Alfa Romeo 4C Can Conquer Our Shores Any Time
OK, so so we weren’t immediately thrilled at the prospect of Alfa coming to the US as the sick man of Europe. But with news that Alfa’s 4C, a Dallara-developed, 1,800 lb mid-engined coupe could become the flagship for the brand’s return to the US, we’re starting to warm up to the Alfisti bandwagon. But, there’s a catch (of course): at the suggested €45k price point and 15k-25k unit production plan, this aluminum-and-carbon vision of Elise-meets-8C loveliness won’t be doing much to solve Alfa’s financial difficulties. Still, that’s the Alfa we want to come to the US: the extravagant, over-the-top, money-losing Alfa, not the cynical Fiat-rebadge Alfa. This 4C is a good start down the financially-draining but emotionally-rewarding road Alfa should never have been forced to abandon.
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Well, if you're trying to reintroduce a storied brand to a potentially lucrative market what do you do? 1. introduce an expensive, top-of-the-line halo model that reminds people of that storied history first, or 2. begin with a watered-down volume oriented model at a lower price? Keeping aside the merits of the particular car chosen, it looks like Sergio is choosing number 1. I think he's making the right choice.
It's based on the Dallara produced KTM X-Bow, so a MR layout. Where the X-Bow offers no weather protection (no real windscreen and no option of a roof, even), they seem to have gone for a closed version. If they build it like this, I am sure it will do wonders for the brand - at least for enthusiasts - but as said, the impact on the bottom line will be a drop in the ocean. Oh well, at least there is practically no development needed anymore, given it's out of the box nature.