Forza Alfa!
New 8C supercar and GTV coupe spearhead Alfa’s big push + Alfa Romeo beats Porsche: 503bhp Stelvio humbles Macan
DARE TO DREAM. If you could bring any iconic Alfa Romeo back from the dead and update it for the 2020s, which one would it be? Its century-plus of heritage suggests plenty of tempting possibilities, all of them with great names – Disco Volante, Sportiva, Montreal, Tipo 33, Zagato SZ/ RZ, GTA…
When they’ve worked, they’ve fused sizzling must-have design, state- of-the-art engineering and awesome performance. Which is exactly what Alfa gave us with the 8C of the last decade and, perhaps to a slightly lesser extent, the current mid-engined 4C.
While the 4C is a somewhat compromised and underpowered head-turner positioned in a segment where making money is next to impossible, the limited- edition 8C had all the right ingredients. The coupe announced in 2003 and the Spider introduced five years later sold out within weeks. In total, only 1000 8Cs were built between 2007 and 2010 – not through lack of demand, but because Alfa wanted to keep the 8C as a premium, halo product.
And now, boss Sergio Marchionne has confirmed, the 8C is coming back – maybe as early as 2021. The overall concept is very much the same – a stylish but entirely driver-focused coupe and convertible – but all the details will be different. The engine loses two cylinders, and it will be mid- rather than front-mounted, with some element of electrification. While the carbonfibre monocoque will need to be developed from scratch, the 2891cc twin-turbo V6 is an evolution of the Quadrifoglio engine conceived with a little help from Ferrari. Good for just over 500bhp in the hottest Giulia and Stelvio, the version of the twin-turbo V6 earmarked for the 8C should peak closer to 600bhp. Add to this a 150kW (about 200bhp) electric front-axle module shared with the upcoming Maserati Alfieri, and we’re talking 800bhp-plus and around 660lb ft of torque.
In addition, this configuration throws in all-wheel drive and torque vectoring for good measure, which should combine to allow some very rapid and agile cornering.
Although the battery, electric motor and two additional driveshafts will push the kerb weight in the wrong direction, Alfa is claiming a very brisk 0- 62mph acceleration time of under three seconds – that’s at least a second quicker than the current range-topping (rear-wheel drive) Giulia Quadrifoglio.
Like the current 4C, for which a manual transmission isn’t available, the new 8C is tipped to borrow the seven- or eightspeed twin-clutch paddleshift auto from the successor
to the Ferrari 488.
The production of the 8C’s carbonfibre shell will almost certainly be farmed out to a specialist supplier like Dallara or Carbotech, while the engines are to be built in Maranello. Final assembly will most likely be at the same Modenese inhouse facility that currently puts together the 4C.
What will it cost? While limited- edition Ferraris and Porsches command astonishingly high prices in this small and exclusive enthusiast market (£1.6m LaFerrari Aperta, anyone?) Alfa’s collector- car track record is patchy. Despite the massive power and torque advantage the 8C is bound to have over many other high- end sports cars, don’t expect prices to stretch much beyond £250,000 for an estimated run of 1000 units. That may sound like a lot for an Alfa, but this is going to be rare, exquisitely engineered, extremely rapid and everyday-usable.
As soon as all the coupes are out of the door, the Italians intend to switch production to an 8C Spider which should be even rarer as well as more expensive (the approach Ferrari took with the aforementioned LaFerrari).
What about a more extreme 8C- derived supercar? It’s a possibility. Like Ferrari and Maserati with the Enzo/ MC12 twins, there could be a joint Alfa/ Maserati project that could eke even more out of the powertrain and exploit further the potential of the carbonfibre monocoque, our sources say. And let’s hope that’s a car to add to the list of all-time greats –not the list of nice ideas that never quite made production.
PRICE? EXPECT TO PAY AROUND £ 250,000 FOR A CAR FROM THE 1000 UNIT LIMITED RUN