While the Italian motor industry produces many fine saloons, it is their glamorous sports cars that grab the attention. Few cars illustrate this point better than the Alfa Romeo Spider. Launched in 1955, the 1300cc twin-cam powered Giulletta Spiders were hailed as better than state-of-the art, and placed high-performance handling and exotic Pininfarina styling within the reach of regular enthusiasts. In 1966 Spider styling changed with the Duetto, again designed by Pininfarina. This was the car everyone remembers Dustin Hoffman driving in The Graduate, and as a consequence the Alfa's reputation was set in stone. In 1986 came the Quadrifoglio model with full body-kit and alloy wheels. The final incarnation of the classy Spider was produced in 1990 and by the time production ended in 1994 it had become an icon. But this was not the end of the story. In 1995 a totally new model was launched with design input Com Pininfarina and Fiat's in-house Centro Stile department in Turin. The new Spider's radical good looks, chassis and front-wheel
drive train were good enough to maintain the tradition of it's iconic predecessors.
