The Alfa Romeo’s 8C Spider has clinched the BMW Group Design- and Villa d’Este awards at Europe’s major classic car and design event at Lake Como, north of Milan. Will the accolades finally persuade Fiat Auto to put the sublime supercharged V8 supercar – and its sexy Spider sibling – into production?
The Alfa Romeo’s 8C Spider has clinched the BMW Group Design- and Villa d’Este awards at Europe’s major classic car and design event at Lake Como, north of Milan. Will the accolades finally persuade Fiat Auto to put the sublime supercharged V8 supercar – and its sexy Spider sibling – into production?
Judged by the tens of thousands of guests that attended the Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance, the 8C Spider – an open-top version of the 2003 Frankfurt Show-stopper, the 8C Competizione coupé – was picked as the best concept car at the event. The emergence of a Spider version wasn’t a complete surprise, however, in March CARtoday.com quoted Alfa Romeo chief executive Antonio Baravelle as saying that Fiat Auto would probably exhibit a production version of the 8C at the Paris Show in September. Orders for a proposed 500-unit production run “would be taken” and he added that a Spider “could be added to the range”.
“We have cut the budget for our (brand’s) advertising campaign and will do the 8C instead, because it is a perfect way to promote the Alfa brand,” Baravelle said. “(Fiat Auto head) Sergio Marchionne says if the figures add up, do it.”
Designed and developed at the Alfa Romeo Style Centre, the 8C has a carbonfibre body with a spaceframe chassis and its styling draws from the Milanese marque’s strong sports car heritage. In the thirties and forties, the 8C nomenclature identified race and road cars equipped with a new eight cylinder engine specially developed by engineer Vittorio Jano. “Competizione” pays homage to the 6C 2500 Competizione, the sports coupe driven by Juan-Manuel Fangio in the Mille Miglia of 1650.
The 8C Spider is 1 900mm wide, 4 278 mm long, 1 250 mm high and has a 2595-mm wheelbase. Its voluptuous design is characterised by a horizontal furrow that cuts into the side above the front wheelarch, muscular rear wings, dramatic 20-inch rims and the fact that the car’s side grilles and shield are vertically aligned.
Sports car aficionados will be pleased that Alfa chose a classic rear-wheel drive layout for the 8C and power comes courtesy of a 300 kW-plus supercharged 4,2 litre V8 (mated with a six-speed manual transmission) adapted from the unit used by Ferrari and Maserati stables. The Milanese supercar has dual wishbone suspension configurations at both ends and according to the manufacturer, the prototype could reach a top speed of over 300 km/h and accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in 4,5 seconds.
