Alfa Romeo Spider – Red Hot
Alfa Romeo Spider – Red Hot
Picture this: a sunny day in Tuscany, the breeze running through your hair as you follow a winding road and watch the rolling hills of this iconic region unfold before you. Head through a lane framed by tall cypresses on the way to a stately country home, or park your car in the square of a picture-perfect village. Could it get any better than this? The soundtrack to this motorist’s daydream should be something like Nessun Dorma, and the car an Alfa Spider.
Why? Because it looks and feels so damned good in this kind of setting, that’s why. Of course, you could quite easily pick a Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini or even a Porsche for such a classic motoring trip, but hugging the tight curves and bends of a fast country road in an Alfa Spider is an experience in its own right. In fact, the classic 1960s Spider made this kind of territory its own, but to enjoy the pure exhilarating pleasure of a Spider you are not restricted to the rolling hills of Tuscany, or even the cliffs of Liguria. Fact is, southern Spain has many roads that qualify as real Spider territory, and the car looks sooo good against the Marbella backdrop.
A classic heritage
Originally conceived in the early 1960s, the original Alfa Spider had that special kind of alchemy that was to make it a motoring classic. Though it evolved over it’s quarter century production span, the car never lost the true Alfa appeal that many, on both sides of the Atlantic, still remember fondly. Indeed, the Alfa Spider is a special car that has earned its place in history. Creating replacements for such iconic models is always a daunting task, though, and one in which the designers and engineers at Alfa Romeo have succeeded admirably over the years.
The second generation of Spiders, which emerged in the early 90s and was only recently taken out of production, is a car worthy of the name. Thoroughly modern when launched, it was nonetheless true to Alfa’s Spider tradition, and still looks good when you see it on the road. It is fair to say that this model, too, has become quite a classic in its own right, but after almost 15 years it was time for a new model to give shape to a 21st century interpretation of the classic Alfa Spider tradition. And thus was born today’s beautiful sporting convertible.
The new Spider
Again, it has quite an accumulated heritage to uphold, but although this model is clearly a sporting derivative of the Alfa 159 series of saloon and estate cars, it most definitely does the name proud. As always with Alfa, styling is impeccable, and again they have created a car that is both thoroughly of its time and true to the Alfa spirit. The latter can be defined as a harmony of beautiful styling and design with motoring power and race-like road holding, making Alfa a true driving enthusiast’s car.
For those not quite in the Ferrari/Aston Martin league, therefore, Alfas offer beauty, power and the kind of drive that makes even a trip to the office or supermarket a fun experience. This already applies to ‘normal’ Alfas, so if you take a 3.2 litre, V6 Spider with 260 horsepower to the road, you’ll really be in for a treat. But such a car demands some close attention before you whisk it off to the tarmac.
The first impression is one of power combined with elegance, as the car’s rather squat proportions avoid the long ‘hot dog’ look of some 2+2 convertible sports cars. Large, thick macho tyres challenge you to burn some rubber on a twisty mountain road, but let your eye glide over the intricate, sensual lines first, taking in the proud logo of Pininfarina, the famous design house responsible for the smooth rounding of the back, with its stylish lights, the beautifully worked rear headrests and the aggressive, shark-like nose of the car, with its distinctive headlights.
Looking at it like this, it seems like the Spider is the original, not a derivative, and this is quite an achievement on the part of the Alfa designers. Displaying some of the squat features of the highly collectible Alfa Romeo Zagato of the late 80s, today’s Spider continues to be the embodiment of the Alfa philosophy of pure, beautiful motoring. It was now high time to hop in and put it to the test on the road.
Road test
The only place to really take this car to the limit is on a racetrack like Jerez or Ascari, and then ideally by someone like Martin Brundle or the Styg (one and the same?). However, yours truly is not averse to a bit of law-breaking speed and the odd skipped heartbeat, so mindful of both the big drop and the fact that this was not my car I shot up the Ronda road, sandwiched between slug-like busses and hyped-up motorbikes.
What can I say? This car is fast, powerful; a beast, but a beautiful one. Like a panther, both captivating and dangerous, the way a true sports car should be, this one will let you prance and show off but just as easily chase its prey with ruthless efficiency and the thrill of the chase. When I got a bit of clear road, I geared down, overtook and felt the surge of speed. Immediate delivery of power is one of the great features of this car; in this respect it is a class above the original Spider.
As promised, there were some missed heartbeats as I came to grips, literally, with car and road, but today’s sports cars, with all their technological gadgetry, do a lot of the thinking and correcting for you, so I could feel the traction control and anti-slip kicking in when I entered a sharp bend with too much speed and had to break on the apex. In that sense again, the new spider, with its gorgeous black and brushed metal dashboard, its tight steering wheel and gear lever, and it comfortably moulded racing seats, clearly differs from the original.
Today’s car is much more accomplished. It idles patiently in traffic, takes you to the shops in a dream, but once unleashed on the road provides raucous fun combined with in-built safety controls—very much a modern sports car. Purists may miss the rough and tumble of 60s cars, but on our overcrowded roads they would simply be too dangerous. For a new generation of motoring enthusiasts, however, this is a fantastic car whose looks, feel and drive make you fall in love with it. If the Alfa were a woman she’d be a passionate Italian beauty, no doubt. What’s more, starting at €36.000 this beauty compares very favourably in price with its competitors, so if you want more racing pedigree for your money and wish to stand out from the masses, this is your bet.
| Design | ***** |
| Engineering | ***** |
| Performance | ***** |
| Comfort | ***** |
| Price/Quality | ***** |
Alfa Romeo Spider 3.2 JTS Q4
Strong points: Styling, drive, sports appeal, quality materials, price
Weak points: Not as raw as the original, but many will like this
Local dealer:
P.G.V. Automoción, S.L.
Gral. López Dominguez 2, Marbella
Tel: 952 770 221
