2013 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider - 72 Miles From New

• Autocar magazine: “It’s one of the most desirable sports cars that Italy has produced in a decade”
• Carbon-fibre body, Ferrari dry-sumped, flat-crank, 450bhp, 4.7-litre V8 engine and 6-speed electronically actuated manual gearbox; the Spider weighs just 90kg more than the 8C coupe, resulting in a 0-62mph time of 4.5sec (just 0.3 seconds behind than the Coupe)
• Priced £174,000 when new, and sold out instantly, just 500 Spiders were built, of which only 35 were allocated to the UK
• A UK-market car, with an astonishing 72 miles from new; resplendent in Rosso Competizione paintwork with Black leather interior
• Only a handful of owners, simply custodians of this time-warp example; four services undertaken between Meridien and Graypaul; unequivocally collector-quality

It must be that Alfa Romeo magic, but the 8C Spider is so much more than simply an 8C Competizione without a roof. Maybe it’s the physicality of feeling the wind and having a closer, more visceral connection to the sound of the 450bhp 4.7-litre V8 engine (helped by specially tuned exhausts for the Spider), but there’s certainly something special at play.

It’s certainly not hampered in the performance stakes as the Spider weighs just 90kg more than the coupe, resulting in a 0-62mph time of 4.5sec, only 0.3sec slower than the coupe.

Production of the coupe stopped late in 2008, with deliveries of the Spider taking over to a very fortunate handful of customers, with just 500 Spiders built, of which 35 appeared in the UK, selling out immediately despite a then eye-watering price tag of £174,000. What you got though – a supremely elegant carbon fibre body fitted to a steel chassis, made by Italian company ITCA Produzione, a cross-plane, dry-sump 4,691cc 90° V8 engine assembled by Ferrari, a paddle-operated 6-speed transaxle gearbox, Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, a limited-slip differential, carbon fibre windscreen frame (to maintain a 50/50 weight distribution), and a top speed in excess of 180 mph and a 0 to 62mph time of just 4.2 seconds – all this in a car that is a beautiful as any ever produced from Alfa Romeo.

Alfa Romeo were astute in tailoring the set-up with the Spider while doing all it can to minimise its inevitable weight gain (just 90kgs) and maintain driving pleasure. To this end, the roof is a simple fabric affair that must be manually released from the windscreen. It folds back behind the car, where the front panel acts as its own tonneau. Extra reinforcement appeared under the bonnet, where a massive cross brace has appeared, and under the car, but 14kgs is saved by the standard fitment of carbon-ceramic brakes. The suspension retains its double wishbone architecture but despite stiffer springs and roll bars, it has softer damping and a more compliant ride overall.

Inside, there’s some familiar Maserati switchgear for the transmission, but the naked, satin-finish carbon fibre dashboard and the lushly leather-clad, carbon fibre-shelled seats are pure 8C. So is the hefty chunk of aluminium in the centre console, like a solid cast ingot machined to accommodate vents and switches, then brushed and anodised.

‘Autocar’ magazine said it right: “The 8C Spider is almost everything you could hope from a modern Alfa Romeo supercar. It’s quick, gorgeous and sounds even better than it looks. For someone of a mind and in a position to buy such a car, it’s hard to think how he or she could be disappointed by it.”

The car presented here is a late-registered UK-market example (1 of just 35), with an astonishing 72 miles covered from new, but with appropriate services due to time passed (undertaken between Meridien and Graypaul; due to time constraints pre-auction, our vendor will honour a main dealer service for the new owner after the sale). Resplendent in Rosso Competizione paintwork with Black leather interior, this is as close to a new 8C Spider as is possible.

With only a handful of owners, all of them true Alfa Romeo fanatics, who have simply been custodians of this time-warp example; a car for the serious collector who will not be disappointed. 8Cs are very special modern Alfas, tipped to join an illustrious back-catalogue of valuable and highly sought-after machines.