Alfa Romeo 4C Competizione

ALFA ROMEO 4C Finance

With a name inspired by the legendary 8C and 6C Alfas of the 1930s and ‘40s, Alfa Romeo’s compact supercar, the 4C Concept, premiered at the Geneva motorshow in March 2011. Although the word ‘Concept’ featured in its name, Alfa was clear at the time that this car was not simply a styling exercise created for the show as the 4C would be going on sale in 2012.

As things turned out, the production version didn’t appear until Geneva in 2013, while full scale production (at Maserati’s Modena factory) didn’t commence until a couple of months after that. However, for the many eager customers it was worth the wait.

The 4C features a central carbonfibre passenger cell with aluminium subframes front and double wishbone (f) MacPherson strut (r) suspension. This is all clothed in a composite body, while the all-aluminium engine is a mid-mounted 1,742cc turbocharged 4-cyl unit (as found in the green clover leaf Guilietta) producing 240PS at 6,000rpm with 350Nm of torque at 2,100rpm. Alfa’s 6-speed twin-clutch tranmission (with DNA selector and Race mode) takes power to the rear wheels.

With a dry weight of just 895 kilos (distributed 38 front/62 rear), power steering is not a requirement, and 0-62 comes up in 4.5 secs while top speed is 160mph. Alfa also claims that the 4C can generate 1.1g in corners and 1.25g under braking.

With a removeable and stowable fabric roof (a carbonfibre hardtop is optional) the 4C Spider made its début at the 2013 Geneva show. The Spider has a few external differences, eg. xenon projector headlamps, rear butresses and extra side intakes, and due to some unseen strengthening measures it tips the scales at 999kg.

On the road prices are £52,820, £59,820 for the Spider and £67,820 for the Spider 50th Anniversary model. Used asking prices are mainly in the £33k to £54k bracket.