, how on earth do you explain that you drive diesel with such a slick coupe under your ass?”
As the very last Alfa de Arese V6
That pleasant diesel is also the GT that is tested first. It narrowly beats the BMW 320 Cd, because we don’t find it a bit more attractive to drive. And then finally it’s the turn of that beautiful ‘Arese V6’. For that special occasion we go back in time not twenty, but 750 years. The two cars of noble brands, both with 3.2-liter six-cylinder, enter into a ‘knight’s duel’ in the Archeon. The German convinces with his quality but not with his dullness, which is particularly noticeable in Italian company.
GT is a thoroughbred entertainer
The Alfa is a true entertainer for the eyes and ears. We enjoy the sound from behind the dashboard, taken directly from the Alfa 147: “Thanks to the dark brown V6 sound, the Alfa is a real head turner, both visually and acoustically. Park the A3 next to the GT and nobody will notice the Ingolstadter.” The Alpha wins the duel, mainly because of the way it engages you in the fight. “However, he fails to send the Audi to the eternal hunting grounds with the good day.” The German nobleman is a bit too strong for that.
As is often the case with Alfa Romeo, the facelift of a model takes place in two phases: just think of the 156 that received a new interior in 2002 on its fourth birthday and a year later the external facelift. The renewal of the GT is also fragmented.
Alfa GT: the better Brera and that hurt!
In 2006, at the same time as the last rejuvenation of the 147, the GT follows with the Q2 self-locking differential: we write that it takes the handling of the coupe to an even higher level, comparable to a four-wheel drive. A year later, the rest of the renewal battle follows with a modest facelift. The GT now has to tolerate its successor next to it, but its role is far from over. “The better Brera” is the headline above the story about the refresher GT. It must have caused the Alfa’s PR man to choke on his Segafredo coffee. “The GT is based on the old 156, the Brera the 159. The fact that the GT is getting a facelift after the Brera is downright bizarre.” But that may not be as strange as it initially seems.
GT is lighter and cheaper
The Brera has a problem: we see it and Alfa probably too. “The 159 family is too heavy and therefore less pleasant to drive, and a GT is also 10,000 euros cheaper than a comparable Brera. (…) After all those test kilometers in the Brera, we had almost forgotten how well the GT drives … better than the Brera.” The last grain of salt in the wound: the Brera will disappear from the market together with its predecessor GT in 2011. The GT will go down in the books as the car that is better than its successor. Grandiose.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl