Minneapolis Street Sighting: Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce 2.0 Injection

When I go out shooting, I tend to look for cars and trucks that aren't from the US; Italian cars have always tickled my fancy, but I realize that in the Midwest, finding Ferraris, and Lamborghinis--much less Lancias, is a difficult task to undertake--so I "settle" for Alfa Romeos. Over the years, I have come to adore the early Spiders like a child adores his or her parents; unfortunately, the newer cars lost some of the simplicity that made the early cars so endearing. Instead of slim chrome bumpers, and neat like accents here and there, the Alfa Romeos of the 1980s were slathered with black plastic that only GM could be fond of; they went from being slick little sportsters to ugly-bumpered, once-awesome roadsters. I guess that's what happens when the US interferes with the design of imported cars.

In 1995, Alfa Romeo stoppped US sales, and their last hurrah in the US were honestly some of the ugliest old-body Spiders to be offered; painted in cliche colors, all one color with no chrome at all, and ugly wheels, these Spiders best represent everything wrong with Alfa's last US dealer network. Hopefully, the brand will come back (and Fiat keeps promising so), and with it, a new Spider.

I usually appreciate Spiders in colors other than red--and I tried to appreciate this one the best I could; there's just too much black plastic for my liking. In addition to that, the main color is just...blah. I don't like it, nor do I absolutely hate it, either. It seems to be more of a Chrysler minivan color than a 1980s Alfa Romeo paint hue; I suppose it would look good on say, an Arna or Milano or something, but on the Spider, it looks very unsporty.

On the plus side, this example seemed to be free of rust, and it didn't possess the wide array of dents and dings that most cars of this vintage possess, so that's a plus. Honestly, aside from the color, this little convertible was pretty nice. I wouldn't sport it based on color alone, but then again, I prefer the older cars anyway. I still had fun shooting this one, and I wouldn't really turn it down if it was given to me, but this era isn't my favorite.