Alfa Romeo 4C Spider concept is a far cry from Dustin Hoffman’s Graduate Duetto

By Stephen Edelstein March 4, 2014

At the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, Alfa Romeo unveiled a new Spider concept. Somebody tell Dustin Hoffman.

If it ever gets to production, the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider might be able to get Americans to think of an Alfa as something other than that car from The Graduate.

This is, of course, a topless version of the mid-engined 4C sports car, which was first unveiled as a concept at Geneva back in 2011.

The 4C’s Italian Lotus Exige styling hasn’t suffered from the removal of the roof; if anything, the Spider looks better than the hardtop. It also features a new headlight design that replaces the many-eyed look of the current production 4C.

To achieve that look, Alfa added a carbon fiber roll bar and carbon windshield surround to maintain structural rigidity and integrated the rear window into the bodywork. The roof itself is a soft top panel.

Other changes include unique alloy wheels and a special three-layer white paint finish that is sure to highlight the corpses of all of the bugs the driver hits.

Remarkably, Alfa says the 4C Spider will weigh about the same as the coupe, which has an unbelievably low (dry) curb weight of around 2,200 pounds.

The Spider also has the same 1.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine as the 4C coupe. It produces 240 horsepower and is coupled to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

However, the 4C Spider is equipped with a special dual-stage central exhaust system. It features carbon and titanium tailpipes from Akrapovic, which produces racing exhaust systems for MotoGP and other series, and electric valves that can be opened to make more noise.

The 4C Spider arrives amid reports that Alfa is backing out of an agreement with Mazda to develop a sports car in tandem with the next MX-5 Miata.

Perhaps it will simply build the 4C Spider instead although, considering the hardtop 4C’s estimated base price of $54,000, it would probably be more expensive than any Miata-based model.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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