Within seconds of launching the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider out of pit lane at the company’s Balocco test track near Milan, in northern Italy, I’m grinning like an idiot. And I’m not even driving.
The first reason is the noise: a manic blare and bark from the 4.7-liter V-8. The sheer volume and ferocity of the sound beats even a Ferrari Scuderia’s or a Lamborghini LP560-4’s and makes one wonder how the 8C gets through tough European pass-by noise regulations.
The second is that Domenico Bagnasco, the car’s chief engineer, pitches the 8C Spider sideways into the first corner he approaches. He holds the car in a long, lurid slide, the rear tires wreathed in smoke. By the third corner, I’m convinced he’s totally expletive-deleted insane.
When Bagnasco hands over this $301,600 roadster to me, it takes all of two corners to see that this is one beautifully balanced car, with delightful, talkative steering. For a few bucks more than 300 large, the 8C Spider had better be special, but I’d rather have one of these than a Bugatti Veyron. The 8C Spider is not as fast, but it has soul. The Veyron, by comparison, lacks tactility and passion.
Like the 8C Competizione coupe, Alfa Romeo is making only 500 of these convertibles. Just 35 will make it to the U.S., compared with 84 coupes. As with the coupe, the Spider is underpinned by components filched from the Maserati parts bin, but all of the bodywork is made from carbon fiber.
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
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| 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider |
