Alfa Romeo Spider Design
Published: 21st February 2007
cubic capacities were increased, and in the hands of the great Tazio Nuvolari, models such as the 8C 2300 Spider Corsa, and the 8C 2900 A and B dominated European circuits from Le Mans to Monza.
In celebration of the advent of post-war prosperity, Alfa Romeo commissioned two convertible prototypes, from Bertone and Pininfarina. The outcome was the Giulietta Spider, produced by the factory of Giovan Battista Farina, and which he referred to affectionately as ‘la signorina’. More than mere style icon, this outstandingly popular convertible maintained Alfa Romeo’s competitive motorsport pedigree; perhaps its most unusual victory coming at the hands of Sanesi, who brought his Giulietta Sprint Veloce home 20 minutes ahead of the Italian state railway industry’s flagship, the Settebello train, on the Milan-Rome line.
The Touring bodied 2000 and 2600 convertibles of the late 1950s and early 1960s maintained the tradition of open-topped versions derived from saloon or coupe models. But, at the Geneva Motor Show in 1966, Alfa Romeo unveiled an entirely new, bespoke design by Pininfarina, the 1600 Spider, the double convex, cuttlefish-bone shape of which paid homage to the 1900 C 52 convertible known as the ‘Flying Saucer’, some 14 years earlier.
Christened ‘Duetto’ by competition winner Guidobaldo Trionfi, the 1600 Spider achieved such celebrity status through its appearance in the 1967 film, The Graduate, that a special, namesake version of the car went on sale in the United States. Following radical rear-end restyling in the 1970s, the evergreen Duetto’s popularity remained undiminished until it was ultimately replaced by a new, Alfa GTV-derived version of the Spider in 1995.
Alfa Romeo Spider
Our Alfa Romeo Spider Guide lists the full specification of the current UK Spider range, including car prices, fuel consumption, dimensions and other vital data.
Price Range: £25,920 - £31,420
Body Style:
Fuel:
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Models in the range: 4
We have road tested the Alfa Romeo Spider, to read our in-depth car review:
Alfa Romeo Spider Review - May 2007
Our Car Buyer’s Guide covers all of the UK’s major new cars and includes CO2 ratings and car insurance groups. Data updated on the 28th Nov 2008
