Spyder

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This article is about the car body. For other uses of "Spider" or "Spyder", see Spider (disambiguation).
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Spyder or Spider is a term for a convertible car body style.

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[edit] Origin

As with other automotive terms, the term derives from horse-drawn carriages. A "spider" was a lighter version of a phaeton, having narrower, spindly wheels and two-seat accommodation. The name implied an extremely rudimentary top mechanism originating from a small two-seat horse-cart with a folding sunshade made of four bows; with its black cloth top and exposed sides for air circulation it resembled an eight-legged spider. This term was subsequently applied to automobiles.

Alternatively, a native Italian who has had no English influence in the pronunciation would pronounce "spyder" or "spider" as speeder. Thus a car labeled by an Italian car manufacturer as "Spyder" or "Spider" is intended to be simply a "speeder" or a sports car. In Italy, it was decided that the word is to be written as "Spider" in 1924 by National Federation of Body makers.[1] (Aston Martin used to have a car labeled "spyder" but now have a model labeled "Volante", an Italian word that translates into English as "speeder".) The Italian word "volante" translates into English, in this context, as "flying". There are, in Italy, police patrols called "volante", the term referring to their ability of rapid deployment. In the world of cars, "volante" also means steering wheel.

[edit] Porsche

Contrary to popular belief, the first car to be officially called a "spyder" was not the Porsche 550 Spyder. Aston Martin produced a spyder in the same year. Spyder is found on a wide assortment of car names since the advent of the automobile—for example, the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Spider that won the Mille Miglia in 1938, before Porsche existed, by Biondetti of the Scuderia Ferrari team—but arguably did not receive particular notoriety or significance until the popularity of James Dean's 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, "Lil Bastard", which he was driving when he crashed and died.

[edit] Ferrari

Based on popular American demand Ferrari in 1957 produced the prototype for the 250 GT California Spyder series I - which went into production in 1958 - and the 1960 refined version named 250 GT California Spyder SWB. The cabriolet - based on the Berlinetta - was pretty much a a copy of the Granturismo coupé. The car was deliberately named "Spyder", not "Spider". In the USA, many still call Ferrari's Spiders for "Spyders".

[edit] Later years

Other later spyders include Mitsubishi, numerous Ferraris and later Porsches. However, the most significant and known model to wear this name was the Fiat 124 Spider/Pininfarina Spider, of which approximately 200,000 were manufactured, of which 75% were sold in United States.

[edit] Spyders

The following cars are examples of Spyder models:

[edit] Spyder in name only

In more recent times, the term has been used by many automakers as a synonym for convertible. The following cars' names include Spyder or Spider but they do not meet the basic criteria (a roadster-like vehicle with nose slant pointing downwards to create a wedge) for "true" Spyder vehicles:

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Welcome. veloce.se. Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
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