I'm going to need to get a new car, and the only modern-ish (early 2000s onwards) one that seems a bit special to me like the Coop, seems to be the Alfa Romeo GT. It does almost feel like a spiritual successor to the Coop.

What is the forum's opinion and experiences of it? In particular, the 2.0 JTS and the 1.8 Twin Spark?

The 3.2 V6, whilst it probably would be an amazing experience in performance and sound, and indeed probably comparable in terms of fun to the 20VT, seems to be quite a bit in running costs?

But the main question is, is the Alfa Romeo GT as special, unique and good looking as the Fiat Coupe?

I really liked these when they first came out, but after then getting so used to the exotic, head turning looks of the Coop, the Alfa now looks a bit dull in comparison. It looks like a slightly sleeker 156. In standard form anyway.

I mean I'll see an example like this





and think, yeah, that looks as nice as a Coop. And it only seems to be lightly modified - a rubber lip on the front bumper, lowered, aftermarket alloys. And the rear bumper, which seems aftermarket, looks quite similar to the standard one anyway. And that's a really nice blue, which I think is a standard colour?

I know the 2.0 JTS performance won't compare at all to a 20VT, but does a lightly modified GT give the Coop a run for its money in terms of looks at least?

Since experiencing the Coop, I've always thought to myself, there really is nothing as special in it's price range. Am I right? Would a GT be a decent Coop replacement? Or will I find myself parking up a GT one day and walking away without looking back several times? Should I just get another Coop?

I really like the GT and would have bought one had I not had a 156 JTD - the driving experience was very similar and the 5-pot diesel reminded me of the feel of the Fiat 5-pot.

I like the bolder front on the face-lift model of the GT.

I ran a 2.0 JTS for 5.5 yrs and 76k miles, bought it from new. I think they’re fantastic, I only got rid of mine as found it difficult to lift my daughter in and out of a child seat when she got to 18 months old.

In the time I had mine it needed a new MAF, an exhaust centre pipe plus wishbones. The wishbones only last about 40k miles, but you can polybush them. I went with the intention of buying a JTD but test driving them back to back much preferred the JTS, it had less weight over the front end and understeered less.

Mine was a blackline and to my eye looked stunning.

Have a look at alfaowner.com for more info.

The GT is more practical. I managed to dispose of a 3 seater sofa in mine!

An extra seat, nicer looking interior (the leather one), bigger boot and newer technology - these are the main things the GT seems to have over the Coop.

But does it also have what makes the Coop such a special car?

David if you had to choose between the Coop and the GT, what would you pick? Assuming that you didn't have a king size bed to dispose of this time!

As a daily driver I’d pick the GT but as a toy definitely the Coupe, that’s why when the time came I bought a coupe rather than a GT V6.

I also think the GT is a very good looking car and a decent successor to the Coupe.

The blue one you linked does look good with the modifications as well.

If you need frugality for high miles then the diesel is the obvious choice, but is there much difference in terms of running costs between the 2.0 and 3.2?

All engines can be had for under or around £5k so seem like good value.

I've always liked the Alfa GT If the Blackline edition was available as non diesel, it would be my next car after the Coupe

The blackline comes with 2 petrol engines,1.8 twinspark (cloth interior) and 2.0 JTS (leather interior)

The V6 is more to tax and heavier on fuel, but otherwise similar running costs. The 1.8 and 2.0 are due cambelts every 36k Miles where’s the V6 goes to 60k. And the busso V6 sounds amazing. Although all petrols are fairly rare compared to the diesels.

Love these to look at, but then I test drove a 1.9 jtd...

I dont fit in the seats and the fit and finish inside were worse than I thought it would be.

Still turn my head when I see them on the road, but dont think I could own one.

There seem to be a lot of different editions. From what I can see, Blackline, Cloverleaf, Distinctive, Lusso, Progression and SeleSpeed seem to be the main ones, if not all? Have I missed any out?

Which one of these can you get in petrol?

And what are the differences between them? The readily visible differences to me are:

Blackline - 7 circle alloys
Cloverleaf - twin 5 spoke alloys
Distinctive - ?
Lusso - ?
Progression - ?
SeleSpeed - Alfa Romeo's own type of transmission that seems unreliable

I had the 1.9 jtd, 59,000 on the clock with excellent service history for 7 months. By the end of that period it became the worst car I had ever had, still have nightmares thinking about it. It spent 5 of those months in 4 different garages having major work carried out. One day in rain every possible warning light came on then the engine cut-out while on a busy road, only restarted when it dried out. Twice while turning right the engine cut-out I was so lucky I wasn't hit by on coming traffic. 2 months I had it on the road I never managed to get 8 miles from home without something going wrong. Towards the end of the 7 months it caught fire twice, at that point it had to go.

Every time I see one I feel sorry for the owner.

If someone gave me one free I still wouldn't have it.

As you've already mentioned, selespeed is a robotised manual, AKA sillyspeed and best avoided unless you have to have a auto.

Not sure we got distinctive and Progression in the UK.

Blackline and cloverleaf had sports leather seats. Lusso had leather and non- Lusso had alfatex cloth. 18" wheels wear 225/40 tyres which is also shared with Jag X type so readily available and not too expensive.

I'd have to disagree with this statement. I had mine for 5.5 years and it was one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. All depends how you look after them, like Coupes they need attention and mechanical sympathy. There are plenty of diesel ones with 150k miles still going strong as well as heavily modified ones. Some of the ones at Spa Italia sounded phenomenal ( for 4 pot diesels),

As I said it came with a full service history. By the end of my ownership list of faults that needed to be replaced was very long, maybe I was unlucky.

Over 42 years of car ownership which totals 103 cars that car was the worst car I ever purchased.

You were definitely unlucky - my GT has been by far the most reliable car I've ever owned. 245,000 miles and absolutely no sign of it stopping.

The only "breakdown" was a frayed battery earth cable that couldn't take enough power to let it start properly - £5 fix

My Bravo 1.9 diesel - same engine as Nigel's GT - died at 240k miles... when I was forced off the road into a ditch in the snow. The engine was still happily running.

Much less impressed with the 1.6 eco version, not at all nice.

As others have said I think they're great looking cars and have always liked the individual styling of Alfas in general. My wife and I thought of getting one 4 years ago as she loved them but guess what - we ended up with Seat Altea XL Mate of mine had one a while ago and raved about it and only got rid 'cos getting a company car. Can't believe what good value they are nowadays like below:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/...-1910cc/8114857

Interesting discussion on Brera v GT albeit from 8 years ago:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=99&t=1144510