Forgo reason and indulge: The Alfa Romeo 8C Spider
By The Prodigal Fool, published on 23 September 2009
The GTV drove beautifully and, perhaps more importantly, looked phenominal. We had the 2.0 litre 16v model – not the V6 – but even that little engine was capable of propelling the car at exciting, if not spine-shattering, speeds.
Unfortunately, despite loving every minute of driving and looking at it, we swore never – NEVER – to buy an Alfa again. Why? Because, as far as we can make out, the little Italian cars are built by drunk pasta merchants. Ours suffered from a myriad of problems. Some simply annoying (the dashboard frequently distracted us with warning lights that, when investigated by our local mechanic, were found to be in no way related to what was actually going on under the hood – electronics made out of pasta); others that left us stranded waiting for the tow truck (the cooling fans had a habit of staying on after we’d turned off the ignition, eventually stopping because they’d completely depleted the battery.)
Nothing else for it, much as we were in love, we eventually broke up with her and swore off Alfas for life. Too much trouble, too unreliable. Never again…
And then we chanced upon these photos of the new Alfa Romeo 8C Spider over on Eco’s site. Damn. Simply put, there aren’t more than two or three other cars in production today that are so beautiful to look at, so balanced, so well-judged. Retro, yes; but not self-concious or over the top in the way that other recent efforts from Alfa’s competitiors have been. To our eyes, the car looks very close to perfect.
So, if you can forgo reason, if you don’t mind the knowledge that the chances of it actually completing any journey you set off on together are….mixed; then head on over to Evo and check out the rest of the photos. And as you’re writing out your cheque to your local Alfa dealer, you might take some comfort in the knowledge that, even as our GTV was being towed away for the last time, we couldn’t help staring at its pert little rump and thinking how gorgeous it was.
Bedeviling cars Alfas.
Forgo reason and indulge: The Alfa Romeo 8C Spider
A long time ago, in a land far far away, we owned an Alfa Romeo GTV for about two years. And just like having a fiery mistress, it was an exhilarating but exhausting relationship that – ultimately – left us yearning for something more reliable, more…dare we say it…conventional. The GTV drove beautifully and, perhaps [...]
3 Responses to “Forgo reason and indulge: The Alfa Romeo 8C Spider”
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I actually think that the Spider is even more attractive than the coupe…
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[...] the courageous Lamborghini Insecta Concept; Ferrari’s return to form with the 458; or the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider that continues to take our breath away every time we look at [...]
Straight-Six
23 September 2009
The Alfa Romeo 8C – particularly in coupe form – is without a doubt the most beguiling and downright sexy production car on the road today.
Does that adequately sum up how we feel, Prodigal Fool?!