Opinion: yes, the Alfa Romeo Spider is flawed, and yes, we still want one

Should you be in the market for a used, well-proportioned, attractive, charming and exotic small cabriolet, you could do a lot worse than an Alfa Romeo Spider. No, wait, not that, the opposite of that.

Hopes – as ever with Alfa Romeo – were high on this car’s 2006 reveal. A convertible version of the stunning Guigiaro-designed Brera, available with a range of engines including a V6 and the promise of ‘superlative engineering’ and ‘outstanding performance’.

Well. Technically it was a convertible version of the Brera that had been designed by one of the best in the business. Technically there were three engines to choose from including a four-cylinder 2.2-litre petrol, a five-cylinder 2.4-litre diesel, and a six-cylinder 3.2-litre range-topping petrol with four-wheel-drive.

However, none of these engines were all that… fast. We weren’t expecting F40-levels of drama, but none of them crept under seven seconds to get to 62mph, didn’t make enormously engaging noises – especially the diesel – and weren’t enormously powerful.

No matter! It was at least light, no? Well. No. The lightest version was 1,530kg. That rose to 1,710kg for the V6 with the auto ‘box. That is not light for something that looks so light.

No matter! It was at least good to drive, no? Well. Top Gear’s first experience in a diesel-engined Spider back in 2008 noted that while the ride was reasonably settled, there was no real sparkle to the front-driver’s responses.

But here’s the most important thing to remember about the Alfa Romeo Spider. None of that… matters. Because it looks absolutely brilliant. Yes, Guigiaro – as he has a habit of doing – absolutely knocked it out of the park with the Brera Coupe, and Alfa improved on that fabulous recipe in style with this.

Indeed it was designed by Pininfarina – also with a habit of knocking things out of the park – together with Alfa’s Centro Stile design centre in Milan, taking the history of the Alfa Spider badge and transforming it for a Noughties audience.

Remember it had a tough batch of nicely designed rivals at the time – the Bangle BMW Z4, Nissan 350Z, Mercedes SLK, Honda S2000 – and one stone cold future hall of famer in the Audi TT. Yet it managed to look head and shoulders better than them all. Plus, would you just look at that interior? Proper.

And that’s really all that matters. It’s a convertible – you’re not doing ten-tenths heroics at Silverstone in one of these. You’re cruising gently, roof down, soaking up the sun (or drizzle if you’re in the UK), anxiously watching for any warning lights on the dash, enjoying the glare of a thousand gazes that one of the Noughties’s best-looking cars elicits. Yeah, you could do a lot worse than an Alfa Romeo Spider.