Alfa Romeo's defunct 8C Competizione concept car is to come out of retirement to star at the 2005 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California on August 21. The Italian manufacturer has been invited to be the featured marque at this year’s event, and has created a special Spider version of the 8C to be its centrepiece.

The 8C supercar had previously been cancelled, but according to Alfa sources this new Spider model is not an indication that the project has been revived. Indeed the Spider is in fact one of the two existing 8C Competizione cars with its roof removed. It has been produced to fulfil the Pebble Beach event’s stipulation that any featured manufacturer must display a concept car.

However, although there are no plans for the 8C Spider to enter production, there will be a new open-top Alfa Romeo arriving next year when the Brera Spider takes a bow. Although few details have been announced to date, the car is expected to appear at the Geneva motor show in March. The Brera Coupé is due to arrive in the UK late this year.

Specifications have apparently leaked online for the production version of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, which will be on display at the Paris Motor Show later this month. The car will feature a 4.7-liter Maserati V8 engine, producing 450 horsepower at 7,000 rpm, with 347 pound-feet of torque at 4,750 rpm. The transmission is a six-speed dual-clutch. The car will ride on 20" wheels and feature a limited-slip differential. Volume is expected at 500 units annually.

Alfa Romeo Returns to America at Last
By Andrew Frankel, Contributor Email
Date posted: 10-21-2007


The corner was slow, even unremarkable. A constant-radius, 2nd-gear curve that happened to be a part of Circuito de Balocco, Fiat's official test track, although it could have been any decent-size roundabout in the world.

We turned the wheel, and as the nose of the car greeted the apex, we squeezed the accelerator hard. As expected, the rear wheels slid wide, and thanks to a little steering lock to catch up to them and a touch more power, we were able to keep the tail out of shape for a second or two until the corner opened up.

It was a childishly simple maneuver, but there, in an instant, was a moment for which we have been waiting more than 15 years.

We were powersliding a brand-new Alfa Romeo — the 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione.

Back From the Brink of Front-Wheel Drive
These are such simple pleasures that it seems absurd that one of the world's most evocative, emotive marques, one that built its brand on pure driving pleasure, has been denying them to its devotees this last decade and a half. Since 1992, a rear-wheel-drive Alfa Romeo has not been available, as a succession of front- and all-wheel-drive platforms was supplied to Alfa Romeo from its Fiat parent.

The car responsible is the 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. It's been a long time coming. First shown in concept form at the 2003 Frankfurt Auto Show, the car finally is scheduled to go into production next year. You know the wait has been worth it as soon as you see how little its shape deviates from the original, how wonderfully proportioned it is and how it acknowledges Alfa's past without being defined by it.

Its purpose? Think of it doing the same sort of job for Alfa Romeo as the Ford GT has done for the Blue Oval. What matters is that they get enthusiasts feeling warm about their respective brands once more. Both companies realized the need to drive their product ranges upmarket, and a dream car is cheaper and more effective than a lengthy marketing campaign.

This is why all 500 8Cs that will be made in 2008-'09 were sold long before anyone so much as sat in one, even at a price of about $226,000. The 8C will also reintroduce Alfa Romeo to the United States. About 99 cars of the production allotment will cross the pond, and then 500 8C Spiders will be built and a batch will also come to America.

Good Cars Come From Good Partners
When faced with building 1,000 cars that bear no relation to anything already in your store cupboard, you can't simply start from scratch. You have to knock on a few doors. Given that Alfa Romeo now has overall control of Maserati, the door that opened widest was the one with a large trident on its front.

It would be hard indeed to underestimate the contribution that Maserati has made to the 8C. The floor is borrowed from a Quattroporte, then cut and shut to suit the 8C's wheelbase and adapted to Maserati's double-wishbone independent suspension. The engine is the Maserati V8, its displacement increased from 4.2 to 4.7 liters, presently a specification that is unique to the 8C for now but will soon be found in Maseratis as well. It's matched with the six-speed automated sequential manual transmission that came with the first version of the Maserati Quattroporte.

The whole thing is assembled not in Alfa Romeo's Turin, but instead at the Maserati factory in Modena. Which is why when you need your 8C Competizione serviced, it is to a Maserati dealer that you will drive.

Carbon Fiber Can Be Stylish
The 8C Competizione is made from carbon fiber, which is more than you can say about any Ferrari on sale today, let alone Maserati. The shape is distinctly, inimitably Alfa Romeo.

The gorgeous cabin owes little to anything else, too. Nasty instrument dials apart, this is one of the best-looking cabins this side of a Bugatti Veyron. There are plastic parts if you look for them, but these are not what your eyes fall upon, as they are rather too preoccupied with all the leather, aluminum and carbon fiber.

And the view down the hood — an almost lost art these days — is unforgettable. You peer through a quite small windshield to the two kicked-up humps marking the tops of the front fenders. When driving hard, you can use them to guide you in and out of corners.

Speed Thrills
Hard driving is what this car invites more than most, even in the rarefied air of the six-figure supercar. After waiting so long for an Alfa whose direction of travel can be determined as much by your foot as your fingers, the temptation to streak off into the sunset is overwhelming. Only the concrete confines of Balocco stop us from doing so.

Initial impressions are uniformly good. The engine note is perfect. This 450-horsepower V8 has a similar capacity to a small-block Ford in the classic Mustang, but its voice is not a transatlantic rumble but instead the smooth, sweet melody of the true European aristocrat. Hit the Sport button, which sharpens the throttle response, cuts the shift times in half and opens a valve in the exhaust, and the 8C sounds at once gloriously rich, angry and assertive.

There are 354 pound-feet of torque at 4,750 rpm, so if you hit the throttle pedal hard enough, this Alfa sits back on its heels, takes a deep breath and then cannons you up the road, with its fat, rear 285/35R20 Pirellis yelping all the way. The engine develops its 450 hp all the way up at 7,000 rpm, and the 8C will fling you past 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.2 seconds on its way to the far side of 180 mph. The swiftness of the gearchanges doesn't defy logic as with the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, but it's still quicker than you'd manage on your own.

Let's Go Drifting
There is, however, mild disappointment in store and you find it when you reach the corners. For while the 8C Competizione will slide and slide until its tires are molten, this is not a delicate car to handle.

There's too much inherent understeer, not enough steering feel and the sense that if you turned off all the safety systems and really drove the doors off it, then it might just reward your efforts with an unseemly excursion through the nearest hedge.

We're not sure that we should be too bothered by this. We've lost count of the number of people who have asked if the 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is Alfa's greatest work to date. Out there, among enthusiasts everywhere, most of whom will never even see an 8C, this really matters.

And to everyone we have given the same reply: It's not the greatest, but it is very good. Most important, for the purpose of bringing Alfa Romeo back to the U.S., it is more than good enough.

Debuting at Geneva showroom is the captivating Alfa 8C Spider. Like the Alfa 8C Competizione, the Gran Turismo which received resounding global praise; the new “discovery” will be produced in a limited edition run of 500.

Elaborated by the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo, the new car re-affirms the brand's excellence in this sector, as shown by some Spider's being regarded among the most beautiful cars in global automotive history. Cars such as the Giulietta Spider from the 50's or the legendary Duetto made famous by “The Graduate” from 1967 with a young Dustin Hoffman. Today, it's the Alfa 8C Spider's turn to take centre stage and project into the future the values of technology and emotion which belong to the Alfa Romeo legacy.

Obviously, the new vehicle inherits all the winning features of the Coupè version. Starting with the two “sport seats” setup and the fascinating exterior lines, which characterized by sculpted and finely designed bodywork, “dress” the automotive and mechanical excellence of the model.

In detail, the marked dynamics of the vehicle are highlighted by the horizontal groove “built” into the bonnet at wheel level. The oversize wheels and powerful “muscles” of the rear mudguard accentuate the personality and force of the model, without diminishing the elegance of those fluid lines. Instead they highlight the formal beauty of the singular external features: the “teardrop” fog lights set like a precious jewel in the front mudguard, the front Led lights, a synthesis of technology and rationality, and the essential door handle.

Furthermore, in the front we can find the characteristic Alfa Romeo stylings, with a new interpretaion of the “whiskers” and shield. Without forgetting, that this innovative range anticipates the elements and proportions of the future Alfa Romeo cars, always with complete respect for the historical legacy of the brand.

It's worth underlining that to reach these top levels of areo-dynamic efficiency, solutions which don't limit themselves to the design of the form have been adopted on the Alfa 8C Spider. All the surfaces and profiles of the uprights and windows, together with the form and positioning of the rear-view mirrors, have been optimized using computer models and tests in wind tunnels and real-life environments. As a result, air flows round the vehicle following it's natural path, unhampered by corners and irregularities. The end result is a negative LC (lift coefficient) which like competition vehicles, contributes to stability at high speeds.

But the peculiarity of this vehicle, is the hooded top fitted with electro-hydraulic automatic control (controllable via a button on the dashboard). The hooded top of the Alfa 8C Spider is composed of two overlapping sheets: the external one is made with a multi-thread textile which can withstand the elements, whilst the interior has high sound-proofing qualities. Furthermore, the hooded roof-top, available in various colours, has been perfected aesthetically, aerodynamically and for acoustic comfort. It has also been perfected from a functional point of view, with specially developed film-reels to render more agile, rapid and secure any explanations of the functioning.

In the interior, the Alfa 8C Spider guarantees a sophisticated environment, thanks to the vast use of composite materials in the dashboard and internal panels, as well as the use of anatomical seats, produced in carbon fibres, that can be adjusted according to the physical characteristics of the driver (up to now, a feature only available to racing cars). Furthermore, for maximum possible personalization of the interior, the client can chose between different environments and aesthetic solutions. All distinguishable by the particular attention to detail and artisan workmanship: from the contrasting stitches, colour tone and exclusive matchings. The bucket seats are upholstered in Frau flower leather (an exclusive and innovative treatment of the weave, in which the leather is bound to a natural fibre, creating a look of great visual impact).

In analogous fashion to the interior, the same care has been taken in realizing the exteriors: from the alloy wheels to the brake calipers, every detail can be chosen to your particular design, because every Alfa 8C Spider can only look similar to itself. An unmistakable car made to measure for the owner's personality. The unique and un-repeatable Alfa 8C Spider announces the pleasure of a sporty drive with full respect for the brand's legacy.

Like in the best Alfa Romeo tradition, hidden under this pretty “dress” is the best of what's available in the field of mechanics and propulsions. Firstly, the Alfa 8C Spider has a rigid and light structure (the compact frame is made in steel for maximum torsion to guarantee a drive which is always precise and sure, whilst the body is in carbon fibre). We are dealing with a choice motivated by the need to reduce as much as possible the weight but also to optimize the centre of gravity for agility and drive-ability in the more demanding journeys.

Still under the banner of sophisticated technology, the Alfa 8C Spider adopts the new “8 cylinder mated to a 5-speed gearbox with 90°” and a capacity of 4691 cm3 which has been designed with one specific aim: guarantee extraordinary performances without relinquishing the fluidity of the gearshift or the ease of use in any driving context. Like so, a powerful and progressive propulsion is born with a top power of 450 CV at 7.000 rpm and a maximum torque of 7.500 rpm. This engine has been mated to a self-shifting 6-speed gearshift (with computerized selection of the gears via levers behind the steering-wheel), and a self-blocking differential unit.

As in the legendary Formula 1 vehicles from the 50's, the Alfa 8C Spider sports the Transaxle design which guarantees the best equilibrium in the partioning of weight. The propulsion is placed in the rear whilst the gearshift is placed behind along the differential and hydraulic motor unit. The Transaxle design foresees a tight connection between motor and gearshift, which is fitted with a self-blocking differential. The two groups are linked by a tubular element, at the interior of which rotates the transmission driving shaft: in this manner the load is distributed in an optimal manner between the front and rear suspension.

So much power can only be entrusted to an excellent braking system: the Alfa 8C Spider is fitted with carbo-ceramic Brembo (CCM), 380 mm in diameter on the front-wheels and 360 mm on the back-wheels. This solution guarantees a powerful brake action even in the most intense uses. The marked reduction in weight, in comparison to a traditional set-up, reduces the masses unsupported by the vehicle and so improves the dynamic performance and driving comfort. Furthermore, the mono-block calipers guarantee maximum rigidity and minimal deformation, given the high loads generated by the pressure of the pistons on the brake-linings.

Therefore, the Alfa 8C Spider “declares itself Alfa” all the way, confirming control and driving pleasure with no compromises. Since always, gear comfort and dynamic performance are qualities specific to Alfa Romeo cars: in this case they have become veritable strong points. Thanks to for example, the suspensions which foresee a high wishbone suspension with brackets and uprights in forged aluminium, that act as a supplementary strut for alignment control.

Contributing also to the brilliant road control are specially developed 20” tyres to insure excellent performance, the tyres have a: 245/35 front-suspension and a rear-suspension of 285/35. Fitted on perforated rims in fluid moulded aluminium to ensure lightness and maximum brake ventilation efficiency. Lastly, the Alfa 8C Spider uses an evolved VDC Alfa Romeo traction and stability system, which ensures the driver feels at one with his car.

A second focus of the stand is an area dedicated to the exclusive Limited Edition Alfa Romeo supercars: Alfa 8C Competizione (introduced at the Paris Motor Show in 2006) and the Alfa 8C Spider, two sports cars that have had collectors and fans swooning with desire throughout the world and falling over themselves to place thousands of orders for both cars in just a few days. Five hundred of the cars have been produced by the Alfa Romeo Style Centre and are remarkable for their moulded surfaces that provide ideal attire for Alfa Romeo’s engineering and mechanical excellence: a slender line that expresses all the beauty of a veritable piece of poetry in motion that harks back to the brand's glorious past while also carrying forward its attributes of engineering and emotion into the future.

The Alfa 8C Competizione and Alfa 8C Spider are equipped with a mighty 4.7 litre 8 cylinder engine that develops 450 bhp, teamed with a 6-speed robotised gearbox, and immediately turn heads due to their unmistakeable Italian elegance, an absolutely unique and unrepeatable style that promises the satisfaction of a sporty drive with full respect for Brand traditions.