Spider/spyder/barchetta - convertible terminology ?'s

Barchettas/roadsters have no roof. Well, no real roof... most have emergency roofs (Super 7, Cobra, 550 Barchetta, they all have emergency roofs that you aren't really supposed to use)

 

Except of course the Fiat Barchetta! But then again, Fiat has absolutely no association whatsoever with Ferrari, so......clear as mud!
Re: Spider/Spyder origin see http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=134798246#post134798246
Hope this helps

 

absolutely no expert in Italian language, but in my understanding Barchetta means "little boat" and Spider means "roadster" ...

what about the new superamerica, isn't it sort of a cabrio aswell, does it have any other name than superamerica, something that would refer to the "cabrioness" of the car ?

 

Could it be marketing?
<$30k Mustang etc Convertible
<$80k Corvette etc Roadster
<$150k Porsche Cabriolet
<$250k Ferrari Spider
<$400k Ferrari Barchetta
Don’t know where the names go from there.

 

I thought spyder was Italian for "roadster", don't know about spider.

 

I am of Italian descent and spider does not exist in the Italian language! It has come to mean roadster because in the early years of motorcars the sportscars were known as "speeders". The word then evolved in Italian and got bastardized into spider that we know now. I believe that if you're talking about a Ferrari it is spider but if you're referring tio Maserati then it is spyder with a y.

 

Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder

 

Spider is an english word and there is no Y in the Italian alphabet. Italians like to use English words when easier than translating into italian or no real translation.

 

Info on some early Spyder Corsas - note "Barchetta" preceding each Spyder listing of index - this refers to bodywork.
http://www.qv500.com/ferrari166p3.php

This even earlier example gave Ferrari it's first international victory. An F-Chatter not only owns it, but will be taking it to Targa Florio along with a younger sister.
http://www.qv500.com/ferrari166p2.php

 

Toyota MR2 Spyder

 

Berlinetta - closed coupe (or coupé)
Spyder or Spider - open car (spelling varies from time to time)

I have been told that these terms come from the Carriage (as in horse and buggy) days. Apparently, one of the early open ("convertible") carriages also had a funky supension - which resembled a spider.

Barchetta - or little boat - originally referred to a particular Ferrari (as i recall, it was the 166MM). Which, from the waistline up looks similar to a watercraft of that era. It has come to mean an OPEN car, that is - as previously stated - a car with NO top (although an emergency cover has been provided in several instances)

Superamerica was a name given by Ferrari to a few special models in the past - usually limited production vehicles with extra large engines, more or less intended for the American market.

The Superamerica 2005 is technically more of a Spider, although none of the existing nomenclature really applies to a car that converts from a fixed top to an open car as the entire concept is rather new.

Hope that helps.

Scottie

 

It is my understanding (I could be wrong about this) that cabriolet specifically refers to a convertible with four seats (regardless of how small the rear ones may be). So that term really has a distinct meaning from the others.

 

Looked at your profile to work out why you are "spidermanUK" LOL!

From another Clive

 

Ford Retractable ring a bell? http://users.accesscomm.ca/fordretractable/ 1957 isn't a very new concept although it did take Ferrari a few years to adapt it to their use

Good explanations in the rest of the post! It seems that Ferrari changed from Spyder to Spider sometime with the 348's didn't they? They never technically spelled it out for the 3x8 series it was just implied in the GTS models.

 

Technically a Roadster has no top and no side windows, that is if you live in the pre-war world like I do.

For Spyder vs. Spider its all about politics, see about half way down this Alfa page.

http://hem.passagen.se/veloce/WELCOME.HTM

 

Learn something new everyday. Here I thought spyder was an Italian word, and it seems the word was just pulled out of thin air. I always enjoy learning new things about cars.

 

From what I've gathered:

Barchetta was the term coined by the press for the Touring bodied 166MM open car, and the name stuck. I'm not sure Ferrari ever used it officially at the time. The 550 Barchetta is another attempt to reach into the past and pull out a historic name to connect the new cars to the old. Similar to Mondial, Testarossa (although contracted to one word), and Superamerica.

Cabriolet was used by Ferrari to denote a more luxurious open car, such as the 250GT Cabriolets. These were 2 seaters by the way (except for a few really early 250GT's that had an extra wide passenger seat and could almost fit 3 across).

Spyder/Spider was used to denote the more sporting open cars. I suppose Ferrari decided that all post 250 Cabs should be more sporting, or at least marketted as more sporting, thus the 275GTS, 330/365GTS, 365GTS/4, etc. were spiders and cabriolets disappeared from the product lineup.

Or something like that...

-steve