It’s been a while since Alfa Romeo last produced a compact sportscar, but it seems that the wait will soon be over. The 4C GTA – a high-performance compact coupé concept reportedly based on the no-frills KTM X-Bow – will reportedly bow at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.
Initial reports suggest that the 4C will not be a successor to the Spider, but rather a focused performance vehicle in a similar vein to the Abarth coupe, which appeared as a series of renderings last year.
The 4C will reportedly go into limited production (around 5 000 units per annum as part of a 20-25 000 unit run) towards the end of 2012 and is slated to wear a price sticker in the region of £35 000 (around R380 000), making it a more affordable prospect than the 8C.
There is some debate as to the nature of the mid-engined concept’s underpinnings. Some sources claim that the KTM X-Bow will lend its carbon-fibre chassis to the car, while Alfa Romeo sources close to British publication Autocar claim that such suggestions are “wide of the mark” and that the 4C will be built around a carbon-fibre monocoque, allied to aluminium subframes front and rear. Either way, Alfa’s engineers are aiming for a particularly low kerb weight – roughly 800 kg.
The powerplant is likely to be sourced from the company’s Giulietta range – possibly a tuned version of the turbocharged 1,75-litre petrol unit in the Quadrifoglio Verde model developing close to 190 kW. Factor in a light kerb weight and the 4C should be a formidable performer.
