Spyder

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

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. (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".)

[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 Spyder 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 died.

[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 erroneously used by many automakers as a synonym for convertible. The following cars' names include Spyder or Spider but do not meet the basic Spyder criteria as illustrated above:

[edit] See also

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