Both cars were designed by Enrico Fumia at Pininfarina. The GTV was planned to re-establish the sporty coupe tradition of Alfa Romeo for the 1990s. The design dates back to initial renderings of September 1987 and first clay models to complete 1:1 scale model in July 1988. After Vittorio Ghidella (Fiat CEO) accepted the design, Centro Stile Alfa Romeo under Walter de Silva was responsible for the completion of the detail work and also for the design of the interiors, as Pininfarina's proposal was not accepted. The Spider and GTV were based on the then-current Fiat Group compact car platform, called "Tipo Due" (or Type 2), in this case a heavily modified version with an all new multilink rear suspension. The front suspension and drivetrain was based on the 1992 Alfa Romeo 155 saloon. Chief engineer at that time was Bruno Cena. Drag coefficient was 0.33 for the GTV and 0.38 for the Spider.