British International Motor Show - Alfa Romeo

Hey, good-lookin'…
Alfa 's well known for producing some seriously stylish cars, but the Spider roadster is a real bombshell.

It's interesting, then, that it is built around the Brera coupe penned by the famous Giugiaro design studios, not in-house by Alfa itself.

Whoever it was that put pen to paper we're very grateful, and strongly recommend you swing by the Alfa stand for you first chance to see the looker in the UK.

When can I buy one?
In the summer time when the weather is fine? Not quite. In fact you'll have to wait until February next year to get behind the wheel. Yes, February.

When it finally turns up you'll be looking at spending about £1400 more for the Spider than you would for an equivalent Brera, so budget for at least £24,000.

That'll get you into a 185bhp 2.2-litre petrol, but if you've got more cash to spend, and put into the fuel tank, you might want to consider a 260bhp 3.2-litre V6.

Will I be as happy driving it as looking at it?
Well, as long as you stick to smooth, swoopy roads yes, it's fine.

Hacking the roof off the Brera has inevitably left the Spider with less rigidity, however, so our roads could give it a hard time.

Our final verdict on its abilities will have to wait until we've driven it on our potholed Tarmac, but initially we've found it can be easily troubled.