Alfa Romeo 8C Spider (2008): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard

First Official Pictures

19 February 2008 17:01

Drool on. Alfa Romeo will formally unveil the production version of the 8C Spider – a limited run of 500 soft-tops – at this spring’s Geneva Motor Show. It’s powered by the same 4.7-litre V8 producing 444bhp as the 8C coupe that so entranced CAR on our recent road trip from Monaco to Modena.

Prospective buyers will face a long wait for the Spider, however. Alfa won’t start building it until all the hard-tops have finished production – and that run is expected to continue until October 2009. Only then will the Spider roll off the line.

Alfa Romeo 8C Spider: prices, specs

UK enthusiasts have snapped up 41 8C coupes so far at £112,000 a pop; although Alfa hasn’t confirmed prices yet, it looks like the open-top version will cost a fulsome £120,000. For that, you’ll bag one of the best-looking convertibles around, complete with a double-layered fabric hood that drops at the touch of a button.

Alfa claims to have given plenty of attention to stiffening the 8C’s structure to keep the handling sharp; the chassis is made from steel, reinforced appropriately to cope with the lack of a roof and wrapped in lightweight carbonfibre body panels. They in turn cloak the stunning, retro-inspired five-hole telephone dial 20-inch alloys.

That 4691cc engine only delivers peak torque at 7500rpm and thrives on revs. It feeds power through a six-speed transaxle and the brakes on the Spider are ceramic items sourced from Brembo. No performance figures have been issued yet, but the Spider isn’t going to be much slower than the 182mph coupe. So expect the benchmark 62mph sprint in an eyelid-batting 4.2sec.

CAR is reporting live from the Geneva Motor Show on 4 March 2008. Come back between now and then for all the latest news, unveils and gossip from Europe’s most important car show

By Tim Pollard