re: Italo-English Translation

["Stefano Iachella" <iachella@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>3.    I've always assumed the 'spider' automotive term related 
>to the animal, maybe I'm off the mark ?

My father always said that the British were the first to nickname 
convertibles or other small quick cars as 'speeders'. Tell an Italian
to spell 'speeder' and you will get 'spider'. This is the most plausible
explanation I've heard.

It's been discussed on the list a long time ago, and some said that
there were some very old British cars called Spiders, like the animal.
I think they were Rolls Royces or Bentleys or something and they
resembled spiders (animal). This may be, but it sounds unrelated to
convertible sports cars. I think that term is separate from our term
for Italian sports cars.

Stefano
Oakland, CA
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