Runway Model

IF THE Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione never stirred a tire, it would draw a crowd. Somebody might even try to frame it. Likewise, if the 8C simply revved its 4.7-liter, Ferrari-based V-8 behind a curtain, it would draw a crowd—a few probably offering to pay to meet the hidden opera tenor.

Future owners, take note: Do not even think of driving this Alfa unless you’re having a good hair day.

It was well over a year ago (January 2008) that I had the opportunity to sample this attention-snatching exotic in Italy, though my wheel time was limited to laps on a rain-soaked circuit with an Alfa Romeo handler riding shotgun (i.e., playing Slip ’n Slide was out). Nonetheless, even driven gingerly the 8C revealed an overwhelming charisma, emitting an exhaust note worthy of the Mulsanne Straight and wowing me with the artistry of its carbon-fiber bodywork and aluminum-trimmed cabin. Even then, months before the car’s European launch and further ahead of its late-2008 on-sale date stateside, all 500 copies had already been sold—for more than $230,000 each.

The 8C you see here is one of just 85 or so scheduled to arrive on our shores (the first Alfas to be offered in America in 14 years), and MT managed to be first in line for an instrumented U.S. test. This time, though our track was dry, Slip ’n Slide was most certainly on the agenda.

Fire up the 8C with its pushbutton starter and that operatic V-8 thumps into an idle note you’ll mistake for nothing else. The tone is lower and throatier than a Ferrari’s, louder and more electrifying than a ZR1’s. Though the V-8 is based on the 4.7-liter unit used in the S variants of the Maserati Quattroporte and GranTurismo, it receives a dry sump and unique Alfa heads; output climbs to 450 horsepower at 7000 rpm. The engine is mounted entirely behind the front axle, while the rear transaxle for the standard six-speed auto-clutch manual sits ahead of the rear axle—helping to achieve perfect 50/50 front/rear weight distribution.

Gun the 8C from a standstill and it revs to its 7500-rpm redline with so much sonic splendor its owners likely won’t even care what acceleration numbers it achieves. We get paid to note such things, of course, and notched a 0-to-60-mph sprint of 4.6 seconds

and a quarter mile of 12.8 seconds at 112.5 mph. That’s plenty quick, though in a world of 3.2-second GT-Rs and Corvette ZR1s, hardly a headline performance. Now listen again to that aria of pumping high-angle valves and bellowing wide-mouthed exhausts. Numbers? You can eat your silly numbers.

The six-speed paddle-shift transmission, borrowed from Maserati, isn’t one of the faster-acting units we’ve tried (even in sport mode, shifts require two-tenths of a second to complete; the Ferrari F430’s F1 box, in comparison, is nearly four times faster). Yet shifts are crisp and precise, with downchanges accompanied by an automatic engine blip and a glorious bark and crackle from the tailpipes. The 8C thrills in a manner a computer simply cannot appreciate.

The steel chassis, based on the Maser GrandSpor t coupe’s, rides well enough, but despite its on-paper weight balance, the 8C displays a distinct lack of front-end bite. From the sidelines, I could see testdriver Scott Mortara backing off to keep the Alfa’s nose nipping at the cones of our figure-eight course (which the 8C circled in 25.2 seconds). Click off the traction control and the tail will rotate with only a quick dab of throttle—yielding up to 0.94 g of grip as you perform a throttle/steering dance—but the 8C has none of the handling dexterity of such rivals as the Lambo Gallardo or the Ferrari F430. The Alfa is simply a far less edgy machine, preferring a more genteel approach to twisty-road hustling. Even though it lacks carbon-ceramic binders, its big discs do a superb job of erasing forward momentum, stops from 60 mph requiring just 101 feet.

Visually, the 8C has the presence of a short-legged pinup model: voluptuous and ravishing from some angles, stubby when viewed full-length. With design cues that recall the Alfas of the 1930s and 1940s, the 8C is very much a styling standout, a distinctive art piece that fulfills the promise laid down by Alfa’s enthusiastically received 2003 Frankfurt show car. Nowhere is that more true than in the cockpit, where the gleaming carbon fiber, aluminum trim pieces (milled from solid alloy blocks), and webbed leather combine to create an ambiance more sumptuous than anything from Lamborghini and perhaps even from Ferrari. Like the grand coaches of yesteryear, the 8C invites quiet contemplation of its handiwork. Run your hands over the polished aluminum. Drink in the tailored hides and composite architecture. Only the homeland of Michelangelo could make a cocoon as beauteous as this.

So, no, Alfa Romeo does not return to America with a supercar that rewrites the record books or leaves us breathless from its dynamic power. An off-the-floor Corvette Z51 could spank the 8C without breathing hard, for about one-fifth the cost, yet the Alfa remains a soulful and thoroughly scintillating machine. And therein lies the fodder for a thousand angry letters and heated barstool debates. “A car like that Alfa Romeo makes no sense at all,” the numbers crowd will say. To which 500 8C owners will simply reply, “I know. And you’ll never understand.” ■

2009 ALFA ROMEO 8C COMPETIZIONE

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