The Romantic Italian Road Trip - 

For sunshine, open roads and La Dolce Vita on wheels.

Drive the motherlode of all classics. If you've ever wondered what driving felt like before cars became appliances, this is your chance to find out. Thoroughly original and in superb condition, our 1975 Alfa Romeo Spider Series 2 for self drive hire, is resplendent in period lemon 'n lime and ripe for driving with zest around our Mediterranean style vineyards and twisting coastal roads. She may be a classic, but with nearly new seats and folding fabric roof, you'll be amply comfortable as you enjoy an iconic motoring privilege available to very few.

Entertaining, enchanting and invigorating. This rare instrument of delight has a lovely mechanical timbre, with zesty notes of lemon and lime and overtones of wanderlust euphoria....although it's possible I'm mixing my vineyard, automotive and musical metaphors somewhat....

Apart from being the unavoidable centre of attention in that lemon n lime curvaceous classic? Well there are a few practicalities in going back to the 70's, (or 60's really), that you need to be realistic, as well as romantic about. Firstly not graunching going into second gear is an achievement and none of the gears like the effects of being hurried, (and neither will your ears), but best suit a languid, almost rhythmic change.  New electronic ignition aids starting from cold, but the floor mounted pedals which are offset slightly to the right of the steering wheel and tilt slightly forward, may take some getting used to. As for keeping your windscreen watered, well it's probably easier to get your passenger to lean over the frame and squirt from your plastic drinking bottle than use the floor mounted washer pump but hey it does work and it's certainly an idiosyncratic talking point. 

Things harder to adjust to and that may make you think twice if you're much over 6ft, is not the lack of headroom which is generous with the roof up, (and really generous with it down). It's more the fact you'll likely be having to wrap your knees around and under the steering wheel to change gear and brake, along with it suiting 'gorilla style' driving i.e. not beating your chest at fellow motorists who drive like Italians, but rather being suited to a long arms, short (and offset) legs position. The ride is quite bouncy and noise can be fairly intrusive at speed. Braking won't feel as progressive or strong as you might be used to, but this model was advanced for its time in having disc brakes all round. The steering can feel vague compared to modern cars, but then it tightens as you turn into corners more, plus it's not power assisted, so you'll find parking needs a fair bit more effort than modern counterparts. 

Still with us? Well your rewards are there's absolutely oodles of luggage space for the Chianti, the burbly exhaust and twin cam that comes alive and starts to sing with revs from a well blipped throttle, it can zoom up mountain passes and can't fail to put a smile on your face. We've had clients say it was far more civilised, usable and comfortable than they were expecting. And this is one of a few places in the entire world you can actually hire and drive one of these iconic delights....so treat yourself while you still can!

Yes an Alfa Romeo Spider S2 is a 40+ years older classic and yes it is an Alfa Romeo which doesn't sound like a great combination in the reliability stakes. However this one has had a lot of attention and new parts lavished on her, she's regularly serviced and has to pass the Certificate of Fitness (CoF) test required for all rental cars every 6 months. Her first hire was a 23 day 2,500km+ South Island tour in high summer with no issues, and has had just one failure to proceed since, due to a failed alternator/radiator. Given the age of the car with only basic safety designs compared to modern cars though, the only driver safety aid along with the servo assisted disc brakes, inertia reel 3 point safety belts, high level brake light and a horn built for driving in Rome is....you, the driver. Hence do ensure you drive appropriately to the car and road conditions, planning your manoeuvres on sharp braking and turn in reasonably well ahead. The 2 litre engine has no issue in keeping up with modern traffic or climbing big hills though.

Peachy, although the colour is more lemon but she's certainly not one of those. Nothing is at all tatty inside or out. The vinyl seats, fabric roof and rear perspex window have been recently refreshed, and everything essential is in good working order, even the heater....not that you'll need that much...

A surprisingly good amount of multiple soft bags. The boot while shallow is big and broad plus you have loads of extra storage space on the rear bench seats, (she's only for hire as a 2 seater remember). Please refer to the Seating & Luggage tab above for exact dimensions.

The Alfa Romeo Spider had conquered the traditional sports car market in the 60s and was pretty much still doing it throughout Europe and America in the 70s. Although the MGB was putting up a very good sales fight and winning on its home turf, the Alfa had the advantage on mechanicals and at the movies after The Graduate. They still manage to look racy and glamourous even in brown...

Glam, rock, big sparkle & bigger spectacles - groooovy baby. The best music from 1975 to accompany a spirited drive in this car would be:

• Listen To What The Man Said - Wings
• December '63 - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
• Shining Star - Earth, Wind & Fire

We acknowledge driving music is a very subjective thing, but clearly here, we're right. So download, hire our Portable Bluetooth Speaker & enjoy!

Check out the rest of our classic best road trip driving tracks here and put RentAClassic on your play list... 

Hey this isn't all about quantity, it's more about style....but have you heard of a slow Italian sports car....?

"....if you are after stylish motoring, the sort where your hair is held in place with a Hermes headscarf, the Alfa Romeo Spider S2 runs rings round a flashy Ferrari or the Mazda MX5 with all the personality of a Sony Walkman...."

"...bella, bella, macchina....afferrare la vostra sciarpa!"