The South African Alfa Romeo GTV6 3.0: A Rare & Honed Italian Icon

The South African-only Alfa Romeo GTV6 3.0 is more than just a special edition – it’s the ultimate evolution of the GTV6. With its enlarged 3.0-litre Busso V6, motorsport pedigree, and meticulously considered upgrades, this rare ’80s classic stands as one of Alfa’s finest. Discover why it’s a cut above the rest.

Photos : SentiMETAL / Cars.co.za

The GTV6 3.0 is the most idolised Alfa Romeo ever sold in South Africa, and comes from an era when the Italian marque was still a force to be reckoned with in the local market. In fact, outside of Italy, South Africa ranked as one of its most important markets, with a large population of passionate Alfisti. Very much like rival BMW, Alfa Romeo’s local distributor/manufacturer also strongly believed in motorsport as a marketing tool. In essence, the GTV6 3.0 was developed to beat the BMW 535i in South Africa’s Group 1 championship, which required at least 200 road-legal examples of a car to be built and sold to the public. According to the man widely regarded as the “father” of the GTV6 3.0, Sampie Bosman, 212 units of the GTV6 3.0 were built.

A Bigger, Bolder Busso V6

Bosman says that the first two cars built featured fuel injection, but in an interesting turn of events, the rest of the 3.0 GTV6s ended up sporting a six Dell’Orto carburettor set-up instead. In the early-’80s, the carburettor-engined Alfa 6 automatic sedan sold in South Africa was experiencing technical problems due to the local fuel quality, so the decision was made to remove those engines and replace them with fuel-injected items. This led to Alfa Romeo having a fairly large number of 2.5-litre carburettor engines standing around... 

Bosman was in charge of the Italian marque’s local racing division and recalls that he had always wanted a racing car that would at least have similar engine capacity to the competition, and so the idea of a 3.0-litre GTV6 was born. 

To develop the GTV6 3.0 was easier said than done, however, and just about every last detail was done in South Africa - only the crankshafts, pistons and sleeves and inner head gaskets were imported from AutoDelta in Italy. Everything else, including machining of the block, production of the flywheels, the exhaust system etc., were developed by Bosman and his team and manufactured in South Africa. “I decided to build a racing car first,” says Bosman, “and the road car second. Nothing was put on that engine that didn’t help it make more power.” Ultimately the decision to go for a carburettor set-up paid off because of better low-down torque and easier tuning.

He can justifiably be proud of his creation – the GTV6 3.0 won first-time out at the Lodge Group One International 2-Hour at Kyalami in 1983, and then followed up that feat with first and second places in the Group One category of the Castrol 3-Hour race at Cape Town’s Killarney’s circuit. Its reliability (in addition to speed) was also proven when it achieved an Index victory at the World Endurance Championship 1 000 km race at Kyalami in December 1983. The late Nico Bianco also took the 1984 Group 1 Championship with a GTV6 3.0.

Revered and desired when it was relatively new, it seemed destined for future classic status as soon as the first one rolled off the production line in South Africa during 1983. And yet, by the early years of the new millennium, the GTV6 3.0 was an endangered species. 

Like so many special cars it fell from stardom into relative obscurity, values plummeted and one could pick up a GTV6 3.0 for a song. A reputation for difficult maintenance, rust and a brand that had an on/off love affair with the country meant that only the brave or the foolish seemed keen on a GTV6 3.0. This resulted in many falling into disrepair through the years or being modified to ruin. Of the 212 built, it is estimated by Basie Theron (a well-known Alfa Romeo restorer in Johannesburg) that only around 35 remain. There are also many fakes, so acquiring a genuine GTV6 3.0 is no simple task.

It’s a beautiful machine… The GTV’s trademark rakish ‘80s body hugs the striking 15-inch Compomotive sectional alloy rims, wrapped in 205/50 rubber, closely, and the handcrafted GRP bonnet has a dramatic NACA duct and power bulge. There’s also a deeper front spoiler and red accent striping to distinguish the GTV6 3.0 from its lesser siblings. 

Inside, there are a pair of figure-hugging Recaro seats and lots of Italian velour, as well as a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear lever. The odd-looking, boxy instrument panel places the rev counter in the middle (as a racing driver would want). Some early cars, including the one road tested by CAR Magazine in April 1984, featured the somewhat scattered facia design of earlier GTVs, but the car featured here boasts the later, more logical (well, for an ‘80s Italian car) layout which brought the three main dials together in front of the driver.

Nothing about the GTV6 3.0 feels like a rush job performed by throwing some special parts together. That’s a misconception that unfortunately follows many a South African Special. The GTV6 3.0 feels honed, every change carefully considered and complete - the ultimate Alfa Romeo GTV6? Yes, by some margin…

Alfa Romeo GTV6 3.0

Specifications: 

Engine  2 934cc, V6

Transmission  RWD, 5-speed manual

Power 128kW@5 800rpm

Torque  222Nm@4 300rpm

Weight  1 138kg* 

Performance

0-100kph  8.36sec*

Top speed 224kph*

How many left 35 est.

Price new  R29 495

Value now  R1.2m +

* CAR Magazine Road Test Data, April 1984