Prius

Make
Toyota
Segment
Hatchback

Owning a classic Alfa Romeo is definitely taking a bit of a risk, both in maintenance costs and your life. In any case, an Alfa is something any true car guy or girl should own at some point in their lives and the GTV would definitely be a top choice. The 1750 GTV first debuted in 1967, replacing the Giulia Sprint GT Veloce. It was powered by a 1.8-liter four-cylinder, 1750cc all-light-alloy twin cam engine with 120hp and 137lb-ft of torque and was mated to a five-speed manual.

For the U.S. market, the GTV also came with a fuel injection system in order to meet new emission control laws. Compared to the outgoing GT Veloce, it had a modified chassis, revised suspension, and an anti-roll bar fitted to the rear suspension. Disc brakes were also added. All told, the car became much easier for the driver to maintain control at higher touring speeds. This particular example is currently with its third owner and is quite rare, considering there were only about 640 North American spec cars built in 1969. The latest owner claims his car was kept away from daylight from 1976 until he purchased it in 2006.

It only 35,600 miles on the odometer and there was no rust and although the interior was dirty, it was in great overall shape due to it sitting in a climate controlled garage. The dash is not cracked, the windows are intact and even the Mahogany on the front looks good. However, because the GTV wasn't stored properly, there was a bit of work to be done. For starters, the second owner left nearly six gallons of gas in the tank and the cooling system hadn't been drained. Both needed to be replaced. The distributor also had to be rebuilt and the clutch also got stuck several times.

Fortunately, the new owner knew what he was doing and soon got the GTV on the road. Most recently, he replaced the rusted out original exhaust with a stainless steel Magnaflow system. Was it worth the trouble? Absolutely, it's an Alfa Romeo after all. Photos courtesy of Will.