Re: 2003 Maserati 4200 GT Spyder

[Carscribe@domain.elided]

In a message dated 9/6/01 7:20:40 PM Pacific Daylight Time, JJK1204@domain.elided 
writes:


> > Neither 'spider' nor 'spyder' exist as a native word in either German or
> > Italian, at least in my desk dictionaries; the Italian 'ragno' is the 
> German
> > 'spinne', neither of which has been used to name a car-type, as far as I
> > know.
> > 
> 
> I was patiently waiting for Mr. Herztman to set the historical record 
> straight, since I believe Mr. H had previously given us the derivation of 
> the 
> spider/spyder name. Thank you John for adding the spelling part to the 
> story.
> 
> John Katos
> West Dundee, IL USA
> 
> 

My reference source is Porsche: Excellence Was Expected, and others, all of 
which provide similar stories, but different from that above as to the origin 
of "Spyder." I continue to defer to those sources, as well as the fact that I 
have yet to see a postwar usage and spelling preceding that of Porsche's, 
lending weight to the citing in "Excellence."
Cheers,
Paul Mitchell

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