Shabby Paint, But a Beautifully Driving Alfa

Owner: Felix Ott

Year, Make, and Model: 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000

Location: Heidelberg, Germany

Photographer: Tanja Ganzer

This is my 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000. It was delivered new to Sicily in ’74 (I wasn´t even born yet!), where it stayed until about 1996 when it was sold to someone in Germany. I never really considered an Alfa, since I was more into Porsches (which is no surprise when you’re born and raised close to Zuffenhausen and spent your childhood in the backseats of a 911) and owned a couple of Porsche Transaxles (924, 944, 931….) before a friend gave me a ride in his Giulia Sprint GT and immediately got me hooked! The incredible sound of the revvy 1600 engine and the nimble handling really impressed me.

So I wanted one myself…and I’m pretty impatient, so I wanted it immediately. After looking at a dozen rusty basketcases, I found mine: Blu Hollandese with tan interior. The paint wasn’t shiny at all and it was in a bad state, but there wasn’t any significant rust. The engine was running just fine, and most of the chassis bushings were new…I finally bought it, and after some TLC it became a great driver’s car!

I noticed that the suspension was a bit worn and soft, so I started improving the chassis. With a faster chassis, you soon find that the engine is a bit weak, so I took care of this too. The beautiful “bialbero” twin cam now features forged pistons, sport camshafts, a full head-job and works quite well with producing about 150 hp and massive torque, which was subsequently the deathblow for the gearbox and the propshaft, so that was overhauled as well and the rear axle was uprated to a forty percent LSD. And since it was so much quicker now, I had to fit a rollbar and four-point harnesses as well [editor’s note: remember that Slippery Slope question?].

And now it is perfect! The paint still looks shabby, but I don’t care because it drives so beautifully! It’s a blast running the car on small, winding backroads…I occasionaly take it to racetracks as well: Hockenheim (which is close to my hometown Heidelberg), Spa-Francorchamps, Anneau du Rhin, and, of course, the Nordschleife.

The car puts a smile on my face every time I drive it…it’s completely different from modern cars. It rolls in corners, it locks the wheels if you brake too hard and there aren’t any electronics that keep the wheels from spinning or the rear from sliding around corners…

If you’d like to see more of Felix’s GTV, check out his blog, here.

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