1979 Alfa Romeo 2000 Veloce Spider

Description

The Alfa Romeo Spider is among the most desirable Italian classic cars and an eminently useable machine, as at home in traffic as on the open road. It was produced in assorted variants, beginning with the ‘boat tail’ rear treatment. The model continued all the way to 1996. The Spider was launched at the 36th Geneva Motor Show in March 1966, and together with the "Alfa Romeo 105/115 Series Coupés" Giulia Sprint GT Veloce tested by the press at an event organised in Gardone Riviera. To choose a name for the spider, Alfa Romeo announced a write-in competition, offering an example of the new car as the prize. Over 100,000 ballots were sent in, the great majority from Italy; the winner was Guidobaldo Trionfi from  Brescia, who proposed the name ‘Duetto’ (duet) but unfortunately trademark issues arose so it became simply the Alfa Romeo Spider 1600. The Spider was powered by a 1570cc twin overhead camshaft four-cylinder engine shared with the GTV and Giulia Super sedan. Twin dual-choke Weber carburettors were standard. As well as delivering lusty performance, the Webers combined with alloy rocker covers to offer a visual feast whenever the bonnet was open. Later, capacity was increased to 1750cc (a classic Alfa Romeo set of numbers from the 1930s!), then to 2.0 litres. With its slick 5-speed manual gearchange and beautifully weighted steering, the Alfa Spider was a joy to drive whatever version of the classic Alfa engine was up front. The 2.0-litre cars deliver a hefty increase in torque.