Save for the beaten up trucks which compete with motorhome-driving French retirees for the right to hog the road, most of the traffic is firmly of the organic variety.
Countless country couples ‘do a Mary and Joseph’, apparently transporting their entire lives by donkey.Wizards-cum-shepherds, clad in Obi Wan Kenobe-style garbs, sit perilously close to the carriageway watching sheep and goats as their forefathers have since the dawn of time.
It feels positively biblical, a land not yet touched by the marauding commerciality of the western world.
And then I fly past in the latest example of stylish Italian motoring. My means of transportation is the latest incarnation of Alfa Romeo’s legendary Spider soft-top sports car and it really does feel like going straight from the Oscars to dig over your allotment.
The Spider is based on the stunning Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed Brera coupé and was relieved of its fixed roof in an operation executed jointly by Alfa Romeo Centro Stile and Pininfarina. The front end – dissected by the Alfa shield and garnished with the same slashes of triple-lensed lights – is straight from the Brera.
Distinctive
Beyond the windscreen, however, the coupé’s distinctive curves have been flattened to make way for a fabric roof and somewhere to stow it.
Given the Brera’s outstanding beauty, I’d say that the aesthetic cost of this open-top Alfa is perhaps a little too high.
But then you can’t have your panettone and eat it.Like the donkey, the roof movement is a little pedestrian, taking around 24 seconds to drop and lock.
Once down, it reveals an interior which is unmistakable Alfa: ribbed leather seats, leather bound steering wheel and a dynamically angled dash which flanks the driver with exotic references to Benzina and Oilio.
It’s an honest car, too. It quite definitely has two seats – not four – and acknowledges the fact by placing rear storage compartments in the space where some manufacturers think it makes sense to squeeze a couple of diminutive passengers. The boot affords a further 200litres of stowage.
Like the Brera, the Spider sits on the same platform as the Alfa 159.
Unlike ‘Mary and Joseph’s’ steed, the Spider has more than the power of an antiquated four-footed animal at its disposal.
The cheapest and least powerful option available is the 185 horse power 2.2litre JTS petrol engine, which didn’t particularly impress me when tested in the Brera.
Another choice is the widely-acclaimed 200 brake horse power 2.4litre JTDM diesel engine.
But while it won’t be the most popular choice (too expensive, too thirsty), the choice which most closely reflects the Italian spirit of the Spider is the car powered by the 260 horse power 3.2litre V6 petrol engine. It comes with the Q4 four-wheel drive system that diverts most of the power to the rear wheels for most of the time.
Six-gear manual gearboxes are standard across the range, with the 3.2 JTS V6 also available QTRONIC 6-speed automatic transmission, featuring a manual sequential-shift override facility, and optional gearshift paddles.
The 2.2- and 2.4-litre versions of the car come with dual-zone climate control, seven airbags, cruise control and alloy wheels, while the 3.2-litre car also includes a leather interior.
It’s the V6 in which I cruise by Mary and Joseph, the rumble of the V6 providing a fanfare of sorts.
Power
Generous wheels and tyres – a choice of 17 or 18in alloy wheels – mean that it’s quite capable of delivering its power to the dusty highway.
It’s certainly surefooted, but isn’t an out and out racing machine like some of the competition in its class, which include more engaging cars like the BMW Z4 and Audi TT.
It’s a tough segment, with just a few thousand pounds separating cars with Porsche and Mercedes-Benz badges.But the Spider is cool, comfortable, easy to drive and can be done so enthusiastically.
Wind noise isn’t overly intrusive at speed and the dreaded scuttle shake which can hinder soft tops wasn’t overly apparent.
I liked it, but I didn’t love it and I think the reaction of the locals suggests a similarly lukewarm sentiment.
They might look like they’ve come straight out of a Bible story, but they weren’t fazed very much by the notion of western flashiness passing by. They wave casually, smile and then return to the hurried business of doing nothing very much at all. Maybe they’ve seen it all before.
Or maybe the car still isn’t quite king in a country where miles per carrots are more meaningful than miles per gallon… and almost everyone dresses like a Jedi Knight.
Alfa Spider starts at £25,995 on the road. There’s a choice of two petrol powerplants, a 2.2-litre 185bhp unit, and a 3.2 litre 260bhp V6, plus Alfa’s widely-acclaimed 2.4 -litre 200bhp turbo-diesel.
Have you driven the new Alfa Spider? Tell us what you thought.
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