[suhaas307]

The name Alfa Romeo is synonymous with words like unreliable and inefficient. The last one is with reference to their customer support, or the lack of it thereof. It's shoddy and forgettable. But (and this is a huge one ) they make some of the most achingly desirable cars out there. Even something as mundane as a hatchback made to putter around town is turned into an object of envy and admiration.

It's annoying when car companies do this, isn't it? Make something that you'd crave for and once you've got the money to plonk on it, you wonder why you even bothered! Alfa are't new to the business of making cars. They generally cater to those who want some 'excitement' in their lives. They're considered to be affordable and yet something you can be infatuated with, as you'd be with much more expensive machinery. And every once in a while, they pull a rabbit out of that proverbial hat. Like when they introduced the 8C Competizione to the World.

It's arguably one of the most beautiful cars of this generation and you'd instantly forget about its little faults and niggles when you look at it. It's a bit like your dog at home who just blessed the living-room wall and then looks at you with beady eyes. How could you possibly not forgive him?







Anyway, what Alfa have done here is taken the 8C and sort of halved it. Okay, not quite. But you get the drift, right? It's a mini 8C of sorts. The concept debuted at the Geneva Auto Show in 2011 and Alfa have been working on making it a proper production car since.

High Points:

• The 4C was first introduced (as a concept) to the public at the Geneva Auto Show in March, 2011. It was recently spotted testing in Italy and was camouflaged rather lightly. It seems to have retained most of the concept's design-cues!

• It's a 2-door 2-seater sports-car that's just about 4 meters (about the same size as the MiTo hatch!) in length and weighs a measly 850 kilograms thanks to the extensive use of carbon / aluminum in its construction.

• It's said to be powered by a mid-mounted (behind the driver, ahead of the rear axle) turbocharged 4-pot 1.8l motor mated to a 6-speed (dry) dual-clutch gearbox and sends 200 horses to the rear-wheels.

• Expect performance figures to be mind-boggling courtesy the punchy engine, lightweight construction and superior weight-distribution (mid-mounted engine)

• It's slated to go into production in the 2nd quarter of 2013 and is expected to be priced in the $50,000 - $70,000 bracket. Chief competitors will be the Lotus Elise and the Subaru BRZ / Toyota FT-86.

• Source.

[BANDHAV]

Somehow design is not doing for me, its fussy, over detailed, I see a lots of other cars/supercars there, Evora, Agera.

[theMAG]

This resembles a TVR more than an Alfa. Have Alfa been using the TVR Sagaris' shells ?

[thumpingheart]

I was really excited to see the scoop, but looking at the pictures its a bit of a disappointment. Cos the photos of the concept and the original computerized images of the concept were mind blowing! May be its the dull monotonous black color, but it did not fill me with a pleasurably painful lust than perhaps the 8C, the old Giulietta (late 1950's) or even the little Mito fills me with! Its more "LOTUS" than a fire breathing "ALFA"! Hope it looks better in red or grey!

[aditya101]

Beautiful; this world needs smaller cars with mid engined/rear wheel drive to come back. With Toyota '86 now available these are truly the glory days for enthusiast drivers.

[suhaas307]

Alfa has released a teaser of what's to come!

Source

[Jeroen]

I've never been that big on Alfa Romeo in general, although they have made some beautiful cars in the past.

I still own a Alfa Romeo Spider. Great little car. I loved the 8C, but not so sure about this one. A bit too much of everything. Still, it does stand out from the crowd, I'm sure.

Jeroen