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FOR FUTURE U.S. SALE; First drive: Spider leads Alfa Romeo's charge into the U.S. market.(News)
Byline: GREG KABLE
It's safe to say when Alfa Romeo returns to the North American market in 2009, much of the attention will be focused on one car-the new Spider. No other model in the Italian carmaker's 94-year history has made such an impact stateside as Alfa Romeo's classic open-top, affectionately known as the Duetto owing to its traditional two-seat layout.
The latest Spider, unveiled at the Geneva motor show in February and heading into European showrooms now, forms part of an impressive three-model revival strategy Alfa Romeo is banking on to reestablish its operations in North America.
On the strength of its svelte appearance alone, the new two-door is sure to win over buyers seeking something out of the ordinary. The look is thoroughly modern but unmistakably Alfa Romeo. Sharing its wedgy front end with the Giugiaro-designed Brera, including a distinctive heart-shaped grille and a sextet of small round headlamps peering out from beneath the leading edge of the hood, it is one seriously sexy car, with a design lineage harking back to the Giulietta Spider of the '50s. As with that car, the new Spider's rear end, with its kicked-up haunches and gently sloping trunk line, was penned by Pininfarina, which also developed its stylish cloth roof. Pininfarina even assembles Alfa Romeo's latest model on the same line as the Brera coupe at its plant in northern Italy. Spider and Brera share the same mechanical package and are built on a shortened version of the 159 chassis.
Quality is one hurdle Alfa Romeo shouldn't have to worry about with the new Spider. The car offers an impressive level of fit-and-finish, the paint has a rich luster, the panel gaps are even, the doors shut with a satisfying sound, the interior imparts a solid feel, and the multilayer roof motors into place at the push of a button with all the precision of considerably pricier open-top cars.
It's not perfect, though. With the roof up, rearward visibility is poor, although large side mirrors sprouting from the top of the doors help compensate for this ...
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