Bryan
Watson's Alfa Romeo Spider
The
Alfa Romeo Spider in this form first saw production in 1966, however the
Spider Speciale Aerodinamico was unveiled in Turin in 1961 but buyers had
to wait 5 years for it to come into production. In a competition which
attracted over 140,000 suggestions to name the new Spider, Duetto was
chosen.
It
was faster than both the MGB and the TR4, but also more expensive, it was
near to E-type money in the 1960's, however sales were boosted when the
Duetto achieved world wide fame when it was driven by Dustin Hoffman in
the hit film "The Graduate".
When
the "Boat-tail was changed in favour of the Kamm Tail (Series 2) in
1971 the boot was made far more usable and is able to carry a surprising
amount of luggage (or wine). The carrying capacity increased further when
the so called "rear seats" were dropped and a luggage rack
fitted in the space, the "rear seats" must have been designed
for midgets or very small children.
Over
the years various engine sizes were available ranging from 1300, 1600,
1750 and 2000. The 1300 "Junior" was introduced to make the most
of tax cuts for small cars in Italy. America was a big market for the
Spider and Alfa Romeo even made a "Graduate" model for export to
America. In 1978 the official imports to the UK ceased although cars (LHD)
were still being imported by a couple of dealers until 1982.
The
Series 3 cars made an appearance in 1983 but had an ungainly looking boot
spoiler and you guessed it big rubber bumpers which, from the front, made
the car look like it had it's bottom lip stuck out. In 1990 the Series 4
cars brought a return to official imports, they still had the big bumpers
but they were colour coded and the rear spoiler was dropped. This was the
last incarnation of the Spider until production finally ended in 1993.
My
car which is a (LHD) Series 2, imported in 1981 has had some minor
restoration to the bodywork. This was done over the last winter when a few
rust blebs and stone chips turned into a full re-spray job. The engine and
gearbox came out, as did the seats, all interior trim, the roof and all
the carpets were removed. While the car was in pieces my good friend Alan
Hardcastle (Northallerton Commercials), who had let me use part of his
workshop for the duration of the project and who had done more than his
share of the work, replaced a couple of bearings in the gearbox. Once the
re-spray was complete another good friend Dave Andrews (Northallerton
Flooring) made and fitted a bespoke set of carpets with fitted floor
mats edged in leather.
 Rebuilding
the car was slightly slower than stripping it as we didn't want to mark
the new paint, although Alan suggested scratching it immediately to get
the first one out of the way. I have to say that without Alan's help, or
should I say, him doing the job and me getting in the way, I would still
be trying to finish it. The "Johnny Foreigner" Alfa is seen at
most club runs and events (just to annoy the MG's). It's driven all year
round as these cars don't take to storage very well and need to be used.
A
standard Alfa thing is having to let the gearbox oil warm up before
setting off otherwise selecting second gear is a slow process. The car is
a pleasure to drive especially with the top down as wind noise is less
than with the top up. The roof is one of the best designs I've seen, just
two clips to release and it's down. The powerful (130 ish bhp) 2 Litre
twin cam engine easily runs with modern traffic and has good torque from
low down in the rev range.
 One
attraction is the rarity of the Spider, parked among 100's of MGB's it
does stand out quite a bit. Prices are similar to good MG's, anywhere from
£4500 to £11,000 but good ones are hard to find. Spares are readily
available but are more expensive than for the better catered for English
makes. I suppose this is the price you pay for being a "Johnny
Foreigner" and for driving something a bit different.
The
Alfa is my only car, but as I also have a passion for those noisy
motorbike things it has no garage, so it happily sits under a carport all
year.
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