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 Alfa Spider
Work-sharing at its best: Bertone makes the coupés and Pininfarina, the convertibles. In this case, the latter hits the bulls-eye, although in the beginning, this completely different shape wasn't liked by all. Perhaps this is how it is
with all the great achievements in this field, maybe with the exception of the E-Type Jaguar. The Alfa is just a little bit similar to the
E-Type, without attempting to get too near to the master.
After all, taking its lifespan into consideration, this Alfa has outlived all the other convertibles, and this, despite the fact that over the years, it has undergone some nasty surgery. The wonderful rear-end disappeared as early as 1969. The
expression 'Fastback' covers up a multitude of sins. The workers on the production line gave it the nickname of 'Cuttlefish' and allegedly, the name 'Duetto' came from a competition to find a name. Honestly, this all cannot compete with
the first creation of this body.
One has to wonder, how this engine, which at that time was very modern, could fit into the front-end. By the way, one of its attributes was not necessarily it's performance and willingness for high revs, which were comparatively high for a
1600 cc engine, but the elasticity was very unusual in a sports car engine. All this was possible, even though the valve-control was in no way adjustable. Mind you, Alfas are very rarely thriftily set up.
Even the boot didn't suffer from the low, down-sloping rear end, it was probably somewhat level, with the tank and the spare-wheel arranged in the flooring. The seating was good, although in Italian cars of that time, taller people nearly
always had problems, in this case with the upper edge of the windscreen. The view to the extreme left and right of the rear end was also difficult, unless one had also ordered the hard-top. The impression given from the outside was
continued through to the interior, e.g., with the painted dashboard.
The 80 kW (109 HP) engine only had to manage with the weight of 1050 kg (car and driver). Apart from the performance per litre, have you also calculated the performance to weight ratio of the car? On top of that, it had a five-speed
gearbox, very seldom at that time and in that price range and no, it wasn't just an overdrive. It appeared to be nothing special, to overrev this engine on downhill motorways, with the speedometer showing over 200 km/h. Apparently the
wind also favoured the shape of the car body.
Now, don't be deceived. The rigid axle used in this Alfa, is one of the finest in this type of construction. Much more effort was put into it than into any other random component. Certainly, a coupé with a short wheelbase must be sprung
somewhat harder than e.g., a saloon, although it can also tend to oversteer when slightly inclining. What would the outcome then be, if one were to come up against a great shape like this at an adventurous incline e.g., in a tight curve?
05/15
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