The Blue Meanie turns 500,,,,, K !!

5723 Views 34 Replies 22 Participants Last post by Mark_toro, Apr 29, 2022

HeavyMetalAlfa

Discussion Starter · Apr 26, 2011

4

My personal GTV6, the 'Blue Meanie', aka the 'ex Greg Gordon' car, has just reached the milestone of 500,000 miles. I love this car and will never sell it, it has shared some amazing roads with me, been raced by me and has a great history. I hope Greg will chime in with a story or two here.
Its original 2.5 lasted till 400 K, when an oil pressure loss caused its demise. I have, since then, had 3 different 3.0s in it, one untested one turned out to smoke too much, the next one lunched when the belt tensioner failed while racing, and the current one which has over 200 K is going strong, albeit a bit noisy !
I drive it 10 months a year, except for the couple months in the winter where the roads are too rough for a lowered car here in Maine.
I have only heard of one other GTV6 to hit 500K, in Texas I believe?
This is the most ferocious GTV6 I have owned, very fast and handles extremely well.
A big cheer for Alfa GTV6's in general, and the Blue Meanie in particular!

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HeavyMetalAlfa

Discussion Starter · #2 · Apr 26, 2011 (Edited)

5

A few more of the many photos I've taken,,

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Dragline

· #3 · Apr 26, 2011

Congrats to you and the 'Blue Meanie'!

I'm amazed that it's hit 500K already. I gave some thought to buying it when Greg was selling. Doesn't seem like all that long ago, maybe '07?
You must really be enjoying it (and racking up the miles

).

Here's to 500K more!

HeavyMetalAlfa

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 26, 2011

Thanks Dragline.
I Do rack up the miles, as I go 'sport driving' 4-5 days a week after work, usually doing between 100 and 200 miles each trip. I drove it home from the west coast after racing it at Portland, drove it to the 2010 convention, and have driven it all over New England going to look at cars.
The shift fork bent on the first trip, I ended up putting a Verde transaxle in it, which I love. It has Gregs prototype intake hoses on it still as well ! He did many improvements on it as did his Dad.
God I love this car !!

inhistoryclass

· #5 · Apr 26, 2011

nice photos

John Brase

· #6 · Apr 26, 2011

HeavyMetalAlfa said:
I Do rack up the miles, as I go 'sport driving' 4-5 days a week after work, usually doing between 100 and 200 miles each trip.

How do you keep your license?!!

Good looking car. Doubt mine will ever get to 500k.

Greg Gordon

· #7 · Apr 27, 2011

Congratulations! That's some serious driving.

We used that car to develop a lot of products. Our headlight kit, weather-stripping kit (NLA), hose kits, side exiting exhaust, and of course our supercharger kit.

The car ran a non intercooled supercharger with L-Jet, not advanced by any means, but still effective.

I always liked the suspension set-up. It's not at all radical, but it's what I call a full Stage 1 suspension. It has stock torsion bars and springs, but with a Verde front anti-sway bar, an SZ bearing on the DeDion triangle and poly about everywhere else. I think it's a great setup for real roads, and it's decent on the track.

My wife learned to drive at the track in that car. Her first outing was at the National convention in Tulsa. She was very timid and just sort of putted around the track. However Russ Neeley took it out (with my wife riding shotgun) and blasted around Hallett at an incredible rate. Within a couple laps he had passed about everyone. Russ (RIP) was a very aggressive driver and he knew how to use the supercharged power. After he came into the pits he told me I needed to buy some real tires and add some brake upgrades.

Greg,
Silicone Hose Kits

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SUVSlayer

· #8 · Apr 27, 2011

This deserves some kind of medal. Especially in Maine!

MALDI

· #9 · Apr 27, 2011

Love the picture with the 8C, great for size comparison. But could ya have at least taken the cup off the roof of the Blue Meanie?!

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milanolove

· #10 · Apr 29, 2011

Congrats, Glenn! Good to see a great car get a lot of love and attention.
I'm hoping to get a GTV6 at some point. They seem like a lot of fun.

AlfaTipo

· #11 · Apr 29, 2011

That is pretty cool with all the history behind it.

Most stunning photo was the with the Competzione 8C. Not the best GTV6 photo but the super Alfa looks ungainly and bloated in comparison and I love the Competzione!

jxochipili

· #12 · Apr 30, 2011

Glenn,

You will have to get Bernie to tell you how many miles are on his car in Texas. The last I checked (last fall) that car still had the original engine that had never been opened up and it does not get babied either.

Greg Gordon

· #13 · Apr 30, 2011

Looking at the picture of the GTV6 next to the 8C, I also think the 8C looks a little chubby, and less hard core than the GTV6. Of course it's all subjective, but that's how I see them.

Of course the side exits help

Greg

Reactions: 1

NMMilano

· #14 · Apr 30, 2011

Incredible. I love the color, is it an Alfa color?

Jerry Ehlers

· #15 · Apr 30, 2011

Miles high

Thanks for keeping the faith! Very nice specimen!

HeavyMetalAlfa

Discussion Starter · #16 · Apr 30, 2011

This car has been so amazing, I get a thrill Every time I drive it !
It was cool to be paddock mates with the 8C. I was surprised how small it was.
The Blue Meanie was painted Dodge Viper blue by the guy who bought it from Greg. He raced it a little and then I bought it.
Greg, your Dad drove it for awhile too, right? I know he did something to the heater to improve the footwell heat. I like the way the fuel filter/pump set up was done.
Doing my near daily 'sport driving' sessions is getting expensive, with the price of fuel out of control again. Unfortunatley, the 3.0 does not get the mileage the 2.5 did.
Driving the Meanie in Maine can be a challenge, as it is a bit lowered. I have bounced the sump off bumps in the road many times. Once, last winter, I hit a frost heave so hard, it made the engine stop running. Freaked me out. I looked back along the road expecting to see an oil slick, but nothing. Opened the hood, everything looked okay. Scratched my head, checked all elec connections, everything looked good. On a hunch, took off the dist cap and found that when I hit, the rotor popped up, caught on the cap and destroyed itself !! Whew !! Easy fix,,

And I keep my license by never using 4th or 5th gear. Gotta be careful in 3rd as well !!

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Greg Gordon

· #17 · Apr 30, 2011

Yes, my dad drove it for a few years. He put it together and got it running after I bought it from Robert Vick (former owner and founder of Vick Autosports).

My dad really hates having cold feet, so he altered the heater box to flow a lot of heat into the footwells. It works darn well.

Greg

HeavyMetalAlfa

Discussion Starter · #18 · May 23, 2019

3

The Blue Meanie is about to Ride Again!
This great car and I have shared over 300K miles, driving the most Amazing roads, in more than 30 US states and Canada. I got it with 280K miles from Greg Gordons family. Most of my miles spent howling down twisty backroads in northern Maine.
We have raced together at a dozen great events, and it kicked azz, as only the Blue Meanie could.
Another week, I'll fire it up,
I'm ready for the next chapter/miles,,

First pic, now.
Second pic, literally the day I bought it.
Note the side-outs!
3rd pic, 4 days after I bought it,
Then I drove it 4K miles the first trip, after Racing at the Portland OR Convention,
home to Portland Maine, with straight pipe side-out exhaust.

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PSk

· #19 · May 23, 2019

Awesome!

Pete

martym00se72

· #20 · May 24, 2019

HMA - do you have any video of the Meanie in action - would love to hear some side pipe singing!

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