Auto Car | Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione | Alfa Romeo exited the American market with a whimper in 1994. But they're planning to come back, next year, with a roar -- the roar of a 450-horse, race-tuned Ferrari-made V8.
The Alfa Romeo that left America was a traumatized, slow-selling, troubled company, plagued by poor quality and underachieving cars. The Alfa that reenters is now stronger, its cars more stylish; it's now a brand that offers a genuine alternative to rival (read German) European premium automobiles. Plus it has an extraordinary and beguilingly beautiful new flagship, the 8C Competizione. It's this car, with both Ferrari and Maserati blood flowing in its veins, that leads Alfa Romeo's charge back to America.
In 2008, the 8C starts appearing in Maserati dealerships. Eighty-four out of the total build of only 500 cars are coming to America; only Italy (86) gets more. By 2009, a proper U.S. Alfa dealer network starts to open its doors, selling a range of cars including a face-lifted version of the latest Spider, the Brera coupe and the 3-series-rivaling 159.
For a brand new car -- production has only just commenced in Maserati's Modena factory in northern Italy -- the 8C has been a motor-show fixture for over four years. It debuted at the 2003 Frankfurt show, previewing a delightful mix of '60s Alfa styling cues leavened with modern technology. The production version is little changed. The name also evokes a richer period for Alfa. The 8C 2300 of the 1930s was probably Alfa's finest prewar sports car, while the Competizione moniker harks back to the 6C2500 Competizione in which Juan-Manuel Fangio competed in the 1950 Mille Miglia.
The engine is the 4.7 liter Maserati V-8, familiar in the Quattroporte and new GranTurismo, but bigger in bore and stroke, crowned by new Alfa-developed heads and, with 450 horses, more powerful too. Some of the suspension and platform underpinnings are also Maserati borrowed, which is why the 8C is made in a Maserati factory not an Alfa Romeo one. As with all new-generation Maseratis, the engine comes from Ferrari, and is related to the V8 from the F430. So the 8C represents the first firm collaboration between three of Italy's greatest (all Fiat owned) sports car manufacturers: never before have we seen such an Alfa/Ferrari/Maserati "hybrid."
The 8C then is an uncharacteristically upmarket Alfa. At about $240,000, it's the most expensive Alfa road car ever: a Ferrari-priced Alfa. Think of it as a halo vehicle, the perfect high-profile flag-waver and ambassador for Alfa's U.S. market re-entry -- the perfect beacon, too, to remind lapsed European owners that Alfa's star once again shines bright.
Specification
Make: Alfa Romeo
Model: 8c Competizione Coupe
Year: 2008
Country Of Origin: Italy
Type: Grand Tourer
Class: B
Engine: V-8, Naturally Aspirated, 4,691 CC, Gasoline
Horsepower: 444 BHP @ 7,000 RPM
Tourque: 354 LB FT @ 4,750 RPM
Redline: 7,600 RPM
Brakes: Perforated Steel Dics, 8 pot Calipers Front, 6 Pot Rear, ABS All Round
Wheels: 20 Inch Aluminium alloy
Handedness: Left
The engine is the 4.7 liter Maserati V-8, familiar in the Quattroporte and new GranTurismo, but bigger in bore and stroke, crowned by new Alfa-developed heads and, with 450 horses, more powerful too. Some of the suspension and platform underpinnings are also Maserati borrowed, which is why the 8C is made in a Maserati factory not an Alfa Romeo one. As with all new-generation Maseratis, the engine comes from Ferrari, and is related to the V8 from the F430. So the 8C represents the first firm collaboration between three of Italy's greatest (all Fiat owned) sports car manufacturers: never before have we seen such an Alfa/Ferrari/Maserati "hybrid."
The 8C then is an uncharacteristically upmarket Alfa. At about $240,000, it's the most expensive Alfa road car ever: a Ferrari-priced Alfa. Think of it as a halo vehicle, the perfect high-profile flag-waver and ambassador for Alfa's U.S. market re-entry -- the perfect beacon, too, to remind lapsed European owners that Alfa's star once again shines bright.
Specification
Make: Alfa Romeo
Model: 8c Competizione Coupe
Year: 2008
Country Of Origin: Italy
Type: Grand Tourer
Class: B
Engine: V-8, Naturally Aspirated, 4,691 CC, Gasoline
Horsepower: 444 BHP @ 7,000 RPM
Tourque: 354 LB FT @ 4,750 RPM
Redline: 7,600 RPM
Brakes: Perforated Steel Dics, 8 pot Calipers Front, 6 Pot Rear, ABS All Round
Wheels: 20 Inch Aluminium alloy
Dials: All Analouque
Readout: KM/H
Transmission: 6 Speed Paddle Shift
Driveline: F/R Front Engine, Rear Wheel Drive
0-60: 4.2 Seconds
Top Speed: 181 MPH
(motortrend.com)
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