Scoop! Alfa Romeo 4C Spider – SA price for baby open-top supercar-looker
Scoop! Alfa Romeo 4C Spider – SA price for baby open-top supercar-looker
What has supercar curves, ground-hugging sports car, mid-engined, Italian, and comes mostly in red? The Alfa Romeo 4C, of course.
Spider top back
The 4C coupé has been in SA for about a year now, so time to bring in the Spider. Yes, the Alfa Romeo Spider name makes a return as the classic description of an open-top Alfa. This time, the supercar-looking 4C gets the open-sky experience. The Spider top is back.
Not a full cabriolet, but more of a targa, like the Ferrari Spider models are. The little targa cloth roof section on the 4C Spider has to be rolled up by hand and stored neatly in its own storage bag in the front boot.
Snapped up
South Africans – a large community of Alfisti live here – snapped up the couple of 4C coupé models as soon as the became available. Exclusivity is guaranteed, as only a limited number of 4C coupé are being sourced, and 4C Spider will also arrive in small quantities.
Mid engine
The same 1750cc turbo 4-cylinder engine is used for 4C coupe and 4C Spider. Its 177kW and 350Nm may not seem like much on paper, but remember it weighs a feather-light 999kg tare (coupé only 895kg) and is mid-engined with rear-wheel drive, so it is 0-100km/h 4.5 seconds quick, while in-gear acceleration is strong. Top speed for the Spider is 257km/h.
Local market positioning
On paper the Alfa Romeo 4C competes with other small coupé and roadster/cabriolet types, but is quite a unique proposition actually. Price-wise it competes with cars like the Porsche Cayman and Boxster, BMW Z4, Mercedes SLK, Jaguar F-Type, Audi RS5 and BMW M4. But the Alfa has 2 somethings none of these have – a supercar wow factor, and appreciative rarity.
The 4C coupé retails for R 1 070 000, so adding the additional driving open-air driving joy and the roof system would clearly add to the price too – about a quarter more fun than in the coupé: the 4C Spider price is R 1 276 000, which, for a baby open-top supercar-looker, is a fraction of the usual supercar price.