Development
In 1962, Alfa Romeo introduced the new 105 Series Giulia, which first complemented and then replaced the 101-series Giulietta. The sport variants of the Giulietta remained on sale for several more years, upgraded to the Giulia's 1.6-litre engine and rebadged Giulia, until analogous variants of the new models were ready.
Thus, the Giulietta-based Giulia Spider 1600 and Giulia Spider Veloce were produced from 1962 to 1965 and from 1963 to 1965, respectively. The Alfa Romeo Spider was based on Giulia mechanicals, including its Alfa Romeo twin cam inline-four, independent front and solid axle rear suspension, and unibody construction, incorporating the relatively new principles of crumple zones into the front and rear. Following the evolution the other Giulia sport variants, the Spider was powered by a 1.6 L engine, later received a 1750 cc, then a 1300 cc, and finally a 2000 cc engine. Unlike any other Giulia derivative, it was upgraded and continued to sell through four decades, into the 1990s.
As for its predecessor the Giulietta Spider, the Italian firm of Pininfarina was responsible for the design, manufacturing of the body, and final assembly. The 1600 Spider was the last project in which founder Battista Pininfarina was involved. Design director of Pininfarina at that time was Franco Martinengo.[7]
Giulia GT Spider
The 1963 Giulia GT Spider was intended as a replacement for the Pininfarina-designed Giulia Spider. Centro Stile Alfa Romeo and Bertone presented a proposition for a two-seater sports car that was developed between 1962 and 1963. Chassis type 105.03 was the same as the future "Duetto" Spider. The car was designed by Ernesto Cattoni and realised by Bertone. The overall style was very similar to the Giugiaro-designed, coupé version of Giulia, but on a shorter chassis. The car never went into production and remained a prototype, bearing serial number 002.[8]
Giulia GT Spider
The 1963 Giulia GT Spider was intended as a replacement for the Pininfarina-designed Giulia Spider. Centro Stile Alfa Romeo and Bertone presented a proposition for a two-seater sports car that was developed between 1962 and 1963. Chassis type 105.03 was the same as the future "Duetto" Spider. The car was designed by Ernesto Cattoni and realised by Bertone. The overall style was very similar to the Giugiaro-designed, coupé version of Giulia, but on a shorter chassis. The car never went into production and remained a prototype, bearing serial number 002.[8]
Design
The original 1966 Spider shape was the result of a number of Pininfarina design studies, concept cars showing traits incorporated in the final production design.[9] The first one was the Alfa Romeo Superflow, a concept car built on the chassis of a retired 6C 3000 CM racing car and first shown at the 1956 Turin Motor Show, designed by Aldo Brovarone.[9] Despite being an aerodynamic coupé with prominent fins on the rear, and a futuristic all-plexiglas greenhouse and front wings, the Superflow already showed the overall body shape of the future Spider and the scallops on the sides.
In the following years the Superflow was updated three times into three more different concept cars, namely a Superflow II coupé, then an open-top spider and finally another Superflow IV coupé. The most significant in the Spider's design history was the second, the open-top Alfa Romeo Spider Super Sport, shown at the 1959 Geneva Motor Show.[9]
Series 1 (1966–1969)
The Spider was launched at the 36th Geneva Motor Show in March 1966,[12] and together with the Giulia Sprint GT Veloce tested by the press at an event organised in Gardone Riviera. To choose a name for the new Spider, Alfa Romeo announced a write-in competition, offering an example of the new car as a prize.[13] 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).[13] However, the winning name could not be officially adopted due to trademark issues: in 1965, confectionery manufacturer Pavesi had launched a chocolate snack called 'Duetto'. The Court of Milan ruled that Pavesi, having already registered the name, had exclusive rights to it, thus the car was named simply Alfa Romeo Spider 1600.[13]
The Spider's 1,570 cc twin cam engine had dual Weber two-barrel side-draft
Series 2 (1970–1982/83)
In 1970 the first significant change to the exterior styling was introduced on the 1750 Spider Veloce, with the original's distinctive elongated round tail revised to a Kamm tail, improving luggage space. Numerous other small changes took place both inside and out, such as a slightly different grille, new door handles, a more raked windscreen, top-hinged pedals and improved interior trim.
1971 saw the Spider Veloce receive a new, larger powerplant—a 1962 cc, 132 hp unit—and consequently the name was changed from 1750 Spider Veloce to 2000 Spider Veloce. The 1600 Spider restarted production a year later as the Spider 1600 Junior, and was visually identical to the 1300.
1974 saw the introduction of the rare, factory request, Spider-Targa. Based on the Spider, it featured a Porsche style solid rear window and black lift out GRP roof panels. Fewer than 2,000 examples were manufactured and this was the only Spider with a partly-solid roof Spider. The factory later introduced a model-specific hard top.
The 1300 and 2000 cars were modified in 1974 and 1975 respectively to include two small seats behind the front seats, becoming a "two plus two" four seater. The 1300 model was discontinued in 1977. Also, between 1974 and 1976, the early-style stainless-steel bumpers were discontinued and replaced with black, rubber-clad units to meet increasingly stringent North American crash requirements. The fuel injected (SPICA) 2-liter version for the US market received the tipo 115.41 model code.
4,557 of the 1300 Junior were made and 4,848 of the 1600 Junior. 16,320 Spider Veloce 2000 were made and 22,059 of the Spider Veloce 2000 Iniezione (US version). Of the 1750 Spider Veloce, 4,027 were made.
1978 Niki Lauda Special Edition
1978 Niki Lauda Special Edition
In 1978 former F1 champion Niki Lauda joined the Brabham Alfa Romeo F1 team and to celebrate this new addition to Alfa's race team it was decided that Niki Lauda was to be honoured by a special edition Spider in his name. The "Niki Lauda" special edition was launched at the 1978 Long Beach Grand Prix and chassis #001 was driven on the circuit by Niki himself.[21] All together 350 examples of the Lauda edition were made. The car had only cosmetic trim changes, including badging and the addition of a rear spoiler.[22]
Series 3 (1982/83–1989/90)
The Series 3 Spider debuted in North America for the 1982 model year with the introduction of 2.0 litre Bosch electronic fuel injection to replace the SPICA mechanical fuel injection.
The Spider received a further styling revision in 1983, with introduction of black rubber front and rear bumpers, a front bumper incorporating the grille, a small soft rubber spoiler added to the rear kammback, and various other minor mechanical and aesthetic modifications. The 1600 car (never available in North America) dropped the "Junior" name.
The Quadrifoglio Verde (Green Fourleaf Clover) model was introduced in 1986, with many aesthetic tweaks, including sideskirts, mirrors, new front and rear spoilers, hard rubber trunk mounted spoilers with integral third stoplight, unique 15" alloys and optional removable hardtop. Different interior trim included blood red carpets and gray leather seats with red stitching. The QV was offered in only three colours: red, silver and black. It was otherwise mechanically identical to the standard Spider Veloce model, with a 1962 cc DOHC 2 valves per cylinder four-cylinder engine, fuel fed by twin two-barrel 40DCOM4/5 Weber carburetors in Europe producing 128 PS at 5400 rpm and 178 Nm at 4000 rpm of torque; while in North American models retained the Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection introduced for the 1982 model year except that the VVT mechanism was now L-Jet activated and five-speed manual transmission.[23]
Series 4 (1990/91–1993)
Series 4 launched in 1990, with Bosch Motronic electronic fuel injection,[3] full-width body-colored plastic bumper fascias, an electric cooling fan, full-width rear taillights, on-board diagnostics an optional automatic transmission—while eliminating the much criticized front under-bumper and rear trunk-lid spoiler of previous series.
In North America, Series 4 launched for model year 1991; 1990 models were Series 3 with Motronic fuel injection. North American Series 4 models featured power steering, larger knee bolsters and a driver-side airbag also appeared as standard for North American market Spiders, which were available in two configurations: Spider and Spider Veloce. The Veloce substituted leather seats for the base model's vinyl; 15" alloy wheels were one size up from the standard steel wheels with hubcaps; and air conditioning and a cloth top were standard.
Production of the original Spider ended in 1993. An all-new Alfa Spider was presented one year later.
For French market a numbered edition was marketed as the Beauté. 120 units were produced in white and navy blue two-tone, with blue hood and white leather seats.
A limited edition Spider Commemorative Edition (CE) was manufactured for North America as a 1994 model. Each of these 190 carried a small numbered dashboard plaque.[3] The CE carried a special badge on the nose, a "CE" script badge below the "Spider Veloce" emblem on the tail, gold center caps on 15" wheels, and burl wood interior trim. Each came with a leather portfolio, numbered keychain, and documentation. The cars followed the
