and Russ actually drives his Alfa Romeo Spider
1972 Alfa Romeo Spider 2000 S2 Owned by Russ Smith russ.smith@gmx.com Time owned 7.5 years Miles this month 164 Costs this month £0 Previously Yet another starter motor fitted
Well over half my Our Cars reports on the Spider seem over the years to have involved fixing it in some way. So it’s refreshing to report that this month the Alfa has simply been doing what it is best at – being driven. Since fitting the third replacement starter motor I haven’t (fingers crossed) laid a spanner on it. I do have plans for the winter, of course, but for now (since my injured knee has recovered) I can remind myself why I love this car, which is pretty much everything about the way it drives and sounds.
Most recently that involved a near enough annual trip to the Maxey Classic Car Show. Which has nothing to do with old Austins – this Maxey is a small village near Peterborough that has held an excellent event for something like 20 years at a picturesque lakeside venue on the edge of the village. There were around 300 cars this year, which is fairly typical, and a very good live band. All the money raised goes to charity.
The other reason I make the annual 100-mile round trip is that myself and a couple of other motoring journos are invited to be the show’s judges, for the fat fee of a hog roast roll and a cup of tea each. So, another day of looking at and talking about classic cars. Someone has to do it.
The Alfa performed faultlessly on the way there with, I admit, the hood up as it was a bit nippy first thing. What that did prove is the new heater I fitted earlier this year is remarkably effective, even when in theory it’s not even on. Probably a tweak needed to the inlet valve’s cable then. A good front-row parking spot was found between an Austin-healey Sprite and a Fiat Barchetta and we got on with enjoying one of the last fine summer days. The brown grass in the photo will remind you of what by now is probably just a fond memory.
Our judging duties were made a little easier by the surprise arrival in convoy of a Ferrari 212 Inter and Aston Martin DB4, though we didn’t let the exotica completely overwhelm things and also gave awards to cars as diverse as a Ford Corsair and a Scootacar.
Very definitely top-down, I took the more scenic route home, with some twisty lanes to really cement another dose of Alfa driving experience in my soul before the next round of fixing starts.