Are You Trying to Seduce Me? The 2010 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider

The Alfa's loud exhaust literally provided the movie's soundtrack cutting through the harmonious sounds of Simon and Garfunkel as it rushed-off to the hotel to meet Mrs. Robinson or up to Berkley to see Elaine.  Both Alfa Romeo and the Spider had risen, crashed and burned in America since, after all, nothing last forever; but some fifteen years since Alfa Romeo has pulled-out of the American domestic marketplace, the 2010 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider will make its very limited release to a very few car aficionados with a taste for Italian exotica and $300,000 to spend- providing a taste, an appetizer to a host of entrees the Fiat Group is hoping to implement through its Chrysler dealer network endeavors.

The Alfa Has Graduated

 

In 2003, Alfa Romeo, now a part of the Fiat Group, debuted the eight-cylinder, carbon-fiber-clad Alfa Competizione; a few years later in 2006 released the limited series production versions for the European market- we're talking a run of 500 cars- just enough to maybe homologate the model for racing, and just enough to ensure its exclusivity in a market segment that thrives on having something different that no one else has at any price.  The car got great accolades for looks, driving dynamics and tantalizing, almost raw, race-car-like performance.  Ironically, a car with Competizione "competition" in its name, from a company rooted in racing- has never seen official racing campaigning by the factory- but it just sounds and looks the part.  In this exotic market segment- that's all that really counts.  

The 8C Competizione Coupe

The Competizione's recipe is simple- put in a high-performance, Ferrari-derived aluminum V8 in the front-end, add two Italian leather seats and enough room for a weekender set of luggage, a healthy presence of aluminum and a high-strength, low weight carbon fiber skin- and you have an Alfa Romeo 8C.  The 8C is for otto cilindri- eight cylinders and its dramatic lines and name, Competizione, evoke the legendary racing Alfas of the 1930s- the very same cars raced and tuned by Enzo Ferrari- founder of the mark that is the patriarch of engineering and racing heritage in the Fiat Group- Ferrari.  Just four standard colors were offered in the 8C Competizione- two different shades of red, black and yellow.

With under a hundred, just 85 examples of the 8C Competiziones to be found in North America, it's a rarer than rare sight.  For 2010 Alfa is promising to export an even rarer 35 of the planned 500 8C Spider convertibles to be built under the direction and Modena factory roof of Fiat sibling Maserati.

The 8C Spider Convertible

 

The platform of the 8C Spider is derived off a Maserati Quattroporte, albeit modified in shape and size to suit the sportier, smaller Alfa.  The engine, a Ferrari-derived Maserati engine, has been punched-out to 4.7 liters and massaged a bit with unique Alfa heads for 450 horses and 354 pound-feet of torque.  The standard and only transmission is the same six-speed semi-automatic, paddle actuated Cambiocorsa transaxle made famous on the Maserati too.

 

Exclusive to the cabriolet Spider version are the carbon-composite brakes, and a fiber-composite windshield frame which helps the 200 pound heavier Spider keep a near perfect 50/50 weight distribution.

The interior is all leather, real carbon fiber and fine bits of milled, brushed and finished aluminum, and gives the effect of a racecar cockpit of the 1950s- no non-sense and Spartan in comparison to what else is out there in say a more expensive. $300,000 exotic car. 

 

Performance is very good, but not record breaking, no, not by any means in a high-performance world where a less exotic Porsche Turbo could now reach sixty in under four seconds and nearly every Ferrari made today, not to mention a high-end Corvette could flirt with well over 180 miles-per-hour or more at wide-open-throttle.  The 8C will still reach sixty a little under, or around five seconds, corners at about .94 g but promises a more raw, less refined yet easily attainable racing inspired driving experience than in a bigger, heavier, more luxurious or sportier Ferrari or Maserati- if a Ferrari could ever be considered luxurious- the Alfa is the "raw dog" of the Italian wolf pack.  

The Alfa rewards the driver at much lower levels of sheer driving force- meaning- even a bad driver will feel like a better one driving an 8C at any speed.  It's technology and performance may not be the latest and greatest Ferrari and company may have to offer, but do keep in mind- the Alfa is still very much the proverbial pony to Ferrari's (prancing) horse.  The Alfa 8C is all about feeling good while driving, even if you're not breaking the sound barrier or setting any records at the local track.  

The Spider is available in limited numbers Stateside, again, just 35- but unlike the coupe- it can be had in nearly any color you could want, along with custom interiors colors, wheel finishes, interior stitching, etc, etc.  No two 8C Spiders will be seen alike, if seen at all. 

But any 8C Spider you do see will be a rare and spoken-for specimen, yes, just like the elder Mrs. Robinson herself.  And if you do care to turn-off the sport mode, and silence the magnificent exhaust system that would prefer doing the noise making, you just may hear yourself hum the "Sounds of Silence" of The Graduate and relish what is really, the first and most lavish Alfa Spider seen since the 1967 film.

 

Clearly, the Fiat and Chrysler executives are whetting our appetites for what will surely be more mundane, less exciting and more practical offerings; but at least they have their "halo" offering in the Alfa 8C, enticing any Italian-American concoctions they can stir-up.  Anything, and I do mean anything is better than a Chrysler Sebring sedan.  The Alfa, no matter how elder Americans remember their temperamental electrical systems, and their propensity for rust; it's a better (if not just sexier) legacy than the Chrysler K platform.  I guaranty it.