Someone had to do it, but it's been a long time coming. From Audi to Saab via BMW and VW, diesel has found its way into the equation of many convertible cars. None, however, has been a true sports car. Sure, diesel GT ragtops are out there aplenty, but a two-seater drop-top derv with proper performance cred has remained an apparent marketing impossibility.
Of all the makers to give it a go, Alfa Romeo is hardly the most likely. Steeped to the elbows in the petroleum fumes that waft from decades of motorsport glory, the snarling Alfa brand seems as likely to combine diesel with performance as Parisian waiters might urge you to have a nice day.
Don't adjust your screen though: this is Alfa's all-new Spider and it's powered by a five-cylinder 200bhp DIESEL unit. The 2.4-litre JTDm slips between the four-pot 2.2-litre and V6 3.2 and goes on sale this March at ¯¿½28,995.
Engine quality is going to be pretty high on your list when shopping for a car like this, but before you've even turned the key there are several provisos. First comes image - and on that front the Spider's guns are at full blaze. Park it next to Audi's brand-new TT Roadster and, polished and perfect as the German car is, the Alfa smoulders. Let's just say that, given those triple headlamp banks, that aquiline nose and the emphasised central heart, the appeal is full bloodied. It's got a nice bottom, too.
Next comes quality: can the Spider hack everyday life? So far, the answer is yes. The models I've tested proved to be exceptionally well screwed together and squeak-free. Call it machismo or logic, everything in the cabin is focused upon the driver - the trio of deep-set dials in the dash feed back info on your fuel, 'olio' and 'aqua' levels and are set at angle that suggests it's not the sort of info you need to trouble your passenger's pretty head with.
That said, the driving position is no longer designed for a Milanese knuckle-dragger - you can have arms and legs in all variety of proportions and it's unlikely that the height and rake adjustable steering and ever-variable seat position will leave you poorly positioned.
And so to that engine. Which is where I have to make a confession. Thanks to Alfa Romeo's Italian direction, its plans for the first drive of this model, on Morocco's glorious road to Agadir, omitted the much-awaited diesel option. I can therefore tell you that this car - having driven both the 2.2 and the V6 - sits unperturbed through sharp bends and undulating surfaces, steers precisely enough (albeit a little mutely at higher speeds) and has a hood that drops and stows neatly in 25 seconds with nothing more than the prod of a button. I can also tell you that, having driven the diesel Brera coupe upon which this model is closely based, there are unlikely to be any nasty surprises awaiting diesel adopters here.
