﹒Striking metallic bodywork

﹒Solid condition throughout

﹒Excellent mohair soft-top

﹒Great runner with twin-cam soundtrack

There’s just a hint that Spring is around the corner, with daylight creeping ever so slowly into the early evening. We can all begin to put Winter (and ‘that’ year) behind us. Plans to break cover and see the open road again, beyond the excuse of this week’s essential milk run. Springtime beckons the emergence of classic cars from hibernation and the chance to rack up care-free miles purely for the journey. Nothing says open road driving, like an open-top sports car. 

If you’ve never had a roadster or you’re looking for your next engaging drive, I urge you to seriously consider a classic two-seater soft-top.  What better way to scratch that itch, than Alfa Romeo’s Pininfarina-designed, sporty rear-wheel-drive roadster, that has become a cultural icon. 

We give you, the Alfa Romeo Spider. In this particular case, the much-coveted Quadrifoglio (four leaf clover).

If you’re a believer in the old adage that you’re not a true petrolhead, until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo, then the series 3 Spider offers affordable entry to the stylish Italian marque, without the lofty ticket price. This one presents beautifully, with demonstrable service history and that twin-cam soundtrack will leave you smiling well into early Autumn.

The current owner has had the car for 15 years, having bought it in 2006. Unfortunately, a house move is forcing the sale, owing to lack of space at the new property. It currently resides in a heated garage to keep the car away from the elements. At 34 years old, it defies its age and has benefitted from leading a pampered and sheltered life.

Clearly a cherished classic, with evidence of Alfa Romeo club membership in the history file and matching club stickers on the car’s windscreen. The car was also winner of an award at an Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club event in 2018.

The present owner sought out and bought this particular car for its excellent condition and has spent time and money over the years, to bring it to its highly presentable condition today.

The paperwork is extensive across the car’s lifetime. While the owner does note it is not 100% complete and does not come with a fully stamped service book, closer inspection of the receipts and documentation shows the car has been subject to regular servicing. Equally, there is evidence of some recent significant items, including work to the carbs, a new clutch, new start motor and new mohair soft-top hood. 

The car has a current MOT until November, showing very few advisories.

The charm of this pretty little Spider is evident both inside and out. Particular to the Quadrifoglio is the full grey leather seats with red stitching, the sporty red seat belts and blood red carpet throughout. These series 3 Spiders are getting older now and interiors can suffer, but the carpets and seats of this one, remain in brilliant condition. The seat bolsters show very little signs of wear, with only one noted minor imperfection on the driver’s seat side. The carpets are beautifully bright red and clean throughout. 

The interior has a distinctive centre console, padded upper and lower dash panels and a single monopod cluster with integral electronic gauges, all in very good conditon. The unique high mounted gear lever is leather trimmed, as is the three-spoke steering wheel. Both are the only signs of interior wear, giving indication of the car’s 83,700 miles. In car entertainment is provided via a Kenwood face-off CD head unit. There are no known or noted issues with gauges, interior electronics or controls.

The red carpets extend to the boot and have no signs of any damp or staining. The boot is home to the leather tonneau cover, which provides a rear cover and clean look to the car when the roof is down.

The relatively new mohair soft-top roof is in excellent condition inside and out, with a clean and clear rear screen. This is a real plus point, as poorly maintained hoods are renowned for aging badly, where the perspex rear window can crack, have a milky appearance and prove difficult to see through. Not such issues here.

The standout Quadrifoglio special edition model, includes many aesthetic tweaks above standard, including side skirts, Alfa Romeo writing on the mirrors, unique front and rear spoilers, hard rubber boot mounted spoiler and those distinctive Alfa Romeo badged 15" alloys.

The overall appearance of this Spider is very attractive and certainly draws admirers, as noted during the photoshoot. The metallic grey paint is a refreshing step away from traditional Alfa red (particularly faded red) with the condition of this car’s paintwork defying its years. 

Typical areas of corrosion on the bodywork are very minimal on this car, with only the underside showing some signs of surface corrosion. Walking around the outside, there is no obvious blistering or bubbling in the eye-catching paintwork. The front end of the bonnet, head light surrounds, bumper and lower trims have a few stone chips, but far less than expected for a car of its age. The brightwork is in good condition, with a good shine and only minimal scratching and pitting as expected. Door shuts, sills, wings, inner wings and valances all appear in good solid condition.

As with the interior, the mohair hood, its stitching and rear window are in fine condition with no signs of fading or stains. The hood easily operates up and down as it should.

The 15” wheels compliment the car’s styling, however one wheel could benefit from light refurbishment. The tyres all look to have good tread. Black rubber and plastic trim all appear in good shape, but could be further improved with conditioning.

Overall, the car truly turns heads, with passers-by and onlookers stopping throughout the photoshoot to ask questions and noting it’s striking appearance.

The car looks to be in good mechanical shape, quickly starting every time, sounding great on the move and coming to a stop promptly. The revvy twin-cam sounds great, with a satisfying exhaust note, as it takes off down the road and no signs of smoke. The engine bay represents an honest enjoyed car, having been subject to regular servicing.

Everything seems to work as intended, with no suspect noises when either starting, driving or shutting down the engine. The service history backs up what you see before you, in terms of a cherished club car.

As mentioned previously, classic car enthusiasts believe you really must own an Alfa Romeo at some point. While a good number of models have sky-rocketed in price and sit outside of many people’s affordability, what we have here is bona fide entry to the club. However, this is not an entry level car, this Alfa has clearly been the pride of its owners and enjoyed owners club distinction during it life.

When looking for an attractive and affordable roadster, the Alfa Romeo Spider series 3 is the unique and uncommon choice too, which again is all part of the appeal. When was the last time you actually saw one of these, opposed to an MX5? 

It is truly a charming roadster and will have you turning back to look at it, every time you walk away. Which quite frankly, if you don’t look back at your classic car, you’ve bought the wrong one. So, do yourself a favour and buy this one, just in time for Spring.

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