Sorry if this has already been posted -
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181460607663

Many many times They've been trying to sell that car for 5 years.

That car has been around for quite a while.

It is something of a legend.

I've seen that car, it is absolutely beautiful, not a speck of rust or laquer peel anywhere. The eBay photo does not do it justice at all. If I had not just bought my vis I would have been very tempted.

Now if they'd used the 1.9JTD engine, I'd be *very* interested - it's something I've considered for years - but that requires a complete engine + controller + loom + instruments + steering wheel + heating + radio etc to get all the goodies.

Why would you do that? Anybody know how much it would cost to do?

Indeed. 90bhp is a bit low for a Coupe. Good torque for towing though !

For all the wrong reasons I presume

Why? Because it would give much the same power as the 16 or 20NA, with two or three times the torque and the benefits of all the toys (e.g. cruise control) at 50-55mpg.

I want to drive my coupe to work but it would cost eight grand or more a year; it's why I drive the Bravo at half the price.

Estimate of the cost - based on the 20vt -> kit effort, three to four weeks for two people? Plus the donor cars, of course.

The difficult bit would be the interior and making sure all the canbus boxes were present and working.

So it's not such a bad idea after all or Is that the suggested engine or the coupe for sale?

Just no, sports cars & diesel, just no..............

Alfa GT is the perfect compromise between exclusivity and diesel IMO

But Dec, the coupe isn't and never was a sports car - it's a GT... ideal for diesel.

I couldn't disagree more. I'm sure that motor would do a reasonable job of cruising, but it just doesn't fit with the GT image to my mind. The sound alone should preclude it's use in a GT car.

It's on the sports side of GT don't you think? I do however agree that it should have been badged as a GT from the start. I'd never consider diesel in a car like this, same as Audi and their diesel versions of what are essentially sports classed vehicles.

GT = Grand Tourer - get in, drive a long way, get out.

But each to their own. And yes, I would miss the noise of the 16 at 7000rpm, but for four grand a year I could live with it.

GT would always have to be a fast petrol car for me. Just imagine a diesel Maserati for a moment

I'd love to hear a 16 valve Coupé at full chat. Very different to my lazy sounding 20.

The Coupé works as a package. Fiat got it spot on IMHO. Taking the soundtrack away would remove the essence of the car. I don't think anybody would buy a GT with the expectation of economy. Just my opinion, but I think a GT does carry a certain sense of affluence. And perhaps with that you'd speculate that economy wasn't the biggest driver for ownership.

I can't help but think the car in the link is wasted. If you want diesel then chances are you'd also make use of things like rear doors and boot space.

....and have 5 kids, a people carrier and no life, or sex....

To me it's not really a question of economy; it's more one of engineering efficiency. Blowing fuel at twenty miles a gallon is just conspicuous waste. It's inelegant.

I'd agree but I don't think it matters in the Coupé. I think the results are what count in a GT car, how you get to those results should almost be immaterial. Granted that's within reason.

If you want engineering perfection I think you would have to question other areas also. Weight distribution for example.

The Coupé is flawed, but there you go, that's part of the charm. I just don't think diesel and GT cars go. Electric however...

they are not really trying to sell it- they've never corrected the mis-spelling in that write up...

Isn't the problem really that it's 20 year old fiat with a crap non standard engine. Someone spent a lot of time and effort to make an essentially scrap car

That's a perfect assessment, it's way too much of an oddity.

Can't believe this never sold. Great project.

Dec, you never seen an xjs converted to diesel? There's another thirsty classic gt changed for errrm, a different sort of client!

Millions of "gti" drivers everywhere suddenly realise that the badge on their car and the hot hatch image are at odds, get confused and curl up on the floor!

I don't know about the prices of fuel in england, here in belgium its 1.6 euro's per liter '98 octane petrol fuel. I drive around 10000 km per year and have done this for years on my motorcycle who used a easy 15 liters per 100 km's. aka i was fueling it up every 150km's.
The 2.0 16 VT i got now is doing around 500-600 km before i have to stop and fill it up again. I don't know about you, but as second car that only does 10k km per year i couldn't give less about what it costs me per year fuell wise.

Would be even fkin worse. Imagine dropping a cog, and opening the drivers window to hear...........nothing

Re the coupe being a gt car.
When a manufacturer makes a "hot" version of a model there aren't generally many changes.

When you hear Clarkson going on about the gallardo superlagera (spelling?) Its a few mm lower, has a handful bhp more and is 20 odd kg lighter.
Then omg its a different car, so much better etc etc.

So what do our coupes become when we change the suspension, remove weight and increase the power?
What would fiat have called it?

Could this not be used as a base for a proper diesel conversion. A torquey 2.4 remapped jtd.. Should produce similar power to a standard 20vt then with big big torque.

Can't imagine the need to drop many cogs with electric. But travelling at higher speeds/loads would produce a very smooth whir. I think that'd be quite satisfying. Electric isn't silent, it's just not as load as combusting things.