Early Pininfarina design sketch
Another teaser from Pininfarina
Note the nice scallop which is reminisant of the Duetto
On show at Geneva 2010
Note the DNA switch behind the gear lever
26/9/2013
Slowly more and more information is emerging about the new Alfa Romeo Spider and there is both good and bad news, the bad news is it won't be totally Alfa Romeo, Boo, the good news is that Alfa Romeo will be platform sharing with Mazda using the same floor plan as the MX5 which has been the nicest small convertible that has been available over the last few years. The styling has been done by Alfa and it will have an Alfa engine and running gear. The car will be REAR WHEEL DRIVE and I suspect power outputs will range up to 235 bhp and the kerb weight will be around 1100 kg. This should give you a top speed of around 150 mph with a 0-60 time of around 6 seconds. The car will probably be in the £20,000-30,000 price bracket
10/9/2011
When you have spent a few years looking at all the wonderful creations that get presented at the different motor shows around the world, see all the new concept cars come and go like the Alfa Romeo Pandion, styled by Bertone, you can get a little blase and think that none of them will ever make production, however, something about the Spider concept from Pininfarina makes me think that it will actually be the next production Alfa Romeo Spider. The concept has the look of a production car, the proportions suggest that it could be front-wheel drive and so I suspect it could be based on the same engines as the new Giulietta. However, it would be a very nice departure from the normal if it was rear-wheel drive but the lack of much rear overhang suggests that this won't be the case.
So what is the specification likely to be? I would suggest that the running gear will be based on the new Giulietta which will mean that it will have all the little trick bits like the DNA adaptive suspension system, note the little lever behind the gear lever. It will also have the new Multi air engine with the top of the range version probably producing around 250 bhp. Suspension is probably going to be Mc Pherson strut at the front with a multi-link design at the rear, this will be specifically tuned to the Spider chassis, dynamically it is unlikely to be as driver-orientated as any coupe which may follow. There may be a number of different versions available however it is unlikely that there will be an out and out sport version as the chassis is going to have more flex than the Coupe.