2003 ALFA ROMEO Spider 2.0L JTS 5MT (165 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Starting with 1993, Alfa Romeo offered its first front-wheel-drive Spider to the market, and after five years, it added a mid-life cycle refresh then, another one, in 2003 for the last mile before a complete change.

The Italian brand managed to create beautiful cars over its long history, and the 2003 Spider was one fine example. It tried to live up to its badge and showed respect to its owners, at least from the aesthetic point of view.

When launched in 1993, the Spider was one of the best-looking cars in its segment, and the 2003 refresh just kept that advantage alive. At the front, it had the same round headlights under the hood but with different headlamps. Pininfarina’s designers changed the hood and the front bumper creating a deep Alfa Romeo shield with horizontal slats, in the same spirit of the 147 range. But changes to the exterior stopped there.

For the interior, the biggest change was for the air vents. Unlike its predecessors from the 1993 and even the 1998 model, the 2003 version sported round, flap-style vents on top of the center stack and on the sides. They looked better suited to the overall interior design, even if they were carried over from the Fiat Punto. Alfa Romeo also moved the power-mirrors buttons further back. They were harder to reach, but their spot was needed for a small storage space, which was more useful in a daily driving situation. After all, how many times a driver adjusts the mirrors?

Under the hood, Alfa Romeo kept only one engine from the 1996 model, a 2.0-liter that provided 150 hp. The other two options were new for the car: a 2.0-liter with direct fuel injection and a GM-sourced 3.2-liter V-6. There were no automatic transmissions available.