IT'S Italian, has an historic sporting pedigree and is drop-dead gorgeous. No, it's not a Ferrari, the Spider is a much better looking car than anything sporting a prancing horse badge in my opinion.
Not only are the looks stunning, it now looks like Alfa Romeo has got its act together and tackled build quality and reliability problems that have dogged the brand for many years.
These well-documented problems have put off many potential buyers, entranced by the looks but worried about repair bills and savage depreciation.
The flagship of a new breed is the four-wheel drive 4.2-litre V6 that comes with soft-top roof and sporting the distinct lines of the design houses of Giugiaro and Pininfarina. Derived from Giugiaro's award-winning Alfa Brera design, the Spider was developed by Pininfarina in collaboration with Alfa Romeo Centro Stile
It could be that my judgement was clouded by the fact that after a summer deluge, throwing open the electrically operated soft-top and basking in warm sunshine gave my opinion of the car a rosier glow.
But the car speaks for itself and is a real showstopper. A lean yet muscular roadster shape with a bonnet that curves down to the signature Alfa badge splitting two distinctive three-lamp headlight clusters that give the car a predatory look.
The rear end is almost as good with a triple lights in wrap round clusters and neat bootline and, on the 3.2 V6, raspy quadruple exhausts.
It looks good with the fabric roof in place, but engage the electrically operated roof for open top motoring and the car is impossibly good looking with the sporty seats, roll bars and sharply slanted windscreen featuring strongly, as do the ultra-stylish 17inch alloys.
The saying about beauty only being skin deep does not apply here. The Spider is equally good inside with luxurious carpeting, classy leather interior and high quality trim that has a robustness absent in earlier models.
Large but simple dials for speedo and rev counter dominate the binnacle while smaller gauges, in Italian language, are housed in the large aluminium centre console together with sound system, climate controls and where applicable, satellite navigation and a neat electronic starter button.
Oddly, the aluminium can be a problem with the roof down with a tendency to produce reflected glare from the sun.
High-backed, fully adjustable leather seats keep driver and passenger in opulent comfort and with the roof down there is a surprising amount of headroom for this type of car.
Stowage space amounts to a paltry 200 litres in the boot, but lockable storage containers behind the seats add to carrying capacity.
Performance is a bit of let down. The 3.2-litre V6 develops 260bhp and figures suggest the 0-62mph sprint is achieved in around seven seconds. But I found the car slightly sluggish, in relative terms, and it seemed to take its time to get going.
The six-speed manual gearbox is precise with a small shift gate and Alfa's QTRONIC six-speed automatic transmission, featuring a manual sequential-shift override facility and gearshift 'paddles' is also an option.
The handling should be good with four-wheel drive and generally is, but in common with cars that have no permanent roof, it can feel a bit jittery.
However the car sits firmly on the road and the ride is generally good and, oh joy, this is the first Alfa I have driven for some time with decent steering lock. It completes the lock to lock in 2.25 turns, which means you can actually do a three-point turning in the road.
Safety is well catered for with five standard airbags, plus an optional sixth, seatbelt pre-tensioners and a fire prevention systerm.
For the over-enthusiastic, braking, traction control and stability systems fitted as standard to enhance the four-wheel drive.
But getting the roof down was the real bonus. The Spider is fitted with a fully automatic, double-layer fabric roof which may be retracted via a single dashboard mounted control switch in less than 25 seconds, then you're off hoping against hope that the weather will hold for more than just a couple of hours.
The storage compartment is concealed beneath a flush-fitting body panel incorporating black and aluminium finish blisters which adopt the profile of individual, driver and passenger roll-over bars. A transparent wind break situated between the roll-over bars significantly reduces air turbulence within the passenger compartment during high speed driving.
The equipment specification is standard across the range and includes "Follow me home" lights, ear-splitting six speaker sound system with CD, rear parking sensors, dual zone climate control, trip computer, cruise control, plus the usual electically operated windows and door mirrors.
Optional equipment includes xenon headlights, satellite navigation, electrically adjustable front seats, a Bose sound system, Blue&Me hands-free mobile phone connectivity and 18' alloy wheels.
Sales of sports cars have more than doubled in Europe over the past ten years and in Britain, almost 50 per cent of convertible buyers are women, but the likes of the Spider has appeal to both sexes.
FAST FACTS
Alfa Romeo Spider 3.2 JTS V6 Q4
Price: £31,250
Mechanical: 260bhp, 3,195cc, 6cyl petrol engine driving all wheels via 6spd manual gearbox
Max speed: 149mph
0-62mph: 7.0 secs
Combined mpg: 24.6
Insurance group: 19
CO2 emissions: 273g/km
BiK rating: 35%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles, 3yrs paint, 8yrs anti-rust