The Ideal Affordable Supercar

Alfa Romeo's small supercar, the4Cis, according to Alfa Romeo, the essence of sporty Alfa Romeo DNA, boasting driving pleasure, safety, and breathtaking design.

However, this 4C is not a supercar destined to remain an unattainable dream. It has been developed with the aim of being an affordable dream that Alfa Romeo fans can actually own.

So, how do you build an affordable supercar? What Alfa Romeo has revealed this time is the 4C's production process, which explains just that.

Its most striking feature is evident in its weight.

A dry weight of just 895 kg was chosen to achieve a power-to-weight ratio comparable to supercars, using a smaller engine.

Naturally, installing a larger engine would increase the price. Therefore, Alfa Romeo adopted a 1.75-liter four-cylinder engine, also found in the "Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde," for the 4C. It produces a maximum output of 240 ps and a maximum torque of 350 Nm.

The carbon fiber monocoque, which also achieves high rigidity, weighs a mere 65 kg. It is made using pre-preg (a sheet material impregnated with resin into carbon fiber) derived from F1 technology, enabling mass production of over 1,000 parts per year.

Furthermore, by appropriately using aluminum, steel, and SMC (Sheet Molding Compound) for the body, the weight was kept down, resulting in the 895 kg weight and a power-to-weight ratio better than 4 kg/ps.

The manufacturing process benefits from the collaboration withMaserati.

Maserati's Modena factory enables swift car assembly, despite the extensive use of manual labor by skilled artisans. Whether you consider the completion of a process in 20 minutes, which takes 50 seconds in a mass-production factory, to be fast or slow is something you can judge by watching the manufacturing process in the video below.

Work at the Modena factory involves attaching the chassis, roof, windshield, and frame to the carbon monocoque, followed by detailed checks covering 400 items, culminating in final finishing in a cradle-like frame.

Once it passes operational checks and a 40 km road test, it is ready for shipment.

So, what is the price of this 4C? Currently, the price for the limited-edition "Launch Edition", limited to 1,000 units worldwide to commemorate its launch, is set at 60,000 euros (approximately 7.3 million yen) in Europe.