I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions for some time. It’s not that I don’t believe in doing so, or that I don’t find value in the accountability that often comes with such declarations. My thought process is more around the fact that guilt, by itself, is never a healthy motivator, and when we break a promise to ourselves, it often somehow feels worse. In instances in my life when I’ve used guilt or shame as the reason to do (or not do) something, it has been far less effective than when I had found and internalized benefits to whatever change in behavior. I’ve also been more deliberate in paying attention to lessons that life has intended for me to learn, so as I’ve been more aware of what’s happening around me, it has become more of an ongoing series of adjustments, versus an annual tune-up.
One of my main tenets that has solidified over the past five years or so is the importance of letting go and embracing the end of something. This could be something even as small or innocuous as bidding someone farewell after a meeting. Long goodbyes aren’t comfortable for anyone. Why prolong the sadness? Suppose you’ve been able to bid adieu with some degree of eloquence with just the right words, where if you and the other person(s) were to walk away from each other at that very moment, it would have been a very proper way to wrap your time together. …But then you linger, and more words come out that perhaps aren’t expressed quite as clearly or beautifully, and what would have been a great way to say goodbye or “so long” has by then vanished.
You should have just chopped that conversation at its logical end, like the rear styling of the second series of Alfa Romeo (Duetto) Spider. Why let your words trail off into some droopy butt of an indecisive end, as you slide slowly down that slope of a rear deck until you plop onto the ground, looking and feeling a little stupid? It’s the same with the holidays. I want to be clear that I very much love the year-end holidays and all the joy of coming together with loved ones, the bright lights and decorations, delicious foods and treats, and other aspects of them. It’s just that when I’m done with certain activities, I’m done, though I’ll still probably leave my tree up through the end of this week. After that, though, chop.
I was in middle school during Madonna’s True Blue phase and watched in shock and horror as some of the prettiest girls in my classes went to bobbing off their once-beautiful tresses. “If Madonna jumped off a bridge, would you?”, I might have wanted to ask if I had the courage back then. Sadly, I think some of the females at my middle school might have done so, which speaks to Madonna’s power among my demographic at that time, and I am still a fan. In the end, though, that blonde chop facilitated a very effective visual transformation for Ms. Ciccone concurrent with the solidification of what is widely considered to be her imperial phase. The chop worked… that is, before she grew it all out again only a few years later. (Pepsi, anyone?)
I hadn’t even seen the torpedo-esque rear styling of the original Alfa roadsters until adolescence, long before the answers could be found with a few keystrokes or a swipe on the screen of a smartphone. The front of the early cars looked fine, but I was unimpressed with the back, at first. It seemed too rounded and pointy. I later came to appreciate the original look, and I still like it today. However, the “Kamm”-style tail that arrived for model year ’71 is much more to my liking. I used to think the designers at Pininfarina had simply chopped off the tail, but looking at both cars in profile, it looks like the horizontal surface of the trunk was also straightened, which would explain the appreciable increase in usable luggage space that arrived with the restyle.
The third series cars with their black rubber spoiler ensemble on the rear fascia never looked right to me. They always seemed unfinished, like there had bee a paint shortage at the factory, or maybe that only higher-end models got the body-colored rear-deck spoilers. All of that matte-finish, black body addenda just looks so “Dodge Caliber” back there. It’s a shame, because the basic styling of these cars had otherwise held up beautifully after over fifteen years of production. The final refresh that arrived with the final, fourth series cars had fixed this for ’90, but by then, the Alfa Spider was clearly a throwback that appealed mostly because of that, especially with the advent of the brilliant, thoroughly modern Mazda MX-5 Miata.
Among all the four iterations of the original Spider, my preference is currently the 1971 – ’82 version. The one above, a 1750 Spider Veloce (from the badge above the left taillight), might be a ’71 or a ’72, given the styling and that fact that a 116-horsepower, 2.0L mill was introduced for ’73. The 1750 (the engine of which displaced 1779 cc) was rated at 132 horsepower, according to my Great Book Of Sports Cars by the editors of Consumer Guide. All Spiders ranged in weight between 2,200 and 2,300 pounds, and the 1750 could do 0-60 mph in about ten seconds and also reach 115 miles per hour. According to one source, the older red example is one of about 4,000 “Kamm-tail” 1750 Spider Veloces produced. This one was in pristine condition as it scooted along Old Ox Road next to Dulles International Airport.
So, here we are in 2024. I’m not making any promises I can’t or won’t keep, but I will continue to foreshorten my exposure to things, people, places, experiences, etc. that have demonstrated that they’re simply not beneficial to my well-being. Be empowered to adopt the same philosophy for yourself, and understand and internalize that doing so does not make you a bad person. Less can be much more. Chop-ola.
The older example was spotted in Ashburn, Virginia on Friday, November 24, 2023.
The newer one was seen in Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois, on Sunday, July 9, 2023.
The print ad was sourced from the internet.
“…I will continue to foreshorten my exposure to things, people, places, experiences, etc. that have demonstrated that they’re simply not beneficial to my well-being.”
Nailed it. I have referred to this phenomenon as being “addition through subtraction”. It’s amazing how you can get rid of something and your quality of life increases. It’s even a philosophy I’ve been sharing with others at work. So-and-so left? Why are you bothered? They didn’t exactly have (performance, good conduct, fill in the blank) in their vernacular, so that’s addition through subtraction.
Of course my wife says I’m a little quick to pull the figurative trigger at times, but so be it. Life is too short to put up with bullshit regardless of the source.
My goodness, I do sound grumpy for it being 5:21 am local time. Oh well. And the Alfa looks like fun. Too small, but fun.
You don’t sound grumpy to me. You sound like good, old, straight-shooting Jason. Preach, brother Shafer!
Fred from the band Right Said Fred, drove an original. lol
Wow… This was on the radio when I was in high school. I even found the CD single secondhand within the past few years. I have never, however, noticed the Duetto Spider before now. In my defense, we didn’t have cable back then.
Ah – I see you were in my neck of the woods (Virginia) for a while! Amusingly, just yesterday a friend of mine remarked that the area around Dulles Airport seems to be a magnet for interesting cars (his comment was precipitated by seeing an ad for a Brazilian Chevy located just on the other side of the airport from where your pictures were taken). Kind of a geographical CC Effect.
Regarding the Alfa’s chopped rear end, my opinions differ from yours. I actually prefer the later versions with the black trunklid spoilers – I think the earlier models without the spoilers just look unfinished. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a big fan of Kammback-type styling in the first place, but to me the black spoiler adds quite a bit of design interest to the back end. Your featured model, with the Alfa logo in the middle of the spoiler, is better looking in my opinion than the ’86+ models with the center brake light. To me, though, nothing is better than the Duetto’s tapered trunk.
Eric, a billboard for a Brazilian Chevrolet would have been cool to spot near Dulles, but I still would have been scratching my head. I can’t recall any other noteworthy car spottings as my friend and I were in her car, but the weather was mild. I simply might not have noticed.
I was hoping for other perspectives on the various series of Alfa Spider, so thank you for providing yours and the reasons why.
The ad wasn’t a billboard – rather an online ad. It’s below. I looked up the dealership location because I might drive by there and see if I can see the car up close. Definitely an oddball – despite a growing number of older Japanese imports, I’ve never seen a South American import around here (or anywhere, for that matter).
I think I’m in the distinct minority in liking the later Spider’s black spoiler!
As the past, and brief, owner of a 1974 Spider I completely agree that the chopped-tail version is best. But to a lot of Alfisti only the original is right. Everything else was a corruption of Pininfarina’s perfect shape. As for long goodbyes, I am a poster child for dragging things on. “Oh, and one more thing …”. Hmm, maybe I should make a New Year’s Resolution to do better 😀
Haha – Dman, I think you should keep just doing you! My thing was that the long goodbye doesn’t work for me. I’m sure it works better for others.
I do think it is possible to modify an original shape and make it better. I can find merits in both the original Spider look and the Kamm refresh.
So used to seeing these with black tops. I do prefer the camel-coloured version. A more elegant and Italian exotic feel.
The beige top with the red paint definitely does lens itself to more of an Italian exotic feel. For some reason, this color combo reminds me of something Ferrari-esque.
We owned a ’66 Duetto “boat-tail” in Ivory white and a ’72 “Kammback” in Silver. The former is far and away the more sought after and is the one we should have kept and completely restored (it needed floors). I liked the looks of both of them, but the rubber-rear ones, not so much.
I like that you referenced the colors of the two you had owned. I didn’t look up any factory brochures when putting this one together, so I didn’t really have any idea in terms of the range of colors these came in.
The long tail looked so right when the Giulietta Spider Speciale (image below) was first conceived and shown, back in 1960-1961. Unfortunately, it took until 1966 for it to go into production, by which time it was already looking a wee bit obsolete, in terms of styling trends.
Yes, it still looked great, but long tails were quite “out” by then. So it’s hardly surprising that PF redid the tail, since the Spider was becoming near-immortal. The bobbed tail was an effective update, even if it wasn’t truly organic. But the black paint and spoiler eventually attached to its tail was an abomination. This car was in production way too long.
When I was putting this together, I think I remember searching CC archives to see if anything has been written about the early Spiders. That was three weeks ago, but if I recall correctly, I did find one piece that referenced the Giulietta Spider Speciale you referenced, and the rear styling looked nearly identical.
To your point, I can’t think of any other modern cars by the late-’60s that had that kind of tapered tail. Funny how the final fourth-series cars had almost made return to that look, albeit modernized and with bumpers.
Appropriate thoughts for this time of year. I have traditionally not been very good at the “goodbye and good (luck/riddance, choose one)” thing, so I appreciate your thoughts on one way of doing just that.
I am in a slightly different project of not being satisfied with/settling for offered choices if those choices are not what I want. So in that spirit, I have to say that none of the three versions of this car ever looked quite right to me, so make mine a Fiat 124 Spyder of the same vintage. I will add that I have never driven any of them, so there may be some behind the wheel reasons to choose the Alfa. In that case, I could could be convinced to go with the version in your lead photo.
Amen to simply passing if nothing that’s available is close enough to what you wants. I’ve been trying to apply that to shopping, in general.
Owned a 1979 SPICA injected Spider from 1988 in California and until 1995 in Calgary, Alberta. Drove a couple of Fiat 124 Spyders in California, found their steering effort high compared to the Alfa. Also, the Fiat gearbox felt notchy in comparison with the Alfa’s long throw but lovely high mounted shifter. The Alfa was totally reliable once I had the SPICA properly adjusted by an expert.
Thank you for this. I would love the chance to take that “Pepsi challenge” myself, but I know of no friends or acquaintances that own examples of either car. (Admitting I don’t know the SPICA acronym, but will look it up – I was talking about just the comparisons between the FIAT and the Alfa Romeo.)
I’ve always been one to just get on with life. I totally agree with you on long goodbyes, but I don’t seem to be able to find a comfortable middle ground between awkwardly dragging it out too long, or being too abrupt (so I’m told). Even after all these years I’ll admit I have the social skills of a rock, with a side serving of unpredictability. I think I am too fixated on how I should verbally react to a person, like returning a serve in tennis, and cannot bring things to a polite conclusion – when is a verbal reaction no longer called for? Instead I miss, and the ball goes out of court. The crowd is diasppointed. (Sorry to introduce another metaphor. 🙂 )
And for me that sort of carries over to the whole New Year thing. Okay, so it’s the end of a year – but so what? My family never made a big thing about it, though when I grew up I realised others did. I guess we were never partying-type people; we would have friends over one family at a time, just for an afternoon or evening. Christmas was for family, that was big. Grandparents, their three children, and their families; three generations. But by the time New Year came around we had been living on Christmas leftovers for a week – yeah, I did say it was big. Was there anything left to celebrate? How, exactly?
The end of a year might or might not be important, but the end of a car is. I may be something of an outlier, but I prefer the nicely-resolved curves of the original. To my sense of aesthetics, the later-versions remind me of a drop-tail lizard after the dog’s been playing with it. Something’s missing.
Peter! The drop-tail lizard comparison… brilliant. I wouldn’t have thought of that, ever. As far as the question mark around bringing a conversation to a polite conclusion, sometimes I don’t know what to do, either, so I’m sure at various points I have come across as maybe cold when all I’m trying to be is decisive. An even more prolonged goodbye would be more uncomfortable than the occasional “Okay, Bye…”
I hope you (and all CC readers) had a good start to the New Year. Mine was low-key, and pretty perfect. Didn’t watch the ball drop, but had a very productive first day. I hope it’s representative of what’s possible not just for me, but for everyone, in 2024.
Great start to the year, thanks. Slept through it, and thunderstorms yesterday and today – thankfully nowhere near the rainfall they got up north. Gave me an excuse to get out of the garden, but oh those weeds!
Peter, your opening paragraph is an outstanding discourse on Goodbyes. I relate to every word.
I also am ambivalent about New Years, much to my wife’s annoyance. This year, I happened to be wide awake late on New Years Eve, so I stayed up for the first time in quite a while. I figured I’d look around for a televised New Years celebration that I might find interesting, and wound up watching a recording of Sydney’s fireworks display – which was such an outstanding show that even I liked it.
Ha! “Outstanding discourse on goodbyes” – and here was me re-thinking it in the shower, and wondering if I should have waited till the coffee kicked in! Thanks Eric. That reminds me I’d better start applying myself to more writing this week, and not derail Joseph’s posts. Watch this space!
Oh – glad you liked the fireworks, they have a name for doing a great job. No fireworks out here meant no panicked livestock, a good start to the year.
My wife has a ’90 Spider Graduate, bought new when she graduated from college. She passed on the Miata because they were getting over sticker for them, the spider was a classic design, and her dad was an Alfisti from way back.
The 1990 is a bit of a unicorn, as it has the 3rd-Gen body, but also improved Bosch Motronic FI. Car currenlty has 75K miles and a set of Veloce “telephone dial” wheels.
It’s nowhere near the “car” the Miata is performance-wise, but it’s a classic design that has stood the test of time. Yeah, the body flexes a lot and the solid rear axle is a hindrance to spirited driving, but on a sunny day at cruising speeds, it is wonderful.
It has been astonishingly reliable. No major gremlins except that the A/C has died (probably from disuse).
It’ll be passed on to our kids when we die. I can’t imagine we’d ever sell it.
Zarba, thank you for this. Accounts like this are what CC is all about. Long live your ’90 Graduate!