Alfa Romeo 4C Debuts at Geneva – 2014 Model is U.S. Comeback Car

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The acronym ‘4C’ in automotive marketing’s latest trip down memory lane comes from long faded racing and also the sports car heritage of the Alfa Romeo brand.

The new Alfa Romeo 4C will debut at the Geneva a Motor Show next month, the Italian sports car maker owned by Fiat said this morning. The two-seat, mid-engine designed sports car will be built at the Maserati plant in Modena, which is also the home of Fiat owned Ferrari and a university founded in the12th century AD. The 4C will go on sale in 2013, marking the return of the Italian brand to the United States.

The tiny 4C – less than 4 meters in length – will be powered by a new 4 cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine with a twin clutch automatic transmission. The super car has a chassis made entirely of carbon fiber, and it bears a resemblance to the original Dino Ferrari in stance, with a more angular and edgier exterior look in the place of the Dino’s famously sensuous curves.

The 4C is close to the concept shown at the Geneva Show in 2011. The acronym ‘4C,’ in automotive marketing’s latest trip down memory lane, comes from long faded racing and also sports car heritage of the Alfa Romeo brand.

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The expensive carbon fiber in the 4C interior is left in view to “enhance the sense of uniqueness, of technology and light weight.” Just bring money…

Indeed, 8C and 6C were used during the fascist dominated 1930s and 1940s on both racing and road cars – equipped with eight- or six-cylinder engines. This time around the traffic circle, Alfa’s goal is a power/weight ratio of an authentic supercar, less than 4 kg/horsepower, helped in part by limiting the weight.

The Alfa Romeo 4C uses some expensive technologies and materials derived in part from the 8C Competizione – including the aforementioned carbon fiber, aluminum, rear-wheel drive, and an all-aluminum direct injection force-fed engine. (Read AutoInformed on Mazda and Fiat Sign Agreement for New Alfa Romeo Roadster)

About Ken Zino

Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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