Car of the Month - March 2014

Supercharged16v

New Member
Messages
558
In the words of our very own George himself:

"Here's the story of my Spider (as far as i know it), the car was
purchased in France by some guy called Michel and shipped to him in
Cyprus. From there it changed ownership twice until my father bought it,
the two previous owners being friends of his.
My father having always wanted a roadster and having missed out on
buying a Corvette recently (due to my mother's objection), he just went
and bought it under the pretext that it will be George's car when he
turns 18 (I was 8 or 9).
So the car arrived in our family in the early 1990s (possibly 1992) and
I took full control of it in 2001, much to the dismay of my father (see
above ;))

To say I took "good" care of it is up for debate, as definition of
"good" varies from person to person. But I definitely used it a lot. The
car became my second bedroom for a year or two. It was that addictive.
It wasn't fast, or handled any better than anything out there; but it
was just loads of fun, sounded great and was just different than
anything else out there.
The number of adventures multiplied by the day: from learning what
happens when you take turns too fast, how rear wheel drive works, to
being stranded in all sorts of places, for all sorts of reasons. You
name it, it happened.
The car was then abandoned for 3 to 5 years while I went away to study
and came back with no money to fix it. During that time it became a good
home for cats, bugs and best of all spiders.
The car got aesthetically restored in 2005/2006 and has been driven very
lightly since due to a lazy owner who gets bored of jump starting it.

The car is part of the family, we refer to her as Julie (i know not very
original for an Alfa but it is what it is); every time I go to my
parents, my mother asks how's Julie doing and so on.
She's got her own character and personality, I stopped counting the
times she decides not to start for no reason, or she switches off
because I say or think something bad of her. It's really like having a
second wife (although she came first). We have to have conversations AT
LEAST twice a week, and I must give her a pat on the top every time I
come home; otherwise I WILL PAY for it.
Some people think I'm insane for thinking that and that there are
mechanical reasons for all these incidents, but I know better...
The other reason I love this car so much, is the way it looks: S3
Spiders are widely considered as the ugliest of the Spider series, and I
agree..but not the QV, the different bumpers, side skirts, and bigger
rims, really do change the car and give it a much more "full" look.
I've spent hours looking at it and it never gets old, and she likes it.

To say that driving it is the best part may not be accurate, but I
consider driving as a personal experience. Like I said, it's not fast,
doesn't handle all that well either, and mine needs a good tune up as
its tired from not being used so much. But being a bit of an analogue
car (not much in the way of electronics (except for the clock and the
radio), you feel connected to something much more alive.
This car smells, makes noises, gets your hands dirty and even tastes
funny (don't ask...)...and i wouldn't have it any other way.
Every time I drive it, I remember all the good and bad times I've had in
it and with it, and i just smile away and change gear (I keep smiling
when the gear doesn't want to engage too).

That'll be all, she wants to have a word now..."

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Alfasud1978

New Member
Messages
57
Nice story Chris.......I mean George. So it's not a UK import but a French one. I agree with George that the QV it's much nicer than the basic version.

Please stop being lazy and take extra care of it!!