Sport Sedan: To V6 or not to V6, that is the question...

["Joe Garcia" <corsanostra@domain.elided>]

> From: "John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>
[snip]

> Sticking strictly to the stock Alfa parts pile to assemble a 116 car which
> could pass inspection here (sniffer, plus by-the-book visual inspection for
> listed emissions-related devices) the best I think I could do for my
> preferences would be a '78 Sport Sedan with a Twin Spark engine, isostatic 
> LSD
> gearbox, and the brakes, 15" wheels and tires, suspensions, and instruments 
> of
> a GTV 6, and the cloth seats of a Milano Gold. (The grey leather of our
> Platinum is elegant, but for long-drive comfort I would take cloth, and 
> also
> pass on the Recaros.)
Our ideal SS is almost the same car, save for the engine choice. Mind you, 
my engine choice is NOT borne of an actual preference of Engine A over 
Engine B, but rather, that I am FAR likelier to have a near-pristine example 
of one of the two types of engines, and also that one of those two types of 
engines would be far likelier to have a better ease-of-maintenance life, 
especially for a guy like me, whose only mechanical skills involve refueling 
and handing my AmEx over to someone with an exalted reputation for 
mechanical acumen with Alfa-Romeos.


> The core answer to Joe's question, though, is that for any given intended 
> use--road, city, track, autocross, whatever--I think I would >almost 
> certainly wind up with the same equipment, the same weight, the >same 
> weight distribution, the same handling, and the same performance >in a V6 
> Sport Sedan as in a Milano, with the aesthetics, the cost, the >work, and 
> the Q-ship fun factor as the only real differences between >the two cars. 
> The handsome Q-ship could be nice, but pre-assembled >Milanos are readily 
> available, relatively inexpensive, and
> aesthetically acceptable to many, especially if equipped with a >slightly 
> perverse sense of humor. Alternately, for about the same
> work, time, and cost as the V6 Sport Sedan one could have a Twin-Spark
> Sport Sedan with appropriate suspension/brakes/drive-train/interior
> upgrades, which I would think far more interesting and enjoyable, and >a 
> lot closer to what I have treasured about Alfas for the last forty
> years, a nice follow-up to the Berlina and the Giulia Super.
Speaking strictly for myself--and maybe I am wildly incorrect in my 
assumptions--the SS I'd want to wind up with would not be even remotely 
likely to have the same equipment/weight/weight 
distribution/handling/performance as a Milano.

I don't have the specifics of the weight differential between components 
but:

1- IF a SS were to be outfitted with the isostatic LSD transaxle, and the 
engine, brakes, wheels/tires, suspension, and instruments of a GTV6 (plus 
seats from a Milano) and nothing else and
2- IF said "SS-6" were to weigh as much as any US-spec. Milano, then I'd 
just forget all the hassle of transplanting the internal organs from 
whichever GTV6 I was doing silly things to, and just eBay the aforementioned 
innards.

But now I am extra-curious. How much weight WOULD all these GTV6 bits add 
to, say, a 1978 SS? How would that compare to, for example, a 1987 Milano 
Platinum? What would the power:weight ratio be like? How about a SS with a 
Twin Spark engine? (Not that I'd have the foggiest notion where to get one 
or what Alfa shop could handle that, but there you go.)

Also, when JH says: "I think I would almost certainly wind up with the..." I 
am curious if what was meant was "I think one would almost certainly wind up 
with the..." or whether this was a statement borne of an intimate knowledge 
of his own personal preferences, as in "I think *I* would almost certainly 
wind up with the..."

Enquiring minds, etc.

-Joe in reasonably soggy SoFla
1984 GTV-6 Maratona, ~13K mi.

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