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Next, we decide to see what the enemy thinks. If it's pitched against an Audi TT, who better to tell us what they think are its pluses and minuses, than an Audi salesman? Walking up to the car and instinctively opening the bonnet, Steve at Hoehn Audi in Carlsbad says he doesn't think it'll break the Audi habit.

"It sure is pretty, but TT buyers won't buy it," he says. Why? "Alfa's got no dealer network. This'll be just like Lotus, more a specialty brand. It's not serious competition for us."

Steve asks about the engines and makes a face when I tell him that the smaller 2.2-litre engine doesn't have a turbo. "No turbo? How the hell is it going to get out of its own way?" he says. "Customers are going to ask the same question." He's about to tell us more, and then his phone rings, so he has to answer it. But not before he's told us how much he thinks it'll cost: "I'd say mid 40s to 50 with the right equipment."

Not bad. Next, it's down to the beach to see what the kids make of it. Does it have bedroom-wall icon appeal? Having somewhat illegally parked the Alfa on the virgin sand, the answer is an unreserved 'yes'. "Man, your car is sick!" says a mini surf-dude who is quickly joined by a couple more floppy-haired tweenagers.

This being SoCal and not SoClapham, the kids want to know how much it costs, not how fast it is. Guess, I say. "$150k?" asks the first one. When I tell him it's TT money they almost look disappointed. "Gee. I thought it was going to be real expensive."

Purely in the interest of this story, I start to talk to a very attractive woman but, before I can get anywhere, I'm cut short by the arrival of the lifeguard who is wondering at the top of his voice who has had the nerve to park a car on his pure sandy beach. "Man, get that I-ta-li-an car offa my beach now!" he says. So we have to go. "It's a real pretty car," the woman shouts after me, but I can't hang around to discuss why.

Finally, by now running out of time, we reckon the Holy Grail of this story has to be to ask a current TT roadster driver what they think about the Alfa Spider. But where are we going to find one of those? While we're not in the habit of following drivers and asking them questions at traffic lights, that's precisely what we did in San Diego.

Rich was on his way to a tennis match, but was completely unphased by our request to pull over for a chat. He was on his second TT roadster in just over five years, and he loved it. But not so much that he wouldn't put the Alfa on his shopping list next time around. After a look about it he resolved that he'd, "definitely take it for a test drive".

"Would that be the right thing to do?" he adds, quizzically. "Is there anything I should know?" Yes, I replied. Just make sure that you thrash it. And thrash it hard.

Pet Devereux