If you have thought about buying a two seater European sports cars, you have probably considered the Alfa Romeo Spider. The two seater roadster was first introduced in 1966 and was manufactured until 1993. The above example is a 1990 Alfa Romeo Spider Graduate that is for sale here on Craigslist in Long Beach, California. It was sent to us by Pat L. and is listed for $8,500. The car has been listed for about 3 days.
This Alfa Romeo Spider Graduate represents the Series 3 design and was sold in North America. The roadster has a clean interior with well appointed tan seats separated by a 5 speed manual shifter. The Alfa Romeo has new carpet, a new steering wheel and recently recovered convertible top. The seller states that the clear coat on the exterior panels is fading even though the pictures indicate a shiny red paint job. The Graduate edition acknowledged the cars appearance in the 1967 movie called The Graduate starring Dustin Hoffman. It was marketed as a less expensive edition of the car from 1985 to 1990.
The ad lists a number of nice updates that have been done to the car including new Koni shocks, springs, 15 inch Panasport wheels, Dunlop ties and LED headlights. The 2.0 liter engine is fuel injected and rated 126 horsepower and 131 lb ft of torque. A recent service of the engine included new oil filter, Valvoline Racing oil and new gear box oil. New brakes and rotors, front and rear have been installed along with new spark plugs and a new Stinger exhaust system. The odometer on the car shows 144,810 miles.
In addition to new tires and shocks, the seller has rebuilt the front and rear suspension with new poly bushings. An auto power roll cage was also installed. The seller bought the car from a friend to drive in the canyons in the Southern California but has lost interest and probably invested more money in the car than it is worth. But hey, who has not done that!
“Mrs. Robinson, I believe you are trying to seduce me”. That movie skyrocketed Dustin Hoffman and the Alfa roadster to fame. So much so, Alfa decided to capitalize on that, even though the cars were very different. Naturally, I like Hoffmans car a lot better, but you drive an Alfa roadster, or any Alfa for that matter, you won’t forget it anytime soon. You can hear the motor here, I’d estimate he was going at least 80 mph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y_sjiDi_Zw
80 mph IN 4TH GEAR, that is!! 5th would be up and to the right.
Nice car but racing oil is not a good move. Racing oil has all the properties to endure high temperatures and provide maximum lubrication but does not have the capabilities to take condensation, quick warmups and the riggers of stop and go driving. Have driven several of these cars and they are fun on wheels.
I agree. It would be better to use synthetic oil. I’ve been using in all of my BMWs, including a ’73 2002 Baur Cabriolet, since 1981.
Nice car,but the earlier ones look better without the
huge rear spoiler or the added part on the front bumper.
I drove one,& tried to take a tight corner that I could
take without slowing down,like I could in my TR6.The back
end started to come around,& I was able to save it after a
few corrections with the steering wheel.
The guy in a Dodge was not impressed.
This looks to me like a great deal. I had a 1990 (my first ever convertible) in about 1999, and it had all of 32,000 km on it – still had the grease pencil markings on the underside of the hood. Yes, much chatter about second gear synchros in these (its not a difficult fix, nor is it difficult to drive around it). My care was the upgraded non Graduate version, and it was lovely to drive. My only gripe was that the seat foam had literally crumbled by tthe time I got it. Other than that, reliable and fun
cheers,
bt
Disagree with bobhess. Older engines benefit by using racing oil such as VR-1 and Driven because the added zinc and phosphorus.
British roadsters left the US around 1980, and the Pininfarina Spider Azzurra, nee FIAT Spider, stuck around for a few more years, until 1985. From 86-89, I’m pretty sure the Alfa Spyder was the only roadster you could buy in the US.
And then Mazda did a thing.
Drove one of these from New Mexico to Florida back in the mid 80,s for my then brother in law . Fun trip ,id buy this in a minute as we love convertibles,especially with the added roll bar for safety.
The listing has been deleted.
I had an ’82 Veloce and a ’86 Graduate. Both were very fun cars, even if a little small for my bulk. Here’s a pic of me with the ’86