Price £45,000
Top speed 160mph
MPG 41.5
0-62mph 4.5 seconds
Sometimes the word “driving” just isn’t enough to describe the visceral, elemental, sense-tingling, skull-popping overload of… well, driving. But then along comes a truth-seeking missile of a vehicle that reminds you just what an incredible experience driving a car can be. Alfa Romeo’s exquisite new 4C – a small, two-seat, rear-wheel-drive sports car – puts performance and pleasure front and centre. As it hugs each bend, sweeps down every straight and surges up every rise it reminds you how alive a car can make you feel…
In many ways, the 4C is the car Alfa Romeo – and fans of Italian sports cars – have been waiting for. Its voluptuous curves coupled to the promise of pure driving nirvana have the task of knocking the historic brand out of reverse and steering it back to profitability and desirability. It’ll do this by unlocking the cash-rich markets of America and China. And early signs are very promising.
It was unveiled to a drooling public at the 2011 Geneva motor show and went from concept to reality in just 28 months – a process that usually takes at least five years. Inspired by the legendary 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, the 4C was designed and engineered by Alfa’s in-house team, with the actual building of it is being done by Maserati at its Modena factory. So, it’s a proper Italian job.
Considering the heavy lifting expected of it, the 4C is a sprightly bantamweight, tipping the scales at just 895kg. Its mighty engine is positioned right behind you. It sits so close to your back that it feels like it’s breathing down your neck. Turn round and you’ll glimpse it through a narrow lepers’ squint of a window, as if it’s some rare exhibit. The power from this all-aluminium 240hp 1,750cc turbo engine is astonishing. You’ll hit 62mph from a standing start in 4.5 seconds and you can then crack on up to a top speed of 160mph.
With its swirling bodywork and tantalising shell-like air intakes, the 4C is molto bello. But, like those things that require a sophisticated palate to truly appreciate – I’m thinking whisky, Wagner, maybe a little light bondage – your first taste of the 4C might be a bit painful.
Its doors are heavy and climbing in is difficult, while getting out is hilarious – I ended up crawling on to the road at one point. If you have a bad back or weigh more than 14st forget it. The materials used inside are borderline crap. That’s not a technical word. The plastics would barely make the grade at the Little Tikes factory. The radio is dismal; rear visibility is nonexistent; the boot is pathetic. And the horn! It sounds like an apologetic parp escaping from an old vicar as you kneel at the altar rail. But… and it’s a huge BUT… turn the key and, boosh, the metamorphosis begins.
The engine burbles to life. The sound is amazing: a grunting, phlegmy clatter. On top of that the road noise is massive. At times it feels as if you are dragging a wooden dinghy up a shingle beach. Unassisted steering means it’s hard to manoeuvre and almost impossible to park. But who cares, parking is for losers.
And so you’re off. Squeeze the throttle, in fact stamp on the throttle, and, bam, you find yourself in another world. The 4C is hungry, responsive, agile, wonderful. The acceleration is electric, the handling all-engrossing. It lives for the open road and the more you drive it the tighter it seems to fit around you. In many ways, it isn’t happy unless you are doing at least 40mph. And you won’t be happy unless you are doing more than that.
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166
