28 MODERN CLASSICS
Big-heartedBussohatchneedslove– butrepaysit infull
2003-2005
CLEVER
BU
MONEY
Whyyouwantone
Boxersaren’tforeveryone,butfew
willevertakeumbrageat a Busso–
particularlywhenit’sembeddedinthe
subtlesnoutof a 147GTA.Besides
beingregardedas oneof themost
gratifyingandcharismatichot
hatchbacks,theAlfa’sperformance
fi guresstillstackupwelltoday.
Consequently,youshouldn’tfind
yourselftrailingtoomanydiesel
commuterhacksacrosscountry.
Not manyof thesedesirableGTAs
werebuilt,either,withtheproduction
runtallyingjust 5029 carsworldwide
- ofwhichapproximately 400 were
set asidefortheUKmarket.As a
result,particularlyconsideringtheir
evenlesscommonnaturetoday,these
V6-enginedAlfasaredesirableto
enthusiastsandcollectorsalike.
Therearesomepredictable
drawbacksto theGTA,of course;
reliabilitycanbe anissue,forone,and
a duffexamplecouldmerrilytrash
your bankaccount–butnaba
serviceablecar,andstamponthe
accelerator,andyou’llprobablyjudge
any priceworthpaying.
Whattheexpertssay
‘Thisis a nicehothatchanda good
alternativeto theGolfR 32 andthe
FocusRS,andwitha charismatic
badgeas well,’saysOstroff.‘I thinkit’s
a car witha heart.Justmakesure
it ’s...nottooAlfa-likeinitsquality
beforepartingwithyourmoney.’
Ostroff ’scautionis worthyof note,
becauseGTAscanbe ficklebeasts.
Youmightseeaninexpensiveexample
intheclassifiedsbut,uponacquiring
sucha temptation,thingscanquickly
unspool.‘Everythingcango wrongon
thesecars,’saysLamport,‘fromthe
cruisecontrol,to thewindows,to the
ti mingbelt,to thefrontsuspension,to
the brakes;everythingthatcango
wrongcan–andwill–go wrong.’
Theseissuescanbe exacerbatedif
you’relookingto buyanAlfainthis
pricerange,whichis arguablythe
lowerendof themarket.As a result,
youhaveto be verycarefulif you’re
32
UKcarsleft
Sensible
mods add
tothecar's
value.
VALUENOW
£10,000
VA LUEIN 2025
£14,000
