Car of the Day - Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

Car of the Day - Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

Alfa Romeo with the 8C Competizone hit the mark dead centre in finding that indefinable thing that is true beauty.

The first decade of the new millennium may very well be remembered as a watershed period in automotive design with possibly three of the most beautiful cars ever produced coming out of Italy. Most red blooded male Italians, as well as many female would undoubtably consider Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari three of their most important national treasures. All three have their history intertwined and the Alfa’s development of the 8c could not have happened without the other two. All three also have a long, proud and successful history in Motorsport and now all three have delivered an absolutely beautiful car in the same period. The 8c Competitizone, the GranTurismo and the 458 Italia manage to hone in on the part of the brain that takes visual inputs and somehow transfers those inputs to a smile. And all three do it in a vastly different style with not a common line in sight.

First shown at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show the 8c Competizone received universal praise, if ever there was a car that just had to be produced, this was it. Show cars be their very nature are exercises in promotion and branding and Alfa was in dire need of both, it’s once proud history was in the doldrums and it was close to becoming irrelevant. The 8c has single handed turned that around, it has brought the Alfa name back to the forefront of enthusiasts minds and paved the way for the success of the MiTo.

Alfa first used the designation 8c in 1923 for the P1. The P series of race cars became legendary under the official factory team management of Enzo Ferrari which led to the establishment of the Scuderia Ferrari to manage the racing side of Alfa Romeo. The use of the designation 8c Competizone is not just a cynical branding exercise from the Alfa marketeers even though it is unlikely any of the limited production coupe will ever see and full bore racing. The original road going 8c’s of the 30’s was also clothed in some of the most beautiful bodywork from its era. While design references to those cars does not extend past beautiful flowing lines the 8c does make direct visual ties to two other stunning Alfas of the past in the 33 Coupe Stradale and the TZ.

Designed by Alfa Romeo and developed with Maserati the 8c was not targeted as an all out performance car but rather a rational and balanced usable performance package that would meet an enthusiast daily needs. The 4.7 litre V8: offers excellent performance but has been developed for a smooth driving experience capable in all circumstances, including city traffic. The V8 develops 450 bhp at 7000 rpm, with a peak torque of 470 Nm at 4750 rpm however 80% of that torque is available from 2000 rpm.

The engine is couple to a robotised gearbox in transaxle configuration with a self-locking differential. The transaxle configuration and the compactness of the engine itself means the car is a true front-mid layout.

The 6–speed gearbox with computerised speed via paddles has five settings; Manual-Normal; Manual-Sport; Automatic-Normal; Automatic-Sport and Ice modes.

The suspension features a double wishbone layout with forged aluminium axle carriers and arms and an extra strut for toe-in control. The 8c utilises the Alfa Romeo VDC stability and traction control system. The carbon-fibre body over steel frame provides great torsional rigidity.

The hand crafted and well detailed interior makes extensive use of composite materials on the facia and internal panels. The seat frames are made from carbon fibre can be adjusted and customised on the basis of the driver’s physical characteristics Options available in the interior were plentiful.

While numerous journalists have been critical of the outright performance of the 8c its capabilities still exceed the vast majority of those that will ever get to drive one. And those that do get to drive one will undoubtable have an uncontrollable smile on their face.

Rod Halligan