Number of cylinders: 6
Emission class: Euro 4
Service history: Present
Number of owners: 3
Registration number: 5461DZC

Why on earth am I so besotted with Alfa Romeo? And I'm far from alone. It's a question I ask myself regularly, usually after a call from the garage or while I'm trying to reset a relay with frozen fingers in some layby off the M6. The answer is simple, yet impossible to explain to someone who doesn't get it. It's in the DNA. In the way Italians look at cars. Not as transport, but as an extension of your personality. A statement. A way of life.

The GT that Alfa Romeo introduced in 2003 was, in many respects, an odd one out. Built on the 156 platform, penned by Bertone (the last Alfa to receive that honour), and intended as an accessible coupé: a genre of car you simply don't see any more. Critics called it too tame. Too comfortable. Not hardcore enough. But those critics missed the point. The GT was never meant to be a track weapon. It was meant to be a daily companion that puts a smile on your face every morning. A car you drive to work, then glance back at as you walk away.

And then, of course, there was the 3.2 V6. The Busso. Quite possibly the most beautiful six-cylinder ever fitted to a production car. Giuseppe Busso designed this engine back in the sixties, and it remained in production until 2005. After that, it was over. No successor, no spiritual heir, nothing. The 3.2 in the GT was one of the final gasps of an era when sound and feel still mattered more than fuel consumption figures and CO2 labels. 240 bhp, front-wheel drive (yes, I know, purists are weeping now), and a six-speed gearbox you operate yourself. As it should be.

The GT offered here in GRIGIO LIPARI with beige leather interior hails from Spain, where it spent its entire life until its recent import to the Netherlands. Registered in May 2006, first in Galicia, later relocated to Castilla-La Mancha. The service book reads like a novel: regular oil and filter changes, properly documented. The Spanish treated it the way a GT deserves to be treated: with respect, but without wrapping it in cotton wool.

What makes this particular car especially interesting is the specification. Xenon headlamps with headlamp washers, automatic climate control, cruise control, the Bose Hi-Fi system with eight speakers, navigation, parking sensors, and the TÜV-approved Eibach suspension providing just that extra bit of tautness without murdering the comfort. Somebody knew what they were doing.

The interior in beige leather against that Grigio bodywork is a combination you don't often see, and it's precisely right. Not a grey prison cell, not a beige waiting room, but warm and full of character. Five seats, though the rear bench is better suited to children or people you're not terribly fond of. Six airbags, electronic stability programme (VDC), ASR, ABS with electronic brake-force distribution. For 2006, rather comprehensive.

Three owners in nearly twenty years, properly documented MOT history (the Spanish call it ITV), and a car that simply presents well. The 18-inch alloy wheels from the optional range are factory original. The Spanish owner's manual may not be ideal for the average buyer, but fortunately a Busso engine is fairly universal in its communication: it growls, it sings, it screams when you give it the spurs. No translation required.

Is this the ultimate Alfa Romeo? No. That's probably a 33 Stradale or an 8C Competizione. But this is an Alfa Romeo you can drive every day, one that won't bankrupt you on maintenance (provided you keep on top of it), and one that reminds you every single time why you fell in love with this marque in the first place. The GT 3.2 V6 is the last of the Mohicans. The last Alfa with a Busso. The last with that indefinable Italian something they've never quite managed to recapture since.

My grandfather would have loved it.

Key Features

• 3.2 V6 24V Busso engine, 240 bhp, the final generation of this legendary unit
• Nero metallic (code 846) with cognac brown leather interior
• Eibach sports suspension (TÜV-approved)
• Xenon headlamps with headlamp washers
• Hi-Fi audio system with eight speakers and steering wheel controls
• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Complete Spanish service history with invoices
• Three owners

Between two espressos,
Nick Slinger

STEP 2 IN SHOWROOM | HooG Selections

The Alfa Romeo GT 2006 is now in our showroom in Katwijk - € 29.950. The full presentation is complete: the cover is off and the car can be viewed right away.

At HooG Selections exclusively carefully selected classic vehicles, fully documented:
✔ Over 75 professional photos
✔ Fully scanned service history
✔ Official Carfax vehicle report
✔ Paint thickness report per body panel
✔ Complete original documentation

Visit our 6,000 m² showroom in Katwijk or view everything at:
www.hoogselections.nl