(Originally posted 7/10/2018) I honestly don’t remember optional hardtops on convertibles even being a thing until the 1990s. It seemed to have taken the modern, two-seat sports car revolution brought about by the original Mazda MX-5 Miata in the late ’80s before I remember seeing removable hardtops on newer cars. That’s why it came as such a surprise to me to discover that the Quadrifoglio Verde edition of the long-running Alfa Romeo Spider came standard with one, with this variant’s introduction in 1985 for the ’86 model year. I simply don’t remember seeing any of these Quadrifoglio Verdes when new – not even while watching the oh-so-’80s daytime game show stalwart “Sale Of The Century”, where the Spider was a regular fixture as a prize on the revolving stage behind host Jim Perry.
These cars weren’t cheap when new. I couldn’t find a POE base price for the Verde, but prices for the “regular”, ’86 Quadrifoglio started just north of $20,000, which translates to about $46,000 in 2018. This seems like an incredible sum of money for a little car that had been in production – albeit with not-insubstantial tweaks throughout the years – for over two decades by that point. The Verde didn’t even have any mechanical upgrades over lesser Spiders – they all came standard with the same 116-hp, DOHC 2.0L four cylinder and five-speed manual. With a starting curb weight of between 2,200 and 2,300 pounds, our featured car would be good for a decent 0-60 time of about 10 seconds, according to Consumer Reports.
What the Verde featured that the other cars didn’t were slightly contoured side-skirts, front and rear spoilers, the aforementioned removable hardtop, and dual, color-keyed sport mirrors. I’m not 100% sure about the model year of our featured car, but I went with ’86 simply because this was the first year the Verde was available. There were about 26,700 Spiders sold worldwide from between 1986 and ’90, prior to this model’s fourth and final restyle for ’91. From the temporary plate behind this example, this car looks like a recent purchase. Here’s hoping its new owner gets a lot of enjoyment out of his new toy this summer.
Downtown, The Loop, Chicago, Illinois.
Thursday, July 5, 2018.
That´s what you end up looking like when you stay too long at the party.
teehee! Agreed.
Nice catch, I really liked my Spider but if I was to find a QV I think I’d want the facelifted post ’91 version, the various add-ons spoil the classic lines a little bit. The rear Spoiler is the same as the regular cars but the front one is a hair deeper with an additional crease at the bottom. I believe the main visual exterior differences are the rear skirt and side skirts along with the wheels and hardtop.
The prices on these are still extremely reasonable, at this point a good used one can often be found for the same or less than a good used Miata and they aren’t really complex to deal with.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1985-alfa-romeo-spider-veloce-ciao-baby/
I agree – the post-’91 Spiders are a big improvement. This ’86 has too much junk like the “ground effects” and the black rear end.
The black rubber-looking rear end and spoiler ensemble was always just a little off-putting to me, too, but then I tried to imagine that all being body-color. I’m not sure that would have been a great look, either.
I like that the rounded style of the ’91 seemed to harken back to the original design, but I was also a fan of the Kamm-style chop of the first restyle (see Lokki’s beautiful example below.)
The “reasonably priced ones” are usually pretty crispy. Even when new, you could literally hear these things rust. Beautiful cars though. Would like to have an early one.
One of my bucket list cars. I’ve wanted one since the 80’s.
Every so often I go searching for one, thinking “maybe this year”, but I’ve become far too much of a practical old curmudgeon to take the plunge.
They’re so pretty though, preferably in the cleaner Graduate or Veloce trim levels.
Maybe next year.
This is so similar to the one Wheeler Dealers did that one has to wonder…..
That was my first thought when I opened this page. What are the odds? If I were a betting man I would say they are one in the same.
The WD car appears to be lacking the aerial on the rear guard, as well as the additional badge/sticker the feature car has on the front guard. But the wobbly top section of the bumper looks almost identical!
The Quads had every option Alfa offered on the Spiders, including bespoke aluminum wheels, electric windows and side mirrows, standard air conditioning, electric retracting radio antenna, and a gray leather interior with bright red carpets that was very attractive.
I love Sale of the Century, one of my favourite gameshow formats and one I watched growing up. In the late 1990s, they also gave away Alfas on it! This was when the brand relaunched here (it left around the same time as it left the US) so it was 156s and Spiders and the like.
I always wanted to go on it…
The generation one and generation two Corvettes had optional hardtops, almost essential if you wanted to drive one in cold weather. The first generation Thunderbirds had optional hardtops as well, it is open to discussion if these qualify as sports cars.
I owned a 1972 Triumph TR6 in the 1980s. I didn’t have one of these, but the factory hardtop was the holy grail among TR250 and TR6 owners:
Man, that’s ugly. Looks like a proper Alfa sitting on a trailer. The containerized freight version of a sports car.
It’s a fabulous automobile!
I owned a 1974 Alfa Spider with a fiberglass hardtop; a great car and very advanced for its day – all aluminum hemi-headed dohc engine with mechanical fuel injection, with factory tuned Venturi cold air intake. 5 speed all synchro transmission, limited slip diff, and 4 wheel disc brakes, all in a package weighing 2300 pounds.
By the 90’s of course,
the worldthe Japanese had caught up and, mechanically, with the exception of adding variable valve timing (before Honda’s V-Tech) the Alfa was unchanged.Of course, Alfa had a couple of baked-in problems from the beginning – it was Italian designed, and Italian built. The first put Alfas beyond the ability of most American mechanics and the second put Alfas beyond the tolerance of most American consumers. Oh – and then there was the RUST problem… courtesy of the Italian government’s deal with the
DevilUSSR in which the Russians received Fiat assistance designing the Lada, and Italians were paid in Russian ‘steel’. The results ruined Fiat in the U.S. and dragged Alfa down with them.Anyhow, for comparison purposes, attached is a picture of my 1971 Alfa Spider, designed sans all American government interference, and without all the gingerbread added on later models. Yeah, I’m a fan.
Optional hardtops were a thing in Europe in the ’50s-’70s, which is the Alfa’s roots after all. It’s true that there were fewer by the mid-’80s, but the Alfa Spider, the Benz SL and a few exotics (TVR, Bristol, Reliant and doubtless others) still had that on the options list.
Great find and great post, Joseph.
The Lancia Aurelia B24, for example, was available with a beautiful hardtop.
http://www.kidston.com/kidston-cars/2543/1955-Lancia-Aurelia-B24S-Spider-America-
You can/could get a hardtop for an MX-5/Miata as well
Possibly one of the worst hardtops ever made. And in addition, the spoiling spoilerage and flares really does bring to mind some vain soul who could only pay an alcoholic facelift surgeon working from a back alley someplace.
And there’s doubt in my mind they were ever really a stunner from the first, something being off-target about the proportions. Too much nose AND ass. And the doors are definitely too short. Hardly ugly – in isolation, the original boat-tail is wonderful – but not top rank either, and by this stage of evolution when they had (as Monzaman said above) stayed too long at the party and were not only wearing lampshades but seemingly other people’s pants as well, they were not nice anymore.
None of which makes it other than a great catch, Joseph.
I think if I wanted a European roadster I would look for a Mercedes, Jaguar or a Porsche before buying a Alfa Romeo. And I would like to drive it on some nice open two lane road in sunny weather. Driving a Alfa Romeo in heavy down town Chicago traffic does not really seem like fun
Still such a charismatic car, especially the earlier versions without the body kit, and preferably in Alfa red, of course.
In my fantasy garage.
There were factory hardtops going back at least as far as the MGA and Triumph TR3 of the 1950s, not to mention TR4, 5 (250 in the U.S.) and 6, plus for 60s Alfa Spider, 190SL Mercedes and 280SL and 450SL, as well as assorted Austin Healey’s, Jensen-Healey’s and even Morgan’s.
My 1979 MGB came with an optional black fiberglass hardtop (after-market) from the dealer. It was an incentive package including the trunk rack. I did use it from time to time, but not much. I would see them on other MGBs. I sold it in 1996 for $175 when I didn’t want to move it from L.A. to San Diego with me. That was a mistake. The poor MG sat outside in SD and the top which was pretty much pristine was starting to turn. So, I sold it before things got worse.
The “targa band” makes it look like a Triumph TR5 Surrey Top with the roof in place (TR250 in the US)
I like the Nice body style, it looks outstanding.
I had a ’79 Spitfire 1500… it had a factory hardtop which I never used, just mounted it once to learn how to do it.
I always liked these Alfas, but this ’86 is way too cluttered.
Indeed; it’s aged terribly.
The 1991 facelift turned the clock back most effectively.
I had a tonneau cover for my MX-5s; used it about twice, because it was a faff to fit and it felt like being too warm in bed driving with it on. Live & learn…