It’s fair to say that the American crash safety standards introduced in the mid 1970s was not kind to many of our favourite cars. There are a plethora of sports and classic cars that began their lives with purity of design; flowing lines, faired-in headlamps and minimalistic chrome bumpers worked cohesively to produce some of the sexiest shapes that we’ve ever seen. And then the legislators got involved.
Suddenly, any vehicle to be sold in the United States had to be able to withstand a 5mph impact with no visible damage, among other stringent requirements. While svelte chrome bumperettes may look pretty, they are often next to useless in actually preventing any damage in the case of impact. With the United States being such an important market for sports cars in the 1970s, the manufacturers had to react – and fast. Subsequent models were designed from the ground up with these regulations in mind, but existing cars were adapted to suit. And often, not terribly well.
Nothing was spared. Almost any sports car sold in the mid to late 1970s and onwards became uglier overnight – Porsche 911, Jaguar E-Type, MGB, Fiat X1/9, Ferrari 308 GT4, Mercedes 450SL and BMW 2002, just to name a few. Large expanses of black rubber and aluminium extrusions replaced delicacy, and these gigantic bumpers were pushed to the dimensional extremities to incorporate impact absorbing struts.
Take the Alfa Romeo Spider as one of many examples. This is the original Duetto ‘boat tail’, as pictured here in the 1967 Dustin Hoffman classic The Graduate:
And this is the Series 3 Spider, a development of the Series 2. The modifications were partly an attempt to modernise the shape, but the large rubber bumpers at the front and rear are an undoubted response to increasingly stringent legislation.
What this presents us with is an exciting opportunity to acquire an otherwise iconic car for a fraction of the price. Spend some time examining our auction results tracking tool (below) and you can discover some interesting trends in the Alfa Spider family. First, is that a general upwards trend for all Spiders is obvious; this is not surprising – the Spider is a classic Italian sports car, and prices for those have been increasing for some time.
At over £75,000, the original Type 101 Guilia Spider of 1962-64 tops the price curve significantly, which is to be expected. Following hot on its heels, however, is the original Spider Duetto – you’ll need over £30,000 to secure one of those.
The car in our photos, a 1984 Spider which benefits from recent bodywork and an interior re-trim in black nappa leather, is ready to drive and can be bought now for just £7,750. True, it’s not quite as sexy as an early Duetto. However, it’s actually a better car – faster, more refined, and still fitted with that classic Alfa twin-cam giving a throaty Weber bark.
Just as later model G-Series Porsche 911’s have gone stratospheric, we’d suggest that there’s definitely room for these later model Spiders to move as the classic world continues to accept their looks. Remember – just a decade ago, you could hardly shift a Porsche 914, a Ferrari 308 GT4, or a Series III E-Type. But tastes change, and these cars are now in demand.
We’ve said it before, but it’s never been more relevant. Buy it, enjoy it, fix a few little things, and watch the value slowly head north.
