The Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is the most inappropriate car to be unveiled in midwinter at the icy Detroit showroom. It only raises anxiety levels to be able to test it properly on any mountain road, with spring temperatures for company and blue skies for roof.
The 4C is a rolling manifesto about the essence of what Alfa Romeo should be. Pure emotion on wheels, passionate for many, misunderstood by others, and also the target of some less positive reviews, it is impossible to remain indifferent to what is, in reality, a mini-supercar.
With a carbon fiber center body, it's only matched by exotics like the McLaren 650S, cars multiple times more expensive. The low weight, around a ton with an installed driver and achieved thanks to the carbon fiber and aluminum diet, guarantees performance at the level of much more powerful cars, despite being motivated by a compact 4 cylinders of 1.75 liters and 240hp. Is this the recipe for the supercar of the future?
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In Geneva last year we met the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider as a prototype. Fortunately, the presentation of the production version in Detroit showed that little or nothing has changed in relation to the appealing concept. As such and despite being awarded the Spider name, it is actually a targa, with an aluminum safety arch, coated in plastic or carbon fiber, joining the sides behind the passengers and containing the roof support.
The focused nature of the 4C is transferred to the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider. The standard folding canvas hood must be completely removed and stored in its own compartment behind the engine to enjoy open-air driving. Unlike some of its more exotic and powerful distant cousins, and although the solution seems somewhat fragile, Alfa Romeo guarantees that the hood can withstand the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider's top speed, which is 258km/h. This feature makes the future option of an unpainted carbon fiber roof almost useless and unnecessary. And this is because there is no place in the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider to store it, except for the “hangs”.
