As Alfa Romeo prepares to reintroduce a sporty coupe in the U.S. in the form of the 4C, let's take a look at the very last coupe offering from the brand on this side of the pond. Though Alfa Romeo left our shores in 1995 under less than ideal circumstances, having seen its market share decline year after year since the late 1980s, its cars continued to capture the imaginations of enthusiasts. And imaginations only -- after the withdrawal of the marque from the U.S., private imports had effectively ceased due to more stringent legislation.

The very last coupe offered by Alfa Romeo in America was the GTV, perhaps more popular in GTV6 guise. The car later known as the GTV and GTV6 first landed in the States in 1975 badged as the Alfetta GT, reflecting the easily forgotten fact that it was based on a very boxy sedan. The four-cylinder Alfetta GT was given the name Sprint Veloce for 1978 and 1979, but the real range-topper would arrive two years later in the form of the 2.5-liter-engined GTV6.

Car fans have no trouble remembering what was under the hood of the GTV6, but perhaps few recall where the engine came from: the Alfa 6, which was never sold here. A large sedan resembling the Audi Quattro from the side and the contemporary BMW E23 7-series from the front, the 2.5-liter V6 may have been just adequate in the large sedan. But it was a spectacular performer in the small coupe.

Just 350 examples of the Balocco were offered in the U.S. Jay Ramey

The GTV6 evolved into nothing short of a home run for Alfa Romeo overseas and in the U.S., where the it was sold alongside the rapidly aging and constantly updated Spider, the dour-looking Alfetta sedan, and for the last two years of production, the Alfa Romeo Milano (known as the 75 in just about every other world market). Only half of Alfa's model range was represented in the U.S. in the 1980s, and the GTV and the GTV6 were easily the stars of the range unless you had your eye set on a convertible.

Not all was great about the GTV and its V6 sibling. Rust issues had continued to be a problem for the cars, so it's hard to find a remaining example in the upper half of the country that hasn't had some kind of bodywork done by now. We've managed to find not only a solid example to take for a spin, but one that for many years served as a daily driver in the harsh and salty (very salty) region of the tundra known as Boston.

This 1982 GTV6 is no ordinary example of the V6-engined coupe. It's the Balocco edition, one of just 350 made that year. As we settle in to go for a drive around the Boston suburbs during one of the few months that the road aren't covered in salt, we asked owner Mark Diamond the question that many of you are probably asking right now.

"What's the Balocco edition all about?"

The Balocco had a black stripe front to back. Jay Ramey

"It's cosmetic marketing thing. Alfa used to do this stuff where they had these special editions," Diamond laughs. "Like the the Niki Lauda edition Spider. And there was a late Alfetta at the end of the Alfetta run in this country that kind of had fender flares, a little bit like a Countach, and a spoiler at the back painted black. And it had the Ronal wheels -- telephone dial wheels -- so that was special edition. This one, they made 350 of them. Pure cosmetic."

The Balocco is named after the Circuito di Balocco road-testing track in northern Italy, one that has been used by Fiat and Alfa Romeo as one of their main proving grounds. Its location offers seclusion from populated areas and the prying lenses of automotive spies. What the name Balocco may have meant to American buyers in the early 1980s (before one could Google the name on a smartphone), is debatable now given the overall name recognition of racing circuits in Italy that aren't named Nardo. But the name sounded sexy then, and it sounds sexy now, even though Diamond admits that its link to the racing circuit had not been thoroughly explained to buyers at the time.

As far as differences go, the Balocco editions were only available in red with black plastic trim pieces (as opposed to gray trim pieces), red carpets and special badging on the C-pillars and on the glovebox cover. The exterior also featured a black stripe extending from the nose to the rear fenders. The only interior leather color was black, the steering wheel was only available with leather trim, the shift knob was plastic (not wood) and the C-pillar badges actually said "Balocco S.E." That bit of a redundancy that may have been the result of too much enthusiasm on the part of the marketing team, though the little glovebox plaque actually displayed the car's number out of 350 made. Diamond's happens to be #116.

Diamond's example has remained in great condition despite daily use earlier in life. Jay Ramey

"They had a version in Europe, I think they called the Grand Prix, which they sold in Germany and I think maybe France," Diamond says. "It was similar; they had the same wheels, it had the stripes, but they called it the Grand Prix over there. But they were pretty similar. And once this ran out they had the Maratona special edition, which is really tacky. It's when they had that craze for fender flares and side skirts. You know -- the quasi-aerodynamic stuff -- so they'd take a GTV6 and put on these fender flares and side skirts, and kept the wheels exactly the same, so you had these flares sticking out. Then they had a little plexiglass thing replacing the plastic thing in the hood. So you know, you look in and all you see is the intake plenum in the engine, so you're not really seeing anything."

Diamond's GTV6 Balocco is in good running condition, but years of daily use in the northeast will take their toll on any car. The all-aluminum V6 engine still sounds like it has plenty of grunt, and the sound is makes is what made the car so popular back in the day. The 2.5-liter unit produces 154 hp, a figure which made it compete with cars that were really in a segment above it, as the GTV6 arrived on the scene during that awkward transition period between late-Malaise "gas savers" and "morning in America" V8s that went back to early '70s gas-guzzler technology. But since the era of excess had not yet started in earnest, the 154 hp produced by the GTV6 made it competitive with cars like the Corvette.

The Alfa's interior, featuring an airy greenhouse that could carry four adults in relative comfort while offering a surprisingly good amount of trunk space, was also lauded by the automotive press. As most of the cars the GTV6 competed against were pure driver's cars like the Datsun 280ZX, the relatively long and tall GTV6 had a decisive advantage when it came to interior room.

Diamond bought the Balocco in the Boston area in 1993, though the car spent its early years in Georgia. He daily drove it until 2001, switching to slightly more commute-friendly cars in terms of long-term reliability. But the Balocco saw the worst of Boston traffic, often mixed with Boston winter weather. Some of you are probably cringing right now reading this, as were we, but rest assured that Diamond maintained the car well during those harrowing nine years.

The interior is very spacious, thanks to the relatively long wheelbase and an airy greenhouse. Jay Ramey

"I had the engine rebuilt. I actually put some money into it in the late .'90s," Diamond tells us. "I tossed out the cams and I put in the 164S cams, which are supposed to have a little bit more power. The dashboard came off another car, and now it's going to have to be replaced at some point because it's cracked. And I have another dash but I just never got around to putting it in. The seats came off another car from Vermont, I bought them years ago, but now the seats need replacing again so various things I've gone over. The carpets I had re-dyed, but now they're all faded out so those have got to get replaced. The tricky thing is replacing and not mucking it up, you know. I've tried to keep it close to what Alfa Romeo intended, without putting in Recaro seats and stuff like that. It's very easy to take the quick and dirty route."

The GTV6 marched on till 1986, by which time the underlying technology had finally become a bit dated compared to the Japanese imports flooding into the country. Alfa didn't replace the Alfetta and its GT siblings after 1986, though the smaller (and very similar on the outside) Sprint, based on the aging Alfasud, marched on in other markets for a few more years. Alfa Romeo chose not to introduce the small Alfa Romeo 33 range to the U.S., preferring to send the midsize 75 (known here as the Milano) to North America, at a time when Alfa Romeo began to take serious damage from Saab, Volvo, and a whole slew of Japanese cars when it came to sales volume. The Spider continued on, receiving another facelift which further diluted the classic lines of the original, with the last new car being introduced to the U.S. market being the complex and expensive 164 sedan.

For a brand that whose meal ticket in the states were Italian car enthusiasts, the departure of the GT and its GTV6 sibling meant reliance upon the hot version of the Milano; the Verde. But as good as the Verde may have been on the road, there weren't enough of them to carry the torch and it didn't have the looks to be a halo car.

The GTV6 has had a good survival rate, helped by the fact that it was one of the last relatively uncomplicated Alfas, essentially featuring mid-1970s technology. The engine and the transmission have been fairly in the long term (relatively speaking) with gasket failures being the biggest issue. It's tough to find a running example now where that hasn't already been dealt with.

The GTV6 was known for its quick B-road performance. Jay Ramey

"A really popular thing they do with these cars," Diamond explains, is to swap in a hotter Alfa engine. "So a lot of people for a while were taking 3.0-liter engines out of the, you know, smashed up [Milano] Verdes and transplanting them into the GTV6."

We asked Diamond just how frequently he's come across other Balocco editions.

"Not often," he replies. "A lot of them have rusted away. If you see them they're pretty often clapped out. There's one that's been turned into a quasi-race car that I've seen. You see them for sale every once in a while, and the striping is gone, or they've been repainted green. The Balocco thing doesnt count for much, really. When somebody restores a car they just forgo the stripes."

The Balocco and Maratona editions command no premium whatsoever over regular GTV6 examples, so if a car you stumble across is one of them, just consider that a bonus. Solid examples are still very affordable, though if you want to own the hottest version there's still the Callaway. The GTV6 may have been a quick car, but one of the first efforts from the now-famous Old Lyme, Conn.-based Callaway Performance was actually a tuned GTV6.

"This would do zero to 60 in eight and a half seconds, or eight point two, and the Callaway dropped about a second or a second and a half off the zero to 60 time," Diamond says. "And that's the car that made Callaway's career. I mean, he did that car before he got into Corvettes."

If a practical Italian classic from not too long ago is your thing, there are plenty of excellent examples of the GTV6 to choose from. They continue to be popular among enthusiasts, and the best examples are already beginning to settle in serious collections.

Vital Stats: Alfa Romeo GTV6

Years of manufacture: 1980-1986

Number made: approximately 22,000 (U.S. market)

Similar cars: Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT, Alfetta GTV 2000

Value range: $5,000 - $20,000

Best source of parts: U.S., Italy, France, Germany

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