“Refill oil every 500 km” it says.
“Change engine oil and top up all other oils every 4000 km”
And finally it says “Renew transmission and rear axle oil every 10,000 km”.
Right next to it there is a metal plate mounted with 6 screws on the engine bulkhead that lists all of the car's fuels and their name, viscosity and even their manufacturer. At least recommends. If you also come from the 50s or 60s, you probably still remember the brands and terms such as “Retinax”, “Donax”, “Rotella”, Spirax, Dentax or Energol? During these times, Alfa drivers greeted with spread fingers. The number of fingers showed the amount of cylinder head gaskets that were replaced...this was not due to the particular vulnerability of this component, but rather the department stores that were already flourishing at the time, such as Hertie and Merkur, which had a full range of no-name brands in their range for a fraction of the money . And so, as an Alfa rookie, you thoughtlessly took a canister of antifreeze otherwise fantastic Alfa-4 cylinder - had dissolved.
As the writer of these lines and the Alfista on fire at the time, this work soon seemed so familiar to me that I wished early on that the manufacturer Alfa Romeo should urgently print this routine operation on the above-mentioned sticker... something like this “every 5000 km Replace cylinder head gasket”, with simultaneous recommendation of the appropriate antifreeze.
There is not much to say about our Giulietta, dear reader.
“She” was first registered in Belgium in May 1959. We have a copy of the new car invoice from the concessionaire to the first owner. The invoice states the chassis and engine numbers in detail, which in turn makes our work easier - it is “matching”, at least in this essential point.
It was carefully restored around 25-30 years ago and is in excellent, rust-free condition, both technically and visually, with wonderful surfaces and curves on both sides. The captivatingly beautiful shape of this classic also makes it easy for the viewer to keep their smile while walking around this beauty. One is tempted to whistle at her appreciatively, she is so beautiful. The world-famous scene with Anita Ekberg from the film “The Sweet Life” comes to mind, in which she only needed this one scene, barely two minutes long, to become a world star. She became, which always sounds so corny, but in this case is to be taken literally, overnight the sex symbol of the 50s and 60s. The erotic dream of an entire generation of men. The fountain bath became iconographic. And, much to the chagrin of the Roman city administration, it found countless tourist imitators for years to come.
The Alfa Romeo Spider repeats this effect in an absolutely likeable way, without ever seeming frivolous. Its lightness, its momentum and at the same time grandeur give this all-time classic a never-ending beauty that has now achieved absolute cult status in almost 70 years and gives this relatively simple convertible a place among the few great designer creations in the automotive world secured.
