Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce

  Hi, i just wanted to give a quick overview of one of my favorite classic cars.  There is this local store near my hometown of Bloomfield, NY,called Turner Automotive.  They specialize in Chevrolet Corvettes.  Occasionally, however, they trade for another car. For example, they currently have a Rat rod, a Chevrolet BelAir, A Dodge Charger SuperBee and even a Bricklin SV.  A week ago, i noticed a 1970's Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce was outside apparently on display.  I was exited because i had never seen one before.  If you have no idea what car i am talking about read on....

So, the Alfa Romeo Spider started life in 1966 (when my mom was born :)  It was in production for almost 30 years.  (ended production in 1994 as Commemorative Editions for North America)   There were only minor exterior and mechanical changes throughout its tri-decade life.  The First Generation was assembled by Pinninfarina in Grugliasco an the Fourth Gen in San Giorgio Canavese.  The final Alfa Spider was produced in April, 1993.  This was also the last RWD Alfa before the 8C Competizone.


Series 1 (1966-1969)
The car was introduced as a prototype at the Turin Motor Show in 1961.  But because of the economic challenges that Italy faced at this time restricted production by Pininfarina at the end of 1965.  Alfa Romeo utilized the Giula 105 chassis.  The car was unveiled at the 36th Geneva Motor Show in 1966.   The car was unamed at the Show.  The name Duetto was eventually chosen.  Pininfarina was responsible for the body design.  The Duetto was the last project the founder, Battista Farina was associated with.  The design dirctor for Pininfarina at this time was Franco Martinego.  Pininfarina was also responsible for production.  The car was designed with Crumple Zones in te front and rear.  The engine chosen was a 1570 cc version of the Alfa twin cam four Cyl. and spat out 109 HP.  It included a 5 Sp. Manual tranny, disc brakes, and the US price was $3,950.  May seem small, but that was still $1,500 more expensive than the British MGB.
The First Duetto was produced 1966-'67 and was replaced in 1967 by the 1750 Spider Veloce, equipped with a 118 HP, 1779 cc engine.   The European models had twin carburetors, When the American version had mechanical fuel injection.  Differences for this model included Suspension, brakes electric and wheel modifications.  Other differences were the rear-view mirror was repositioned to the door and there was differnt badging on the rear.


In 1968, the Spider 1300 Junior was released with an 89 HP engine.

Because of its round tail, the Series 1 is sometimes referred to as Osso di Seppa, meaning cuttlefish bone in Italian.  This car was in the 1967 film, The Graduate, driven by the Dustin Hoffman portrayed Ben.



Series 2   (1970-1983)
 In 1970 the first real exterior change was added to the 1750 Spider Veloce,with the original round tail changed to a cut-off tail commonly called the Kamm tail.  Alfa also improved trunk room.  In 1971, the Spider got a new 1962 cc, 132 HP engine, and the name was changed to the 2000 Spider Veloce.  In 1972, the 1600 Spider restarted as the Spider 1600 Junior and was identical to the 1300.
In 1972, the rare Spider-Targa was introduced.  Based on the Spider, it had a Porsche like solid rear window and T-tops.  Less than 2000 of these models were made and was the only hard top Spider until the factory one.


In 1974-'75 the 1300 and the 2000 were modified to have 2 small seats behind the front ones to become a "2+2".  The 1300 was discontinued in 1977.  In between 1974 and 1976 the early stainless steel bumper was replaced with a black rubber one to meet North Amercan requirements.


Series 3 (1983-1990)

The series 3 was previewed in North America in 1982 when they introduced the 2.0 Lm Bosch electric fuel injection to replace mechanical fuel injection.   The Spider went through a revamp in 1983 which introduced rubber bumpers.  Also, a small rubber spoiler was added to the rear.  The 1600 lost the Junior name as well.   The Green Leaf Clover model was introduced in 1986 with many tweaks which included side skirts, mirrors, front and rear spoilers, 15" alloy and optional removable hardtop.  Different interior trim included Blood red carpets and gray leather upholstery.  It was mechanically twins with the Spider Veloce.

The interior had new things to it including a new center console, lower dash panels, and a single monopod gauge cluster.   A North American edition named The Graduate was added to pay a tribute to the Veloce's apperence in the film, The Graduate.

The Graduate was made as a cheaper entry level Alfa.  It had the same engine and transmission as the Veloce, but it did not have alloy wheels and the luxurys of the other models.  It had manual windows, vinyl seats, a vinyl top and steel wheels.  The only optios were air conditioning and a radio.  The Graduate appeared in 1985 and ended in 1990.

Minor things were changed in 1986-'89 which included new paint colors, a center mount stop lamp and new turn signal levers.  1988 models had automatic seatbelts the extended from a device in between the fron seats.

Series 4 (1991-1993)
The final big change to the Spider was in 1990.  The Spider was given a Bosch Motronic electronic fuel injection and an electronic fan.  The Spider also dumped its under-bumper spoiler and the trunk lid spoiler.  This was also the first Spider with an automatic.

These syling changesd did not appear in North America until 1991.  The production of the Spider ended in 1993.  Then,an all new Spider arrived in 1994.   A Limited Commemerative Edition was made for North America and was a 1994 model.  190 of these were imported to the US.  Each had a plaque saying what number of 190 it was.  It had a special badhe on the nose and a CE below Spider Veloce on the rear.  They had gold caps on the wheels and wood interior trim.  Every model came with a leather portfolio, numbered keychain and documentation.  The CE's had VINs 008276-008460.  They are not in order numbering.  All 1994 Commemerative Editions were produced in May 1993.  In Europe, the CE was sold with a 1.6 L engine that was utilized in the Series 3.


 

IndyCar GP of Long Beach

Pos: Driver:                              Make:
1st: Will Power                         Chevrolet
2nd: Simon Pagenaud               Honda
3rd: James Hinchcliffe              Chevrolet
4th: Tony Kanaan                      Chevrolet
5th: JR Hildebrand                     Chevrolet
6th: Ryan Hunter-Reay              Chevrolet
7th: Ryan Briscoe                       Chevrolet
8th: Takuma Sato                       Honda
9th: Rubens Barichello               Chevrolet
10th: Justin Wilson                     Honda
11th: James Jakes                       Honda
12th: E.J. Viso                             Chevrolet
13th: Helio Castroneves              Chevrolet
14th: Ed Carpenter                       Chevrolet
15th: Dario Franchitti                  Honda



I did not watch this race so therefore i have no opinions or anything to say sorry.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Rockingham results

Pos: Driver:                            Make:                       Sponsor
1st: Kasey Kahne                   Chevrolet                  Rockwell Tools
2nd: James Buescher              Chevrolet                  Koike Aronson
3rd: Matt Crafton                    Toyota                      Ideal Donor/Menards
4th: Johnny Sauter                  Toyota                      Hot Honeys/Curb Records
5th: Timothy Peters                 Toyota                     Strutmasters.com
6th: Joey Coulter                     Chevrolet                 Strutmasters.com
7th: Nelson Piquet Jr.              Chevrolet                 Qualcomm/Autotrac
8th: Ty Dillon                          Chevrolet                 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats
9th: Parker Kilgerman             Ram                          Draw-Tite
10th: Justin Lofton                   Chevrolet                 CollegeComplete.com
11th: Jeb Burton                      Chevrolet                  State Water Heaters
12th: Ron Hornaday                 Chevrolet                  Joe Denette Motorsports
13th: David Starr                      Toyota                      Zachry
14th: Dakoda Armstrong          Toyota                      EverFi.com
15th: Miguel Paludo                 Chevrolet                 Duroline Brakes and Components



I did not see much of this race so i do not have much of an opinion, but i can say from what i did see, it was not all that exiting, even though it was a very well known race, for it bieng the first time NASCAR came back to "The Rock".

Note: if you would like me to go back to listing the ENTIRE results, please tell me!  i need you feedback!
Thanks-JT           

Formula 1 GP of China Results

Note: (from now on, i will only list the top 15 in results for every race.)

Pos: Driver:                                   Team:
1st: Nico Rosberg                          Mercedes
2nd: Jenson Button                        Mclaren-Mercedes
3rd: Lewis Hamilton                      Mclaren-Mercedes
4th: Mark Webber                          Red Bull Racing-Renault
5th: Sebastien Vettel                      Red Bull Racing-Renault
6th: Romain Grosjean                    Lotus-Renault
7th: Bruno Senna                           Williams-Renault
8th: Pastor Maldonado                   Williams-Renault
9th: Fernando Alonso                     Ferrari
10th: Kamui Kobayashi                  Sauber-Ferrari
11th: Sergio Perez                          Sauber-Ferrari
12th: Paul Di Resta                         Force India-Mercedes
13th: Felipe Massa                          Ferrari
14th: Kimi Raikkonen                    Lotus-Renault
15th: Nico Hulkenburg                   Force India-Mercedes

I personally loved this race.  We saw really good passes.  I even saw 3-wide racing into Turn 1!   Also, The Mercedes Team got its first pole since 1955!  Romain Grosjean and Sebastien Vettel had very good days as well.  Alonso wrestled that twitchy 2012 Ferrari to a solid 9th, while his teamate Massa fell to a 13th place finish.  Overall, i think this was the best race i have seen in a while.

NASCAR Sprint Cup at Texas

1st: Greg Biffle                           Ford                                    3M Filtrete
2nd: Jimmie Johnson                  Chevrolet                            Lowe's/Kobalt Tools
3rd: Mark Martin                        Toyota                                Aarons 2011 Best of the Best
4th: Jeff Gordon                          Chevrolet                           DuPont 20 Years
5th: Matt Kenseth                        Ford                                   Best Buy
6th: Martin Truex Jr.                    Toyota                              NAPA Auto Parts
7th: Kasey Kahne                         Chevrolet                          Farmers Insurance
8th: Carl Edwards                         Ford                                  Fastenal
9th: Kevin Harvick                       Chevrolet                          Budwieser
10th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.                Chevrolet                          Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard
11th: Kyle Busch                          Toyota                               Intersate Batteries
12th: Denny Hamlin                      Toyota                              FedEx Office/March of Dimes
13th: Kurt Busch                           Chevrolet                          Phoenix Construction Services
14th: Jamie McMurray                 Chevrolet                           Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats
15th: AJ Allmendinger                  Dodge                                Shell/Penzoil



This was a very calm race.  Unlike usual races at Texas there were only 2 cautions, a track record.  Many people complained that the race was boring.  In my opinion, they were right.  Not much passing.

NASCAR Nationwide Series at Texas results.

Race facts: Average Speed: 126.301 MPH, Margin of Victory: 1.434 Sec., Race length: 2 hours,22 Min
Lead Changes: 14
Cautions: 5

Results (Top 15 only)

1st: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.         Ford                        Pure Michigan
2nd: Paul Menard                   Chevrolet               Rheem/Menards
3rd: Kasey Kahne                   Chevrolet                Great Clips
4th: Denny Hamlin                 Toyota                    Sport Clips
5th: Austin Dillon                   Chevrolet               American Ethanol
6th: David Ragan                    Ford                        Mercury Marine
7th: Justin Allgaier                  Chevrolet               Brandt
8th: Danica Patrick                 Chevrolet                GoDaddy.com
9th: Michael Annett                Ford                        Pilot Flying J
10th: Steve Arpin                    Chevrolet                Mike's on the Rocks
11th: Sam Hornish Jr.             Dodge                     Wurth
12th: Elliott Sadler                  Chevrolet                OneMain Financial
13th: Cole Whitt                      Chevrolet                TaxSlayer.com
14th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.          Chevrolet                 Degree Men Adrenaline Series
15th: Joey Logano                   Toyota                      GameStop

April 14th Race Weekend

This weekend was a very big weekend.  The races included the NASCAR Nationwide series as Texas, the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Texas, The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Rockingham, The GP of China, the IndyCar race at Long Beach, and tha ALMS at Long Beach.

A notable race in that lineup was the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Rockingham.  That was the first NASCAR race at Rockingham since 2003.  Surprisingly though, it semed to me on TV that the stands were slightly empty.  Another notable was the GP of China, where the Mercedes team got its first pole and win since 1955.  Nico Rosberg gave Mercedes the pole and the win.  Michael Shumacher qualifyed second but finished last after he parked the car when a wheel was loose.  Results of the races are coming up.

Race week

Once again i have been very busy so...  The NASCAR race at Martinsville was won by Ryan Newman and the Indycar race was won by Will Power.  I will be working on some classic car profiles soon.  My Parents are actually looking for a classic sports car now.  any reccomendations or offers would be gladly accepted.