Author: John Mayhead
Photography: Hagerty
Hagerty’s 2025 Bull Market list, showcasing the cars that may presently offer great value for money, listed the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA.
It was a relatively easy choice. High-powered hatchbacks are hot right now, with our relevant index showing the most growth of all Hagerty UK indices since their publication in 2018, and 5 percent growth over the past year. The 147 GTA not only fits that segment perfectly, but it is now relatively rare, still fairly cheap to buy and, being an Alfa Romeo, comes with a huge ladle of Italian cool. But there’s another sleeper that ticks many of the same boxes, but still flies under the radar: the 147’s coupe stablemate, the Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6.
Full disclosure: I used to own one of these cars, and it was a mixed experience. On the one hand, it was a phenomenal driver’s car, mainly thanks to its V6 Busso engine that it shares with the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA. It is one of the most wonderful engines ever produced, as beautiful to look at as it is to listen to and, other than a few Autodelta 3.7-litre specials, it’s the ultimate iteration of the engine.
Unusually for Alfa Romeo, production of the GT crossed over with another coupe, the Alfa Brera. The latter is undeniably a beautiful car, with lines penned by Giorgetto Guigiaro for Italdesign, and is scored highly by Hagerty’s unique Collectability Algorithm, but I always preferred the GT: not only did the Brera use the slightly less exciting GM- sourced engine for its range-topping 3.2 V6 JTS, but the GT also had a little more room in the back.
But the Alfa GT is not without its issues. Built in the era when the company was sticking by its old adage of ‘spend money to go faster and look better, but nothing else’ the interior trim and electrics were fragile, side skirts incredibly thin and prone to dents, and the door handles had a nasty habit of falling off in your hands after a while. Problems with oil coolers, catalytic converters, the need to fit a sensible Q2 or Quaife diff and a tendency for the subframe to rust were all part of the fun.
That said, those left on the road now may well have had a lot of those problems fixed by one of the many Alfa specialists dotted around the country and there are a range of aftermarket modifications to solve most of the niggles. Plus, values of the GT are low compared with the other Alfa 3.2 V6 models of the era – under half that of the 156 GTA and just under a quarter lower than the Brera. So, my verdict on the Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6? It’s a brilliant car, currently well-priced, but buy it because you love it, not because you think it’ll be a cheap, fast car because it will only be one of those things.
Would you invest in an Alfa Romeo GT right now? If not, which hot hatchback would you choose? Let us know at in the comments below.
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