Modern Classics

Front cover image ‘Best GT’s of the 90’s’ haven’t purchased a copy yet but will likely order online.

Thanks Bayliss. Only £3.99 - ordered online

Good spot Bayliss and nice to see it's got pole position on the cover! Members car anyone know?

I was amazed to find a hugely increased number of e-magazines that I can download from my local library using the RB Digital app, including the aforementioned Modern Classics magazine. I've not updated the list for a long time but it now includes a large selection of car magazines from Europe and the US, maybe it's a result of the coronavirus lockdown, but worth checking out! If only I were furloughed I would have the time to read them all

Yes it belongs to one of our club members.

Interesting that they've placed the coupe in the 'GT' bracket. Not the category I'd have placed it to be honest ..

I think the GT category is a good choice. What would you describe the car category as, out of interest?
I like it as a GT. 2 doors, 4 seats, A/C. Seems a perfect fit.
Certainly not an out and out sports car and thank god, not a family car.

Combination of performance and luxury for long distance driving. Either 2 x seater or 2 + 2. Common set up front engine and rwd (wiki - but quite accurate imho). Does the coupe tick many of these boxes? Let's face it the coupe is a family friendly, usefully booted shopping trolley with a decent dollop of performace in an eye catching Italian wrapping. A GT? Nope....soz

According to Wikipedia:

A grand tourer (GT) is a type of sports car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes.

Yes I would definitely agree. Its very relaxed at speed and (assuming the exhaust is standard and not 'noise enhanced'). Certainly more GT than my Ford Puma Black!

C'mon behave now - luxury?? What are the GT contemporaries for the coupe? Last knockings of the XJS, XK8, DB7 and Maserati 3200GT to name a few. I think my case rests your honour..

I've always tended to think of the Coupe as more of a GT than sports car. Also feel that within the Fiat group the Coupe was effectively replaced by a car with an Alfa badge that was simply called GT. It is sporty, but not really a sports car.

What were the other categories that I could have been placed in?

For the Turbo, GT is probably fine. Sports cars would probably need to handle a bit more sharply. The NAs are a little too slow to be real GTs. They are not even close to effortless enough.

Luxury? Probably OK for the price they were originally sold at but they are rather lightly made to feel like a top-notch car. Thin floors, and fairly standard quality fittings makes it hard to pull of the luxury bit.

But they are stylish cars that have aged really well (excluding the ones that have corroded away). Almost timeless. That's what makes them desirable.

How do you define 'effortless', Neil? From Calais to Berlin it's top gear all the way, bar the occasional fuel stop. I'm having difficulty working out where the difficulty is.

Neil

I see the 20vt/16vt as a definite GT car, Grand Touring because it is a coupe with bespoke styling, enough power for effortless cruising and overtakes,good fuel range/mpg, comfortable for up to 4 persons, has decent luggage capacity. Comfort and performance = a Grand Tourer.

Contemporaries for the Coupe as a GT include the GTV (Grand Touring Vitesse) which given it's name was seen and marketed as a fast GT type car by AR.

Modern cars are pretty fast in comparison these days so there is no reserve when others are being aggressive.

When being relaxed and just cruising in not too much traffic it's really fine. Compare it to my other GT, which is probably more of a traditional GT, the FIAT can be quite a lot more work and less relaxing, just like any other car without that much power. A GT is supposed to cover distances with ease. A 140 bhp Coupe doesn't always manage the ease. However, it wasn't priced like a real GT, so I'm not complaining, just saying that real GTs have always offered a little more.

Btw, just been to check over my 20V. It's been derusted and completely resprayed. Looks really good again. It gets a final polish and we pick it up next week. Next port is a complete suspension refresh. Like I said before, we still like ours very much, and take the "difficulties" as part of the deal.

At the end of the day Luxury can mean different things to different people. At the time it was released it was indeed a highly specked car but not in the 'no expense spared category' as it was meant to be an affordable luxury GT. I would doubt if many of the surviving examples can be thought of as luxury against current releases but that's really not the point of owning this car. Its a car that is spirited to drive and rewards with a lot of bespoke driving pleasure.

If you are lucky enough to own one in very good condition, or at least with a few optional extras and everything works (and the suspension is either largely replaced or a low mileage car) then you have a fair degree of 'luxury' and can appreciate how these cars were meant to drive. By the time they are well into the 100K miles, had several owners messed around with then the GT nature is sadly often a bit compromised. A well maintained, treasured 20VT (perhaps with sensible upgrades but standard exhaust) is a rare but still remarkable beast that is not tiring at all over very long journeys. Just put a cheap or performance exhaust on and it becomes a lot more tiring, for instance, but people will 'fiddle' with the spec of their cars for fun, even if it often detracts from 'luxury driving' and the result is most of these cars are no longer recognised as 'luxury' but rather just an 'over-tweaked has-been'.

I think it a bit sad that in what was a very positive piece we end up arguing over whether its a GT or not. It was in some some formidable company and in my reading was judged 2nd, by motoring journalists using their, unbiased criteria and that's really great.
Our views are somewhat blinkered, positively or negatively.

Yup - sorry I mentioned it now Let's not come to blows over this at the July meet (If it goes ahead that is)

The Coop is definitely a GT.

It's closest contemporary was the GTV.

And a car that can be seen as the Coop's spiritual successor is the Alfa Romeo GT.

Fiat should have just called it the Fiat GT!

Exhausts on the Coupes appear to be your penchant Kevin?

Can't see a problem with this thread it's a debate...ownership of the Coupe puts us in a better position to debate it's merits more so than many so called motoring journalists.

Ha ha yes indeed...the bane of my life! Agreed just sharing opinions is interesting.