>>Revisiting Two Classics - TR7 versus the Alfa Romeo 2000

Revisiting Two Classics
TR7 versus the Alfa Romeo 2000

As many a motoring journalist will tell you, beauty is often alleged to be in the eye of the beholder, or in this case the ignition key holder.

Taking a look at these two former rivals, from the safety and security of history we can now look back and see what we possibly failed to appreciate in one and positively eulogized in the other.

With regards to the two cars, opinion was a little different over 20 years ago.

The common consensus at the time was that the TR 7 was ugly and the Alfa Romeo Spider was elegant and rather beautiful. How opinions have changed in the ensuing years.

Sure looking back at the Spider, the Pinninfarina designed curves are all elegant and timeless but the sharply angular TR 7 scrubs up quite well over the years too.

If we take a look at the specifications we get a rough idea of what we're dealing with. With the TR 7 in 1981 you got a 2 Litre engine (1998cc actually) that developed 105bhp @ 5500rpm and it had a torque of 119lb/ft @ 3500rpm. The transmission had a five speed manual gear box. There was rack and pinion steering. The wheels were 13 x 5.5 alloys and the tyres were 185/70x13 with disc brakes on the front and drum brakes on the rear.

How dated is this car? Well it had a 0 to 60 of 9.6 seconds and a top speed of 112 miles an hour. Performance that probably doesn't even match a brand-new Ford focus nowadays. However back in the eighties this car had a certain amount of cool.

Turning our spy glass round to view the Spiders specs in the late seventies and early eighties Alfa Romeo presented us with the following.

An engine that was just under 2 Litre (1962cc in fact) and this in turn provided 150bhp @ 6000rpm (compare that with the 105bhp @ 5500rpm of the TR7), The Torque was 132lb/ft @ 3750rpm. The transmission had a five speed manual box, the wheels were 4.5x15 steel alloys and tyres were 165x15. The car had disc brakes all round and had a 0-60 of 9.1 seconds and top speed of 120mph.

Looked at this way and there really is no comparison.

The overall comparison on both cars is favourable to be honest and both cars have their legions of fans. For the TR7, one opinion given was that it was “nice and clean to look at, basically uncluttered. Just a straightforward easy to look at car.” Fans liked the wedge shape of the car believing that this may contribute positively to better road holding. Hmmm?

With regards to the Spider, fans always believed that ever since the car was featured in the Dustin Hoffman film The Graduate in 1967, the shape of the spider has always been considered sexy. The problem with values nowadays is that you can buy good a TR7 for less than half the price of a good spider.

Perhaps that makes common sense?

Scott James writes about a number of Auto issues such as Car Dealers in Manchester and Nevada Driver Education. A keen proponent of all aspects of free and independent services available, he advises clients to look at the financial implications of Auto Insurance matters available.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

By: Scott James