As much as I like the 91-94 Spider, thinking it's maybe the best looking of all of them, Alfa just basically floated the car along, with only minor changes. The performance aspect just fell behind. They should have felt shamed when Mazda continually improved and refined the Miata, esp at it's pricing, although I was not impressed with the early Miata I had a chance to drive. Seemed almost like driving my bro's old 57 MGA. The Alfa Spider felt more solid at the time, with so much more potential, but not to happen, alas. Still, I think the last Spiders do look better than the Miata, IMHO.

I did drive a 2000 Alfa roadster (which does look quite different) with the V6 once, in NZ, and I liked that in the limited driving I did.

 

They are an interesting animal. The 105/115 platform went about 20 years past when it was supposed to due to Alfa's financial difficulties and the Fiat takeover.

The Malaise era of the late 70s to mid 80s meant Alfa got away with keeping the same design and not increasing performance for a while, but by the 1990s, they were WAAAYYY behind the times. It's kind of crazy to think this was sold beside cars like the FD RX-7. Contemporary reviews of the S4 spiders were well aware of how archaic the car was by then.

To a buyer in 2023, there is certain benefit to this. You get a 1960s car with 1990s features like airbags and EFI with an OBD ECU. But they are definitely more cruisers than performance machines.

 

Now that's a good general automotive interest piece, IMO. Although I can't say that for most of the "writers" who do Hot Cars articles, mostly shot off their phones in under 30 minutes. I just scroll by Hot Cars, frankly, for that reason. Hats off to you for your accuracy and doing factual research before composing the article. You cite a lot of interesting features about the CE that most folks wouldn't be aware of, unless they're already dedicated Alfisti. And yes, I agree the S4 is one darned good Alfa, from a reliability standpoint. I still have the one I bought new.

 

Thank you I take pride in putting out quality over quantity which is certainly been Hotcars’ mission since they began. Hopefully they can establish themselves as a reputable automotive website. I have other articles too on the site also on Alfa Romeo’s

 

Very enjoyable and informative read Victor. I often mused on whether or not Alfa Romeo would bring back a production retro version of the Spider like Fiat and the American auto makers have done ala Mustang, Charger and Bronco ect. I would think a refined version of the original Duetto, round tail and all would be received very well. I have my bias, but I never liked the Kamm Tail design change. I know that it was aerodynamically more efficient in theory, but did it actually make a tangible difference to the average road car driver? In later years the Kamm Tail has grown on me and I would not rule out owning one for myself but if I had any input, I would vote for a design that was reminiscent of the original Duetto.
Great job on the article. To be honest I did not even know about the Hotcars site until this post. My attention had been on the boating world for the past thirty years, I am just now getting back into enjoying cars as a pastime.

 

And the photos for the articles are very good, also, BTW.

 

Yeah there was on photo of the yellow Alfa I didn’t select the editor chose over the photo I had of all the badges that came with the CE, he preferred a photo of the car over the badges 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

Yeah that's nice! It should have gone with the article.

 

Nice article, but the S4's are not everyone's favorites. The monopod dash and enormous knee bolsters set back the character of the cabin, and the Alcantara upholstery was a mistake. The phone-dials look cool, but are quite heavy (Did they have to be so heavy?). The S4s weigh at least a couple hundred pounds more than even the S3's.

Of course the CE is a limited edition, and no matter the pluses or minuses of the various Spider iterations, every series of Spider is a good Spider.

David OD
Laguna CA

 

I made sure to leave opinions out of the article. Hence why I never say the S4 is the most favorite of the four generations, it’s certainly the most refined.

 

Point well taken, Victroia21 - I did veer off into comparing the S4 to other series, and that wasn't the point. Your article was well written, and it may well bring more converts into the fold. I enjoy the writing you've submitted to the BB.

Regards,

David OD
Laguna CA

 

Enjoyed the excellent S4 article, but am I the only one who scrolled on to the Quadrifoglio that followed?

 

Nope! That was a good one, too.

 

This was your best Alfa article yet!

 

Thank you.

 

I am thinking about writing another article on the 105/115 platform, highlighting the history, durability and versatility of the series. Do any of you have any insight on what you would like the article to touch on?

 

Good topic. There is an old wives tale out there that says that Alfa made few real improvements or did little development to the series over the years. Those who own them, and know the differences in the series know this is just bunk. You might talk about the development and updating of the series from Duetto to S4, highlighting such areas as carbs-to-Spica, engine development (cc's, ignition, VVT), analog to digital engine control, brake and suspension improvements, creature comforts, ergonomics and instrumentation, electrical/electronics improvements, wheels and tires, and styling. Granted, the basic 105/115 platform remained underneath, but Alfa did much in the way of updating and refining the car over the decades it was in production. At least, IMO they did.

 

And yet, they let Mazda, with the Miata, take over the US roadster market. I think it was basically a complete lack of advertising. It's what it takes in this country, esp. Even now, there is a lack of advertising for the Stelvio and Giulia here.

I remember years ago, when BMC was selling cars here, a sales manager at the local dealership told me that they didn't have to advertise because if you have a fine car, the customer will just come in. Suuure. That certainly worked.

 

I don’t think it was advertising. The Miata was a much more modern car when it arrived in 1989. It had an IRS, a much more up to date motor and ECU, etc. The spider was essentially a 1960s car still for sale through the 1990s. Contemporary reviews were much more favorable to the Miata. Alfa just ran out of money by the mid-80s and couldn’t keep updating the car.

 

I wasn't in the room when the decisions were made, but remembering back, Alfa simply did not have the capital compared to Mazda or some of the other players in the market. Yet, within a couple of years after the last 115 Spider was sold here, the new FWD Spider was introduced in Europe, and it shared nothing with the old cars. The new cars were even certified to US regulations for safety and emissions, which obviously indicated that Alfa was planning a North American market re-introduction. But... we all know what happened afterward, and those plans went up in smoke. Why? I wish we knew exactly, but I recall reading that there was a corporate concern at the time for recuperating and rebuilding their domestic market and dealerships. Not 100% certain of that, though. But then again, the FWD Spider and GTV were aimed at a bit higher market than the Miata at the time.
Del's point on advertising is of course, right on target. I'm sitting here wondering when they will kick off the ad campaign for the Tonale... they did such a terrific job promoting the Giulia and Stelvio initially. Those ads were enticing, and it resulted in SALES of new Alfas. But I haven't seen any Alfa TV ads now for months, maybe a couple of years.

 

The early Miata I test drove was not impressive. Reminded me of driving an old MGB. The Alfa still felt more solid.