ALFA ROMEO SPIDER 2.0 TS 16V Lusso 2dr (1998)

Alfa Romeo Spider - A Real classic but might be past its best

I was lucky at the time to get my Alfa Romeo Spider from a friend as I knew its history. I'd heard that Alfas can be a mixed bag so I felt more confident knowing where this one had been and how it had been treated. I bought it from him with around 40 thousand miles on it, and it felt more or less like new, with the occasional scuff here and there. It gave me about five years of totally trouble free driving, but a few things have begun to crop up in the past couple of years.

The clutch in my Alfa Spider went after about 70k miles, which does seem fair enough really. There was also a problem more recently with the rear bearings, and the climate control is pretty hit and miss these days, it seems to need recharging quite often, as in a couple of times a year. I so seldom use it anyway that I won't bother doing so next time it needs it. These don't feel like signs of decay though, as if the car is suddenly about to die completely, and it sailed through its MOT this March, just with a couple of advisories about the exhaust and tyres.

Anyway, enough about the little mechanical niggles. The Spider itself is great to drive, lots of power, never ever loses its grip on the road, corners magnificently. There's always more power left as well, no matter how fast you're going (well I'm hardly a boy racer but as fast as I go in it) there's always more left to give, touch the pedal and the engine roars into life, what a magic sound. It's reasonably comfy as well, although not really over longer distances. I find I need to stop at services every hundred miles or so to get my legs moving again. Speaking of long trips, the boot is an odd shape, quite long and thin and surprisingly deep, so you tend to sort of slot things into it. Mind you it doesn't get that much use since the only long drives are me with work. With only two seats we can't do family trips in it.

My 2.0 litre Alfa Romeo Spider doesn't drink petrol too badly, I'd say it averages about high 20s, low 30s, that sort of area. Obviously tax and insurance on the Spider are higher than your average car, but then it is an Alfa.