FIRSTDRIVE: ALFA ROMEO 8C SPIDER: Alfa's new offering may not be worth its astronomical price tag, but potential owners won't be worrying about that, writes BEN OLIVER
THIS CAR is possibly the most Italian thing on the planet; even more Italian than smiling indulgently as your suspiciously black-haired 71-year-old prime minister appoints former topless models to the cabinet and attempts to bed an 18-year-old.
So, it makes no sense to translate the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider’s name into dull, humble English. Even Alfa’s cultured new chief executive, Sergio Cravero, with his near-flawless English doesn’t bother to Anglicise it, and simply refers to his new car as the “otto-chee” as he introduces us to it.
So otto-chee it is, then. But is the noisy, gorgeous otto-chee Spider actually any good, or are we in danger of being seduced by a La Scala-standard tenor in a perfect Brioni suit?
If price alone conferred supercar status, there’d be no debate. The 8C Competizione coupé, of which 500 were made, cost €130,000. The Spider, of which another 500 will be made, will cost an eye-watering €200,000.
Objectively, that price is hard to justify. The Ferrari California, with its more aristocratic badge and folding hard-top, costs a good BMW 3-series less. For those with deposits down, the looks, the noise, the name and the rarity are plainly enough; value for money isn’t a consideration. But we all want it to be as great to drive as it is to look at. And we’re not convinced that it is.
So what do you get for your fifth of a million euro? The engine is the same as the coupé’s: a Ferrari-cast, Maserati-derived 4.7-litre V8 making 450bhp and maybe the most extraordinarily exuberant noise of any car on sale. And its looks are as good as the coupé’s too.
So, is it the best-looking, best-sounding car on sale? Quite possibly. And for many, the debate ends here.
It is very loud: the exhaust maintains a constant conversation with you when just manoeuvring – you’ll turn heads even when parallel parking. At higher revs, it hardens into a hollow bellow with a prolonged crackle and bang when you shift gear. The Alfa engineer – Italian, naturally – who took me out for a couple of familiarisation laps at the firm’s Balocco test track, gave up trying to describe it, or make himself heard over it.
Instead, he just started waving his right arm in the air in a lassoing motion when he thought it sounded particularly nice – which was most of the time.
The engine works and sounds best when stretched to its 7,600rpm redline, but getting it there takes longer than you’d hope for. Peak torque arrives at 4,750rpm and there isn’t much of it, so to extract maximum performance, you need to get busy with those paddle shifters. It’s hardly a chore; the changes are just as good under pressure and the light flywheel means the engine darts around its rev range with an agility that belies its size and cylinder count.
This is a fast, powerful car, but at the risk of sounding terminally spoiled, it isn’t that fast; not quite fast enough to justify that price or put any significant distance between the 8C and rivals at a fraction of the price.
A 0-100km/h time of 4.5 seconds and top speed of 290km/h are very nice to have regular access to, but aren’t significantly quicker than a Porsche Carrera S at a fraction of the price, and are appreciably behind the sub-four of the California.
But while the engine disguises an average performance – by the standards of the class – with sharp responses and a showy exhaust note, the handling is very well-judged but just doesn’t excite you. The steering is weighty, direct and quick enough, but disappointingly mute; experience rather than sensation tells you that the car will go where you point it. Same with the brakes; now carbon-ceramic, they’re long in travel and lacking in feel. Objectively, the 8C Spider doesn’t have the specification or the dynamics to justify the price. But it doesn’t need them, because the more Alfa asks for the 8C, and the rarer it makes it, and the less it competes in any objective sense with other supercars.
Those lucky enough to be getting one will have Ferraris already and won’t be blind to the otto-chee’s shortcomings. But they’ll also love Alfas, and know that this is one of the stand-out cars in the firm’s storied, century-long history.
They might wince a bit when they get their final invoice, but they’ll write the cheque anyway.
Factfile Alfa Romeo 8C Spider
Engine: 4691cc V8
BHP: 450
Torque: 7000rpm
Transmission:Six-seed paddle-shift manual
Performance: 0-100km/h – 4.5 seconds (estimated)
Top speed: 290km/h
Fuel consumption: 16.3l/100km
CO2 emissions: 379g/km
How heavy?1,590kg of steel and carbon fibre
How big?4.4m x 1.9m x 1.3m
How much?€300,000
On sale:Now, but limited to 500 globally