Alfa Romeo Spider 105/115 Series 2 Niki Lauda Special Edition

Overview

The Niki Lauda Special Edition was a 1978 American-market variant of the Alfa Romeo Spider Series 2. It commemorated Lauda’s association with Brabham, whose Formula 1 cars used Alfa Romeo engines. Alfa Romeo’s retrospective explicitly places the edition within the second-series Spider family. Manufacturer history.

Based on the Spider 2000 Veloce, it combined the established open sports car with distinctive commemorative trim. Its identity belongs at variant level beneath Series 2; the Lauda name does not denote a separate Spider generation. Specialist history.

Body and identifying details

The edition retained the Series 2 Spider’s truncated rear body profile. Its commemorative treatment used red paint with blue-and-white applied stripes recalling Brabham’s racing colours, special side badges, a numbered dashboard plaque and a fibreglass rear spoiler extending around the rear quarters. LBI Limited describes these features in its account of the edition. Design details.

Surviving cars require individual interpretation. LBI’s documented example, number 216, had been repainted without reinstating its stripes and had its bumpers repositioned. Present-day photographs therefore cannot establish every aspect of original appearance.

Engine and drivetrain

The American-market configuration is documented by surviving edition number 198: a 2.0-litre twin-cam inline-four with SPICA mechanical fuel injection, a five-speed manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive. Its auction record provides photographs and descriptions of the engine and drivetrain. Documented example.

That car also carried Panasport wheels and Recaro seats. These individual-car details should not be treated as universal equipment for the edition. The evidence presented here supports a commemorative appearance package; it does not establish an edition-specific increase in engine output. No performance figures or specifications from European carburettor-equipped Spiders are substituted for the American-market car.

Introduction and production context

Alfa Romeo dates the special edition to 1978. This identifies the edition’s year, without establishing exact factory production dates or a separate model-year changeover. The manufacturer dates its parent Series 2 to 1969–1982. Manufacturer chronology.

LBI Limited places the public launch at the 1978 Long Beach Grand Prix and reports that Lauda drove example number 001 on the circuit. It gives an estimated total of 350 cars; this remains a specialist-reported figure rather than a production total independently confirmed by the manufacturer source cited here. Launch and production account.

The Spider was an Italian production programme. Alfa Romeo’s history names its Arese plant and Pininfarina in Turin as production locations across the model’s lifespan, but does not allocate this edition’s assembly or finishing work to a specific plant. A more precise edition-specific factory attribution is therefore left unresolved.

Historical significance

The edition connected an established American-market road car with Alfa Romeo’s contemporary Formula 1 engine programme and Lauda’s name. Its historical interest lies in that documented connection and its recognisable commemorative presentation. Alfa Romeo’s retrospective.

For the broader model history, see the Alfa Romeo Spider. The earlier Series 1 1600 Duetto provides a related variant record from the preceding generation.

Sources and image credit

• Alfa Romeo — Spider ‘Duetto’ celebrates its 60th anniversary; manufacturer confirmation of the edition, market and historical context.
• LBI Limited — 1978 Alfa Romeo Spider “Niki Lauda” Edition; specialist history and documentation of example 216.
• Bring a Trailer — 1978 Alfa Romeo Spider Niki Lauda Edition, lot 37146; documentation of example 198.
• Mr.choppers / Wikimedia Commons — 1978 Niki Lauda Special Edition photograph; CC BY-SA 3.0.