EVEN ON DAYS LIKE THESE

The Alfa Romeo Spider and Fiat Barchetta were masterpieces of design that proved irresistible to the roadster-loving British buying public

- AARON MCKAY

There is rarely a brighter moment for an engineer or designer than when tasked with making a new sports car, but for those at Fiat and Alfa Romeo in the 1980s there had been a remarkably long period of bleak automotive utility. Production of the Fiat X1/9 had moved to Bertone in 1982, and while the venerable 105-series Alfa Romeo Spider remained, its origins dated as far back as the X1/9's predecessor, the Fiat 124 Sport Spider of 1966.

Through the drudgery of hatchbacks and saloons, there had been some accomplishments. The Fiat Panda and Alfa Romeo 164 were two such successes, elegant yet appropriately cost-effective cars reflective of an Italy in economic and political turmoil. Through the mire of fading Communism and political corruption, Italy's establishment was being overhauled so dramatically, with events such as the mani pulite (clean hands) investigation, that a so-called 'Second Republic' began in 1994. Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo seemed to have lost its mojo in the acquisition by Fiat SpA, and the Turin giant was itself facing difficulties. The idea of two stylish open-top sports cars entering this chaos and making it through to production appeared to be an almost impossible ambition.

Yet the Fiat Barchetta and Alfa Romeo 916 Spider embraced both the realities of platform-sharing (like the 164 with its other Type Four siblings) and the progressive ideas of Turin's design talent (like the Panda with Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign). As a result, after decades of quiet news days for those on the lookout for little Italian sports cars, the restless boot of Europe kicked these two beautiful roadsters into 1995. Those with eyes for the Barchetta and Spider in the UK, however, had to navigate low production volumes and left-hand drive, at least at first with the Alfa.