The Alfa Romeo Spider, which had been in production since 1966, saw its third generation debut in the North American market for the '82 model year. New under the hood was electronic-controlled fuel injection by Bosch, which replaced the previous SPICA mechanical system.
Prices on the Spider had been creeping upward such that, by the mid-'80s a Veloce was over sixteen grand and the deluxe Quadrifoglio Verde model was nudging twenty long, which was getting close to Corvette territory.
To boost sales, Alfa introduced a stripped down model with a more spartan interior, vinyl top, steel wheels, and a limited option list... you could opt for air conditioning and a dealer-installed stereo ...and dubbed it the Graduate. With the Boomer generation hitting its peak earning years, this was to remind them of Dustin Hoffman's ride in the eponymous film.
With a base MSRP in 1986 of $13,995, now you were talking about Camaro money, not Corvette money, which was a much more enticing sticker for what would be a second or third car for most buyers. That's a hair over forty grand in today's money.
The powertrain was unchanged from the regular Spider's. It still had that spicy normally aspirated sixteen-valve twincam 2.0L fuelie four, rated at 115 SAE net horsepower in EPA-compliant trim, backed by a five-speed gearbox.
The one driving down College Avenue was photographed in August of 2024 using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and a Panasonic 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens, while the one sitting in the parking lot at Half Liter BBQ was snapped using a Fujifilm X-T2 and XF 16-80mm f/4 R WR OIS zoom lens in August of 2023. Someone's added the alloy wheels from the more upmarket trim levels to it.
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