156 (Type 932) 1997 - 2005

As a longstanding Alfa owner, I was determined that I had to own at least once a BUSSO engined car.  After due consideration, I decided it would be a saloon 156 GTA. These GTAs are increasingly rare cars, especially in this condition and with such a comprehensive history file. Finding one with less than 100k mileage, low owners and full history was not easy.

Having an Alfa in my small collection which was not a Spider and had a watertight roof and five seats, meant that I could comfortably travel in this car to events a little further afield from my base in East Yorkshire.

It took almost two years until I found the right car. I saw this GTA advertised briefly on Auto Trader but it soon disappeared and I thought it was sold.  I had screenshot some info so I followed up and found out that it was actually still available. The owner was having second thoughts about letting it go.

The road led to Italia Autosport in Huddersfield....

Initially I wasn't in love with any of the colour options for the 156 GTA, but up close the condition and pearlescent shine of this car's Sterling Grigio paintwork is very impressive for a car over 20 years old. I decided to do a respray of the bonnet due to stone chips (completed in March 2024) but the rest is in excellent condition. The silver and body trim reminds me so much of my old 33 1.5 Ti Veloce which was also in silver.

The car was first registered in the UK on 25 July 2002 by Sterling Alfa Romeo (Ipswich) and purchased new by Peter Law in March 2003.  The original pre-sale inspection report and purchase agreement are in the history file, as are all MOTs and the complete service history back to 2003. The full original book pack and service stamped books plus two keys and original GTA tool kit and floor mats are present. 

The car was puchased in 2022 by John Pogson, the well-known classic Ferarri racing driver and vehicle restorer at Italia Autosport in Huddersfield. I acquired the car from John's private collection in 2023.

The vehicle has been garaged and well maintained throughout its life. It had a Harvey Bailey handling kit fitted in Oct 2007, a BMC airbox fitted in Aug 2011 and a Ragazzon Sports exhaust fitted in Aug 2016 which gives an exhilarating throaty exhaust note to compliment the awesome Busso V6 engine notes. The bonnet respray was carried out in March 2024 and the underneath of the car was sealed with Dinitro in June 2024. Apart from the three items mentioned above, the car is totally original.  It has not had the larger Brembo brake upgrade or the limited slip differential fitted, since this car is not taken on the track or raced.

The cambelt and water pump service was last done in April 2022 (at 79k mileage) by Alfa specialist Avanti in Norwich and recorsd show that it had been done regularly prior to that as required.

The odometer currently reads 80, 900 miles.

The GTA was a race car made for the road, the top of the range 156 model with the famous Busso 3.2 litre V6 engine generating 240 horsepower and a 0-60 time of approximately 6 seconds.

The interior condition is really excellent with no wear / tear to driver's seat and overall is immaculate. The engine bay is equally impressive in appearance.

This car has visited a few East Yorkshire Thoroughbred Car Club and Alfa Owners Club events around Humberside and Yorkshir,  but also makes the occasional longer trip (eg to MITCAR 2023 at Burghley House).