Last month Fiat-Chrysler Australia confirmed the Alfa Romeo 4C will arrive in Australia next year and will start below $80,000. Alfa’s long-awaited, stunning all-new two-seat sports car finally bowed in production form at the Geneva Motor Show.
The beautifully-styled, mid-engined Alfa Romeo 4C will be manufactured at the Maserati plant in Modena, Italy – Alfa already has plenty on its plate developing the all-new Spider open-top sports car in collaboration with Mazda (the replacement for the MX-5).
Alfa says the 4C is a progression from the glorious 8C Competizione and it’s the ‘real deal’ in terms of styling with a no-compromise high-performance sports car look which is muscular and highlighted by abundant curves and air intakes and the traditional Alfa Romeo ‘V’ sculpturing in the bonnet and pointing to the hallmark ‘shield’ grille.
The 4C is small – less than 4.0-metres in length, 200cm wide, 118cm high and the wheelbase is less than 2.4-metres.
Inside the dynamic sports car look is exaggerated by elements of the raw carbon fibre which comprises the passenger cell. Dashboard and door panels have an ‘asphalt’ treatment, again pointing to the 4C being a genuine sports car.
The driver sits in a lightweight seat of composite material, paddle shifters on the steering wheel handle gear changing and the instruments are digital with high-powered graphics.
Under the bonnet is a new 180kW version of Alfa’s ‘1750’ turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine (similar to the powerplant in the Giulietta QV) driving the rear wheels via twin-clutch automatic transmission (with steering wheel paddle shifters for manual changes. For the 4C Alfa’s DNA drive selector gains a ‘Race’ mode.
We’ll file this one under ‘D’ for ‘desirable’, but Alfa Romeo has it filed under ‘C’ for ‘crucial’ as the 4C is the spearhead of the Italian giant’s thrust into the North American market.
