Got £38,000?...Buy an Alfa 4C

[kikie]

Spider eyes.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

I'm warming up to the headlamps. What needs fixing, in my eyes, is the interior. It's too cheap and flimsy for a car of such calibre; I'd rather just buy a Porsche.

 

[kikie]

I'm warming up to the headlamps. What needs fixing, in my eyes, is the interior. It's too cheap and flimsy for a car of such calibre; I'd rather just buy a Porsche.

Spot on! 👍

 

[Davoxx]

This Alfa 4C look amazing and honestly Alfa reborn again this car, affordable with sport ADN !

But in my opinion it is wast of money, I mean with this amount of money you can build a car so unique and also have better performance.
And at the end it can be a lot less than 38 000£ and more fun than the 4C.

For example look at this crazy RX7 first gen swap V8 :



or this beautiful and ...... whaaaaaa , love it !!!

Full story :
http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/01/wild-in-the-streets-700hp-of-road-legal-rx-7/


But of course the 4C is a great car.

 

[mister dog]

If mister dog would be a financially gifted man with a mid life crisis, the 4C would be sitting in my garage right now!
I love the way it looks, I love the way it's composed (no power steering or fancy stuff, just a pure little sportscar), I love the way it drives...

Great great car, and sure to be keeping it's value in the future.
It's a modern interpretation of what made the old Alfa sportscars from the sixties so great.

 

[kikie]

I think that the single carbon fibre body (chassis) is why this car is so expensive.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Faster than C7 Stingray. I think this car is on it's way to the glorious fame of giant killer.

 

[psntomaz]

I seriously didnt know 56K (USD Confirmed) is exspensive for a car like this.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I'm warming up to the headlamps. What needs fixing, in my eyes, is the interior. It's too cheap and flimsy for a car of such calibre; I'd rather just buy a Porsche.

Different class of car though, a Porsche is hardly lightweight!

And guess what, high performance cars often ARE cheap and flimsy. Even my 911 had naff switches in it, you can add luxurious extras to any range. I just couldn't afford to, and nor could the other 8 owners

 

[kikie]

I'm getting more and more intruiged by this sports car. Next week, I'm going to contact a local Alfa Dealer (see photos I posted on #232), if it is possible to test drive this car.

 

[Grayfox]

Shame that the bonnet is riveted shut.

Would be good if it had some storage space.

 

[homeforsummer]

But in my opinion it is wast of money, I mean with this amount of money you can build a car so unique and also have better performance.

The "you could build something better" is the most pointless argument in existence. You could say it about literally any car in the world. Why buy a new [insert econobox here] when you could buy a used sports car for the same price? Why buy a sports car when you could tune up [x] vehicle to be faster? Why does anyone buy a fast car at all when you can ride a superbike that hits 60 in 2.5 seconds and would decimate almost any car in a straight line?

Nobody will cross shop a 4C, or an equivalent Cayman, or a Lotus Evora, or anything else like that, with a random car built up to be equally quick.

 

[Robin]

I can't understand why they put the bonnet lines in if it cannot be opened, surely it could have just been formed from one piece along with the bumper and side panels.

There was really no need for it to be made out of CF, if it was aluminium would have been much cheaper and nearly as good.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I can't understand why they put the bonnet lines in if it cannot be opened, surely it could have just been formed from one piece along with the bumper and side panels.

There was really no need for it to be made out of CF, if it was aluminium would have been much cheaper and nearly as good.

Because unfortunately there's only a finite amount of oil left.

That's why Alfa have built a super lightweight, a lot of people are thinking that this is a "normal" sports car and rating it as such. It weighs less than an MX5!

All car companies are going to have to get their average emissions down in order to pass emerging anti-carbon legislation, particularly in the States. That's the reason that F1 is using 1.6 Turbo ERS this year. Ferrari were dead set against it but realised that even they are going to have to do a 1.6 Cortina at some point

 

[kikie]

Isn't aluminium heavier than carbon fibre? Alfa wanted to make a light car.

 

[Robin]

I was thinking more from the price point, it doesnt look like a car which costs as much as it does.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I was thinking more from the price point, it doesnt look like a car which costs as much as it does.

Really? It's superwide and low, I think it looks like dog's cahoonies.

Isn't it pretty cheap for the insane p/w performance? I'm sure it's under 50k here (UK)?

I'm a moron. The price is in the thread title.

A car that looks like that, weighs so astonshingly little, on that chassis, with that power. What's not to love? £38k?!

 

[Robin]

I also think its a great car and looks amazing but to the untrained eye people will just think its the successor to the GTV which was much cheaper at launch.

Also the price is more like £45K, the price in the title was back when it was annouced.

 

[homeforsummer]

I can't understand why they put the bonnet lines in if it cannot be opened, surely it could have just been formed from one piece along with the bumper and side panels.

I suspect there are gubbins beneath there that service teams still need access to.

That, and can you imagine the cost of replacing an entire front panel after even a minor accident?

I also think its a great car and looks amazing but to the untrained eye people will just think its the successor to the GTV which was much cheaper at launch.

It would take quite a leap of the imagination to think that. The 4C is pretty much supercar-like in the metal. The GTV, pretty though it was, really isn't.

Also, I'm not sure how many 4C customers will even really be aware of the GTV - it hasn't been on sale for well over a decade. Since then Alfa's coupe range has included the GT and the Brera, but neither of those have much visual link to the 4C either. Saying people will just think of the GTV is like saying people would think of the old Renault Megane Coupe when the new Alpine comes along.

 

[psntomaz]

I can't understand why they put the bonnet lines in if it cannot be opened, surely it could have just been formed from one piece along with the bumper and side panels.

There was really no need for it to be made out of CF, if it was aluminium would have been much cheaper and nearly as good.

Because, its a easier way for the body to be built during assembly, and easier to replace/repaired in the event of a crash ,also the "BONNET" is located in the rear and has good enough storage for a Grocery run

b

 

[TenEightyOne]

I also think its a great car and looks amazing but to the untrained eye people will just think its the successor to the GTV which was much cheaper at launch.

Also the price is more like £45K, the price in the title was back when it was annouced.

Still very cheap. Do you think people will really see it as a successor to the GTV? I'm not sure...

 

[Robin]

I suspect there are gubbins beneath there that service teams still need access to.

That, and can you imagine the cost of replacing an entire front panel after even a minor accident?

Because, its a easier way for the body to be built during assembly, and easier to replace/repaired in the event of a crash ,also the "BONNET" is located in the rear and has good enough storage for a Grocery run

Make sense, it just feels weird because it looks like you can open it (and you kinda want to) but can't, like a handle on a door which doesnt open. Also how are the OCD people going to clean the panel gap properly

There are some supercars which cost way more to fix that have one piece fronts.

It would take quite a leap of the imagination to think that. The 4C is pretty much supercar-like in the metal. The GTV, pretty though it was, really isn't.

Also, I'm not sure how many 4C customers will even really be aware of the GTV - it hasn't been on sale for well over a decade. Since then Alfa's coupe range has included the GT and the Brera, but neither of those have much visual link to the 4C either. Saying people will just think of the GTV is like saying people would think of the old Renault Megane Coupe when the new Alpine comes along.

Still very cheap. Do you think people will really see it as a successor to the GTV? I'm not sure...

It does have a slight GTV look especially at the front and it's the first mid range sports car they have made since the equally placed GT so I would say its a plausible link without reading the specs.

The thing I'm wondering is..... does the current Alfa brand have the street cred to sell something like this, does it look like a brand that can produce an expensive car? because there is a lot of brand snobbery in this segment. Yes there is the excellent 8C but most people aren't even aware it exists (exsisted) and today's Alfa for most ends at the Giulietta.

I reckon quite a few people would think its a cheaper car than it actually is.

 

[psntomaz]

Make sense, it just feels weird because it looks like you can open it (and you kinda want to) but can't, like a handle on a door which doesnt open. Also how are the OCD people going to clean the panel gap properly

There are some supercars which cost way more to fix that have one piece fronts.





It does have a slight GTV look especially at the front and it's the first mid range sports car they have made since the equally placed GT so I would say its a plausible link without reading the specs.

The thing I'm wondering is..... does the current Alfa brand have the street cred to sell something like this, does it look like a brand that can produce an expensive car? because there is a lot of brand snobbery in this segment. Yes there is the excellent 8C but most people aren't even aware it exists (exsisted) and today's Alfa for most ends at the Giulietta.

I reckon quite a few people would think its a cheaper car than it actually is.

If BMW can produce a FWD Subcompact and electric/Hybrid specific models and Mercedes can build a FWD compact then Alfa Romeo can produce Sporty Cars regardless of how much power it has or which wheels is driven

 

[Nessy]

It does have a slight GTV look especially at the front and it's the first mid range sports car they have made since the equally placed GT so I would say its a plausible link without reading the specs.

The thing I'm wondering is..... does the current Alfa brand have the street cred to sell something like this, does it look like a brand that can produce an expensive car? because there is a lot of brand snobbery in this segment. Yes there is the excellent 8C but most people aren't even aware it exists (exsisted) and today's Alfa for most ends at the Giulietta.

I reckon quite a few people would think its a cheaper car than it actually is.

It looks nothing like a GTV really, if anything it looks more like a baby Ferrari..

The question is, would those "quite a few people" think it's cheap for a baby Ferrari?

 

[Crash]

Isn't aluminium heavier than carbon fibre? Alfa wanted to make a light car.

On a pound by pound basis, carbon fiber generally has better tensile properties, but it really depends on the design and purpose of the final structure. Aluminum can be fairly competitive with carbon fiber in some situations, though much of it depends on what I said before in addition to material alloy and fiber properties and resin systems used.

The thing I'm wondering is..... does the current Alfa brand have the street cred to sell something like this, does it look like a brand that can produce an expensive car? because there is a lot of brand snobbery in this segment. Yes there is the excellent 8C but most people aren't even aware it exists (exsisted) and today's Alfa for most ends at the Giulietta.

I reckon quite a few people would think its a cheaper car than it actually is.

I think it's going to be different in different markets. Particularly here in the US, I think the 4C is going to make a big splash and would be a really good way to get awareness and attention for Alfa coming back to the US market.

 

[homeforsummer]

The thing I'm wondering is..... does the current Alfa brand have the street cred to sell something like this, does it look like a brand that can produce an expensive car? because there is a lot of brand snobbery in this segment. Yes there is the excellent 8C but most people aren't even aware it exists (exsisted) and today's Alfa for most ends at the Giulietta.

Wait... so you think buyers with £50k to spend on a sports car will link it with the front-wheel drive coupe that went on sale nearly 20 years ago, but won't link it with the rear-drive, high-profile sports car that only went off sale four years ago?

 

[TenEightyOne]

Wait... so you think buyers with £50k to spend on a sports car will link it with the front-wheel drive coupe that went on sale nearly 20 years ago, but won't link it with the rear-drive, high-profile sports car that only went off sale four years ago?

I agree more with this point of view, I think it inherits cred from the 8C more than being reminiscent of the GTV. I also think that those who know enough about Alfas to have the GTV in mind are also likely to know how much the marque his improved overall in the last 15 years.

 

[Dennisch]

The 4C has a touch of the Dutch. The carbon fibre chassis will be build by Ten Cate. 👍

Price in the Netherlands will be around €60.000,- which is a lot of money but we have silly taxes on cars so it isn't really a surprise.

 

[kikie]

BPM.


Want to an Alfa Romeo dealership to ask if it was possible to test drive the 4C. He said that it is impossible.

 

[Robin]

The question is, would those "quite a few people" think it's cheap for a baby Ferrari?

Normal people that aren't into cars won't know its spec'd like a baby Ferrari. I meant asking purely on the way it looks, does it look like its price?

Wait... so you think buyers with £50k to spend on a sports car will link it with the front-wheel drive coupe that went on sale nearly 20 years ago, but won't link it with the rear-drive, high-profile sports car that only went off sale four years ago?

Again, normal 'non car' people. People who are actually going to buy this thing will know EVERYTHING past and present.