Oakland Street Sighting - 1972 Fiat 850 Sport Spider

The Fiat 850 is a rather interesting car. A lot of older Italian family cars feature expanded lineups with several unique products on the same chassis, and the 850 is a great example of this. It was offered as a two-door Berlina sedan, two-door Familiare wagon, Furgonata small van, coupe and Spider roadster. Two versions of certain models were available, the mainstream Normale and higher-performance Super. Coupe and Spider models received a special engine tuned for even greater power (47 horsepower instead of the Normale's 34 and Super's 37). All models came with a four-speed stick, rear engine and rear-wheel drive. American 850s got a smaller-displacement, 49.8 cubic inch engine to evade federal emissions regulations applying to engines of 50 ci and larger -- pretty sneaky.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1967 Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider

Second in this week's Alfa series is a 1967 Spider. Normally I resist photographing Alfa Spiders unless they're something really special. Most are the common 1980s models that are usually beaten half to death and look like something from a Top Gear Cheap Car Challenge. And if they aren't, I just don't bother looking twice. Don't get me wrong, they're undoubtedly fun little enthusiast cars. So is a Miata, and I don't normally photograph those either.