I heard from a chap who used to work in the fiat factory that the Coupe was supposed to be an Alfa GTV but Alfa rejected it.
So it then got given the Fiat badge.

Dont quote me on this as these arent my words.

Wondering if anyone on here knows much about the design history of both models, which came first, which design bits were plagerised from which etc etc. Although both were under Fiat corporation I understood that both were fiercely independent. And I know Pinnafaria had a hand in both, but the Bangle slashes and the Kamm tail in both models are too similar to be co-incidence and must have either come from some sort of collaboration, plagarism or similar inspiration. Or was the tail just dictated by aerodynamics. Seems unlikely.

Just interested if anyone knows a bit more as not much on here or on tinternet that gives history. I've done wikipedia etc. before its suggested.

Also please can any mods lock instantly if this goes off track and descends into which is best. Must be a close 2nd to the "which oil" posts and thats not the intention only to understand which inspired which?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_GTV_%26_Spider

In summary:-

The coupe was a LOT more comfortable (Recaro's admittedly). The alfa seats are awful, sat on them not in them. The windscreen also starts too low, we're 6ft 1 and 6ft 3 and you have to hunker down in the alfa. It made it feel cramped and as someone else said, the sills are far bigger on the GTV.

The throttle response on the alfa was unreal. You would kangaroo sometimes over rough ground as it made your foot bounce the throttle, it was so sensitive. Too sensitive really but it was accentuated by the amazingly brilliant v6.

The boot on the alfa is a lot smaller, virtually useless. Its because of the rear suspension setup. It made for a more planted rear end with passive rear wheel steer though.

The sound and grunt of the v6 is amazing. Such a pure engine and a joy to look at as well!

It had better rear-end proportions in the guise my brother had.

BUT overall, the coupe seemed better than it in most areas. It felt a lot quicker even though it was pretty even (I was running 225 bhp standard and he was at 218 bhp) and just was a far more pleasant place to sit, the cabin in the alfa really is too cramped for larger guys. The dash etc is nice in the alfa mind.

Both feel and are special cars and are future classics. I'd love him to have another one, maybe a cup edition.

I always loved the look of those chrome exhaust manifolds on the V6 Alfa...

I get to look at them whenever the bonnet goes up on the 166

Which is frequently on an Alfa

... when the bonnet catch works!

Did Chris Bangle design the GTV as well?