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ALFA ROMEO SUPER SPIDER—THE ALFISTI WERE RIGHT!
THERE’S A BACKSTORY to R&T’s road test of the Alfa Super Spider, October 1959: The magazine acknowledged, “The Alfa Romeo Veloce Spider test (March 1958) was a classic example of our unwittingly arousing owner anger. The results of the test, which pleased us no end, were evidently not good enough for the Alfa contingent, because what seemed like every Giulietta fancier in the world promptly came down on our heads.”
The cool thing is that the Alfisti were right!
A Fine Car, to Begin With. Back in March 1958, R&T termed the Alfa Veloce a car having “no business being so desirable.”
Among its virtues was its Veloce powerplant, hopped up to 90 hp from a previous 65, of which R&T commented, “The Veloce version simply seems to have no drawbacks. It is smooth and peppy, and appears to idle and pull at low speeds as well as the 65-bhp unit.”
“The exhaust system on our test car,” R&T reported, “was definitely raucous, with a rap at over 3000 rpm which was great fun but would have to be toned down considerably for legal city use.”
All under the control of one’s right foot, I say.
Accommodations. Unlike many sports cars of the era, the Alfa Giulietta had a non-fiddly top, folding “simply and easily with no fussing or fuming, though not in a matter of seconds or with one hand—or via a pushbutton.”
Geez, they sound like ex-Detroiters: “There is a heater, which we did not try, and winding windows which we did find convenient on a winter day in California.”
Come on, guys. You’ve fiddled with English tops and side curtains. The Alfa was outstanding, especially for the era.
“Good heavens!,” R&T wrote in October 1959, “This sports car has a real trunk.”
Personal Experiences. Northwest Classic Rally pal Mark Carpenter graciously lent me his beautiful dove-gray 1959 Giulietta Spider, twice, in fact, for this tradition TSD (Time/Speed/Distance) event run out of Portland, Oregon. See “SAP @ Y MBCU CAST 35” for the meaning of this rally talk and for details of enjoying the car in beautiful settings.
I concur completely with R&T’s view: This car “has no business being so desirable.”
R&T’s Conclusion. “Two factors,” R&T summarized, “are responsible for this particular car’s showing such a wonderful turn of speed: the very sound design by Alfa Romeo, and the excellence of the Hoffman service school, where they furnished us with the data needed to get the most from the car. Perhaps the speeds shown may not seem very high to those who own Corvettes, but for a 1300-cc machine with rather heavy touring bodywork, they are utterly fantastic.”
And don’t forget that exhilarating Alfa exhaust note! ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2023
Simanaitis Says 
Ah yes! Those perpetual post event beer fueled arguments as to which had the best exhaust note … Abarth, Ansa, Stebro or JC Whitney glass packs!
Have enjoyed my ’65 Giulia Spider since buying it for $4,200 in 1992. We’ve done a rolling restoration, and it has completed about 20 Colorado Grands. Originally a Normale, it gained a large set of Webers and is now an Abnormale. It still has the original-size skinny (155×15) tires so with care can still be slid around slow corners.