Description
Author: David Owen, Hardbound, 135 pages, ISBN: 9780850454628, First Published, 1982 - OSPREY AUTOHISTORY SERIES **VERY RARE BOOK IN EXCELLENT UNREAD CONDITION**
`The car made famous in the film The Graduate.' That's the almost certain answer to be had from the question asked of any American 'Think of a little Italian open two-seater sports car?' But what was it? Since time immemorial Alfa Romeo have been making sports cars, or so it seems. Somehow their open cars have been known as 'spiders' even if the factory has not actually been calling them that way. Today's Alfa Spider, and the subject of this book, are the Pininfarina designed and produced beauties first shown in 1961 in a highly stylised form. Production was not settled until 1966 and their name chosen, Duetto.
The Duetto was to supersede the Giulia 1600 Spider (in essence a Giulietta with the big engine). The story goes how the Duetto lost its tail (and its name) and became the 1750 Spider. And then the current 2000 Spider still available in Europe and North America. A 1300 joined the ranks too.
Author David Owen, an owner of one of these cars for nearly 10 years, takes the reader on a fascinating journey of detailed changes and marketing requirements, of road test findings and specification updates. His comments and criticisms are considered throughout but never once does he weaken from his central theme: these five speed, twin overhead camshaft, handsome two seater ragtops are perhaps the world's finest in their class
