The first batch of Alfa Romeo 4C mid-engine 2-seaters came ashore in the USA in the summer of 2014, ending what had been a twenty year absence from the American market for the marque.
A little bantamweight coupe with fiberglass bodywork enclosing a carbon fiber monocoque chassis, the hardtop 4C coupe rode on a 93.7-inch wheelbase and only weighed 2,471 pounds all gassed up and ready to rock. The roofline barely came up to a six-footer's belly button and it cast a shadow hardly more than 13-feet long.
Thanks to these diminutive measurements, the 4C didn't need a lot of motor to put up decent performance numbers. Powered by Alfa's turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16V 1.7L inline four, rated at 237 SAE net horsepower, the 4C managed to crack off a 4.1 second zero-to-sixty time and a 12.8 second quarter at 107 through the traps when tested by Car and Driver.
It was a head to head test against a Porsche Cayman, which the Alfa handily out-accelerated despite a nearly forty horsepower deficit, thanks to a quarter ton weight advantage. Top speed was measured at 159mph and it stopped from seventy in only 144 feet.
Alas, the 4C coupe was discontinued in the US market after the 2018 model year, with less than 2,000 units having sold here. This means the Rosso Alfa Red and Basalt Gray Metallic coupes here are uncommon sights indeed. The red one was snapped with a Fuji X-T2 and XF 16-80mm f/4 R WR OIS zoom lens in July of 2021, while the gray one was photographed in April of 2021 using a Sony RX100.
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