“It is a very forgiving car. Very pretty, too.” That’s what the legendary Steve McQueen said about Duetto in the summer of 1966, having been invited by Sports Illustrated to try the Italian spider, along with other “fast friends.”

The model he drove was one of the first Alfa Romeo 1600 Spiders to arrive in the US, after its debut at the Geneva Motor Show a few months earlier. In a few words, McQueen’s judgment sums up the essence of Duetto and the uniqueness of Alfa Romeo: driving pleasure and pure beauty.