It was launched; it was praised; and just after one day, it was given an award. That’s what happened to the new Alfa Romeo Spider in just two days. Making its World Premiere at the beginning of the 76th Geneva Motor Show last Thursday (March 2, 2006), the new Alfa Spider instantly captured the interest of a panel of leading motoring writers across Europe, making them decide to choose the new cabriolet as the “Cabrio of the Year 2006″.
The “Cabrio of the Year” award is only given to convertibles making their world debut in the Geneva Auto Show. The vehicle must also have a selling price of nothing more than 60,000 Swiss Francs to be a contender for the award. Well, the new Alfa Romeo Spider passed all these requirements and turned out to be the best among the passers. And early today (Geneva time), Alfa Romeo Brand Manager Antonio Baravalle accepted the award at the Alfa Romeo stand from Luc Grand, the Chairman of the Geneva International Motor Show.
The Alfa Romeo Spider is one of the two vehicles from the Fiat Group that made their much anticipated debut in the Geneva Motor Show last Thursday, the other one being the Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon. Based on the Alfa Romeo Brera Coupe, which also received a lot of praises when it debuted on the same auto show last year, the new Spider captured the elegance and sporty styling of its elder sibling. The vehicle also inherited the excellence of the Brera’s mechanicals and engineering.
Two versions of the new Alfa Romeo Spider will be available for public viewing for the entire duration of the Geneva Auto Show. One is equipped with a 2.2-liter JTS engine that outputs 185 bhp while the other is equipped with a 3.2-liter V6 engine that delivers 260 bhp. Other features of the new Alfa Spider includes the improved ‘Alfa Q4′ four-wheel drive system (for the 3.2-liter version), and various interior amenities like the automatic dual-zone climate control, Wind-stop and the Blue Tobacco natural leather upholstery. On the area of safety, the vehicles are equipped with 7 safety airbags and various electronic devices that aids in controlling the vehicles’ dynamic behaviors.