18
In 2000 General Motors purchased a minority share in the FIAT auto group, and it was publicly
announced that Alfa would in fact be returning to the US. As of this writing, they are scheduled
to return in 2005, first with a new Spider, and then perhaps with other sedan and coupe models.
Predictably, spy photos of the new car reveal what to current eyes could only be called
”
avant
garde
„
, but only time will tell what we actually get, and how it will be perceived through the
years.
While the GM acquisition has garnered the predictable lines of Alfisti tearing their shirts and
weeping about how the cars will become even less distinctive, all indications are that Alfa will
still be firmly in control of the design of things that really matter
suspension, brakes, and
engine. It seems from this angle that, as much as any car marque can remain independent and
distinctive, Alfa will remain unmistakably itself.
Final Comments
It is quite unfair to compare the 115 Spiders to the Miata and its imitators. Even though the cars
were produced at the same time, and competed for the same customers, the Alfa Spider is most
definitely a car from a different era. It should always be remembered that it was designed to
compete with Austin Healeys, MGs, Triumphs, Lotus
“
s and FIATs, all great names from the past,
now gone or changed beyond recognition. The fact that it could and did compete with Miatas and
their ilk is a testimony to the brilliance of the basic design, and the dedication of engineers
hobbled by the unpredictable automotive regulatory climate of the 1970s and then later by the
financial constraints of their own company.
One only has to look at what happened to the Spider
“
s original competitors to appreciate the
accomplishments of Alfa
“
s engineers. Austin Healey disappeared as an automotive manufacturer
even before the 1970s. MG went to the absolute minimum with its MGB to accommodate the
American market, eventually becoming a sad, unrecognizable, and anemic shadow of its former
pre-70s self. Triumph lurched from one ridiculous failure to another before, like MG and Austin
Healey, it too succumbed and ceased to exist entirely (these three events are tightly interrelated
with the decisions of the parent British Leyland group, and if the reader is interested they are
encouraged to research these three grand marques and their sad demise). Lotus moved so far up
scale that today its cars compete more with Porsche and Jaguar than with anything else. FIAT
kept plugging along with its Spider, and perhaps was the most successful at keeping their product
alive. Yet FIAT itself pulled out of the US nearly a decade before it pulled Alfa, and very few
people would claim that the FIAT Spider was ever a better car than the Alfa.
The Alfa Romeo 105/115 Spider has a history almost as impressive as its pedigree. What started
out as an unpopular, somewhat underpowered roadster first turned into what amounted to a high-
performance open race car, and then later into a high-class open touring car. Yet, despite all the
changes, you can still see the Duetto deep inside even a Series 4. Hiding under all that
distinguished sheet metal, luxurious interior detailing, and electronic wizardry is the same zippy
little car that captured hearts nearly thirty years before.
