I have just finished reading the first road test of this car in the January R & T; I like it very much...moreso than the 599 even. I just wonder if this is sort of a wasted effort, though - only about 300 to be made, and all already spoken for. Perhaps they would have been better to make a modern-day Duetto or 2 Litre coupe or something? To actually get back into the volume market, I mean.
This is simply a halo car to reintroduce the brand back into the US. To make Alfa work in the US they'd have to build them here due to Euro/$. I was the first person to place an order. Hopefully it will show up one fine day.
Napolis... what did you order by the way? I am assuming red exterior... but what options did you select and what color interior...? Also, has anyone else placed a U.S. order?
I had a brief drive at MedowBrook. Seemed Great. I liked the special red. The options weren't totally finalized but luggage/light wheels/nav/4 leaf shield/ Dark Tan weave interior.
Thanks Napolis Did they have a Black or Yellow at MeadowBrook? Curious how those look on the car... I have only seen Alfa red in person. Can't wait until you get yours and you can report the ownership experience...
Napolis, Have you heard if Alfa has decided to delay the reintroduction of its mass produced cars in the US? Just curious if I will be able to buy a new Alfa anytime soon. Thanks.
I think the euro/$ is making it harder and certainly may push the date out especially if it necessitates building US plants. Sergio Marchionne the head of FIAT commented on this yesterday.
That's pretty casual about the 'hang time' on your order...LOL! Best not to rush these things........ So we'll see an infusion of Italian passion similar to the Mercedes engineers I met at F1 Indy in 2000? They were sent to fire up the Truck Plant..... They said the backwoods of the South was NOTHING like the backwoods of Germany......
That'd be too carbo intensive, I'm thinking more of the 'Italian seasoning meets fresh Gulf Offshore catch of the day'.. Lady Valeria's cholesterol was on the ceiling with all the Tex Mex, I don't think there's any butter or real cheese left in da house......I got the Andretti Olive Oil down off the trophy shelf..... If we can get Tax incentives for Formosa Plastics, bringing in something like an Alpha Factory would be a no brainer........
Your new car will be great...... all the pics I've seen are beautiful... I stop at all the old car lots when I see an one out........saw one last week, chrome bumper version with only ONE rust perforation.......
I got some photos of a black 8C at the Tokyo Motor Show. I posted a link to the photos in the Northern California section, but only one reply, so I didn't really go any further. Thread is here: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173569&highlight=tokyo Direct link to TMS photos: http://web.mac.com/kyokopop/iWeb/Tokyo%20Motor/40thTMS-1.html
Napolis, I still think this was the catch of the year...and I reread the road test last night and took another long look - SO - are you going to do anything about those wheels???
I really like how the Traditional ones look but the Sport ones are 40lbs lighter over all which is a lot of unsprung weight. Best
Actually it's 500 coupes and AT LEAST 500 Spiders... possibly up to 1500 and possibly a "Challenge stradale" version. Also, Alfa makes mainstream cars, if you didn't know, including a Spider which can be had with a 2.2 liter 4 cylinder engine. My critisizm of the 8C is that it has ZERO Alfa Romeo tech in it. It's basically a reskinned Gransport. The last Alfa supercar, the Zagato ES30, was all Alfa.
Well, I was speaking to their hopes for the American market. Napolis makes an excellent point, one which I had not considered, in that they would probably have to invest in a manufacturing facility here in order to make economic sense. I just hope they can make it back into the real-world US sports car market; I for one still miss their honest little cars of the late 50s and mid 60s. As for the 8C, I still think that Ferrari could take some pointers from the style aspects...it is proof positive that you do not have to go imitation retro to make a great looking GT in this day and age. And, as far as that "alpha originality" thing goes, does this really matter any more, so long as the 8C turns out to be a truly great car?
No. If anything, they will be able to get not only higher quality but better productivity here in the USA as long as the plant is put in a "right to work" state.
Definitely a cool car. The headlamps are my favorite part, look classic and modern at the same time and the wheels are stunning, IMO. The interior looked a little overly metallic, but overall very elegant. I have seen the new Maserati Granturismo in person, and the Alfa could knock it off the top perch for Italian coupes. As posted, I'm sure it's a halo car. I only hope the rest of the line looks this good.
