1997 Alfa Romeo GTV Convertible

The Alfa Romeo Gran Turismo Veloce (GTV) was designed by Enrico Fumia at Pininfarina and approved by Fiat CEO. Alfa Romeo Centro Stile was responsible for the completion of the detail work and also for the design of the interiors, as Pininfarina's proposal was not accepted. Fumia created a wedge-shaped, modern, low-slung, aerodynamic design with a low nose and high kicked-up tail (known as a 'Kamm tail').

The Alfa Romeo GTV was awarded Autocar Magazine's '1995 Car of the Year', Car Magazine's 'Best Designed Car', and 'The World's most Beautiful Automobile' award.

The Alfa Romeo GTV had an internal designation 916. Body styles included a 2+2 coupe, and a two-seater Spider. Between 1993 and 2004, around 39,000 Spider and 41,700 GTVs were built. It was available until the launch of the Brera in 2005, while the Spider lasted another year until the launch of its Brera-based successor in 2006.

Alfa Romeo left the United States market in 1994. This particular example was legally imported into the United States in 2004 and was specially constructed to comply with U.S. federal specifications. It is believed to be the only 916 Spider legally imported to this country. The car is equipped with the optional higher output 16 valve twin spark engine and rare two-tone sport leather interior.

In 2013, this Spider was concours judged at 101.6 points and won 'Best in Show' at the national Alfa Romeo club meet in Sonoma California. The car has traveled less than 500 since its national concours victory and has accumulated a just over 29,000 total miles.

The car is powered by a 2-liter, 148 horsepower, dual-spark, twin-cam, 16-vavle four-cylinder engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission. It has power-assisted four-wheel ventilated disc brakes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2017