Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

In 2003 Alfa Romeo surprised the automotive world at the Frankfurt Salon by presenting a new 8-cylinder two seater sports car: the 8C Competizione. The car has been designed at their own Centro Stile, and obviously refers to the rich racing history Alfa Romeo has, by name and by design. By name, because of the 8-cylinder sports cars Alfa Romeo had already been building since the 1930s, and because of the Competizione suffix which had already been used in the 1950s Mille Miglia. The reference by design can be found in the 33 Stradale and the Giulia TZ, amongst others.

Anyway, enough history, let's talk about this stunning car. Weighing in at under 1500kgs, thanks to a body made entirely out of carbon fibre, the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is a rather light car. Combined with the 4.2 liter V8 Maserati engine, bringing 420bhp to the table, this car can reach a top speed of 300km/h and accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in 3.2 seconds.

This posed a problem for Alfa Romeo though - fearing the 8C Competizione would eat away sales from Maserati, they initially did not receive the necessary clearance to start producing the 8C. Other projects where pushed to the front, and so the Brera and the 159 took precedence over the production of the 8C.

It wasn't until Antonio Baravalle became the new CEO, that the 8C project was brought back to life. In order to avoid direct competition with Maserati, production was limited to 500 cars, and the 8C was placed in a higher price class (resulting in a price of around 136.000€ (without VAT and taxes). Ouch.

Stiff competition and harsh price tag aside, I'm glad they decided to build the 8C Competizione, and I think you'll agree with me as soon as you see these pictures. Enjoy!