GTV Spider (Type 916) 1995 - 2004

The year was 2007, and my everyday Alfa 156 Sportwagon suffered catastrophic engine failure due to issues with the head gasket, so I needed a new Alfa daily driver quickly. I thought I could manage my daily requirements with a Spider and so started an immediate search. I quite fancied a Zoe Yellow one, and in fact the first one I test drove was that colour. However, I was vetoed by my wife and so we went for my second choice, Grigio Meteora (meteor grey). I spotted a suitable looking 2001 Lusso Twin Spark on Autotrader, less than an hour from home, so went to see and test drive it.  It had covered less than 30k miles with its original and only owner. A deal was done. As this was going to be my daily driver, I expected that the car would be with us only for 3 or 4 years. 

As planned, it was my daily driver for the first 3 years of ownership, averaging approx 11k miles per year. However, beyond that the Spider became more of a second fun car, and has remained so ever since.

The photo puts the length of time I have owned this car into perspective, as my little daughter with the parasol, is, at time of writing, 23 years of age.

###September 2025 Update### - After 18 years to the day, I very reluctantly sold the Spider to its new owner, and the next chapter of its life.

The Spider is a Phase 2, Twin Spark Lusso, with a CF3 155 bhp version of the 2-litre 16 valve Twin Spark engine. The official top speed was 130 mph (210 km/h), with a 0 - 62 mph acceleration of 8.5 seconds.

The car was built on 10th March 2001, but not registered until 26th July 2001.

The car was built by Pininfarina, rather than Alfa Romeo themselves, as were many of this period.

Although it appeared to be registered in Merseyside the first owner lived in North London.

Having now owned the Spider for over 17 years, the car has only left me by the side of the road on one occasion, which was due to a failed crank sensor (made in Germany!). However, there have been two other issues over the years which have been close to doing so.

The first was in 2011, when I became aware of major fluids mixing when they shouldn't and it became obvious that there was the start of a head gasket issue, a scary thought after the demise of the 156. As the cylinder head needed to be removed for the gasket replacement, I took the opportunity of getting it properly refurbished. For this an excellent job was done by Jeremy Thompson.

On the way to one AROC meeting there was a slight splutter from the engine, which I diagnosed as a Lambda sensor, in fact codes came up for 2 of the 3 Lambda sensors. I purchased replacements and borrowed a tool from a friend to remove them. I fully expected them to be firmly rusted into the pipes, but was pleasantly surprised when the undid relatively easily. After replacing these, all has been fine.

The Spider is mainly standard, but has a few modifications. The photo shows the main ones. The original wheels have been replaced with 17" Borbet LS alloys, the rear tail pipe is a single silencer CSC twin outlet, and the orange side repeaters have been replaced with clear ones.

An Ultra Racing front strut brace has been fitted, which seems to stiffen up the front end of the car.

There are a few other minor cosmetic additions such as blue brake calipers with Alfa Romeo decals, and Italian flags on the front wings.

In June 2010 my wife and I headed down to Milan to join in the chaotic celebrations for Alfa's Centenary. This trip was detailed in my article in Alfa Romeo Driver.

We were not able to join the big trip down due to lack of available leave, but we joined up with the main group in Milan for a couple of nights.

On the way home we crossed the Stelvio Pass and the photo was taken on one of the many hairpin bends.

Apart from Alfa's Centenary, the Spider has been used for a number of memorable trips.

In 2008 I under-took a 19 day, 2,385 mile, combined business and pleasure trip across Europe. This trip was described in detail in an article in Alfa Romeo Driver (Vol 43/2 April 2009), but included the Classic Six Hours race weekend at Spa, meetings in Urmond (NL), Erding and Fulda (Germany) and visiting friends in Mayen, a week-long conference in Brussels, then another meeting in Rijswijk (NL) on the way home. The photo is over-looking Cochem on the Mosel river. 

At the end of the Covid-19 lock-down, as we were allowed to travel within the UK, my wife and I used the Spider for holidays to the Lake District and North Wales.

My Spider and I joined some other 916 Spiders for a European Road-Trip, which went via Luxembourg, Limburg (Germany), and Dusseldorf to attend the Dutch Alfa Romeo weekend at the Zandvoort Circuit. During this trip we visited Classic Remise (Dusseldorf) and the Louwman Museum (The Hague).

The Spider went like a dream covering nearly 1,200 miles at an average of 38 mpg, most of the time with its roof down.