Stunning Alfa Romeo 8C for sale

For a company that’s widely known for high-end performance cars that look right at home parked outside the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, Alfa Romeo doesn’t set them apart. True, it’s always been good at making ordinary cars look pretty cool, and the occasional (often brilliant) Quadrifoglio keeps its sporty image lively and attractive, but a dedicated performance car? They only come around once a decade, if that.

More recently, this has taken the form of the very unexpected and extremely limited 33 Stradale: a stunning homage to its 60s namesake and based on the underpinnings of the Maserati MC20, which, funnily enough, (albeit supposedly) started life as an Alpha. It’s a hotly debated topic, but if you’re inclined to believe the rumours, Alfa’s take would have been a follow-up to the 8C with a name to match. It was supposedly axed, along with BMW’s M4 rival GTV coupe, to make way for more secure gains like compact SUVs. As consolidation prices go, though, it doesn’t get much better than the MC20 and 33 Stradale, but it does mean that a car like the one we have here remains the latest (and potentially last) V8-powered Alfa.

In the looks department, topping the old 8C would have been a tall order. It’s hard to believe that the Competizione concept debuted more than 20 years ago and that its Wolfgang Egger design would make it to the production model without significant changes four years later in 2007. Its name refers to the eight-cylinder competition cars of old, with front-engined GT silhouettes a modern take on many of its beautiful racers from the second half of the 30s. But there’s a ’60s vibe there, especially the almost-kammback and duck tail – and yet it still feels modern to this day.

Additionally, the body was made of carbon fiber like only the most serious performance GTs of the day. Somewhat less light was the steel chassis it was draped over, meaning the coupe isn’t as light on its feet as you might think it would be at 1,585kg. However, a 4.7-litre, 450bhp V8 developed by Ferrari and assembled by Maserati meant it had more than enough grunt to propel it along, and a devilish soundtrack while doing so. Then there were carbon ceramic brakes, a limited-slip differential and (very on-trend for 2007) a six-speed automated manual transmission. This is a kit list for a car that, at least from the outside, looks made to ply the streets of Saint Tropez.

It’s safe to say that expectations were high ahead of the 8C’s arrival, especially since Alfa Romeo had never built a supercar in the modern era. Unfortunately for the manufacturer, a scathing review of the TG has hung over the 8C like a dark cloud for decades, with Clarkson describing the supercar’s handling as “terrible”. Ben Collins wasn’t as keen on the 8C, ranking it among his least favorite cars from his time at the show. However, he put the TVR Sagaris on that list as well, and having recently driven one myself, I’m not entirely sure what he’s on about. At six or seven tenths, the Sagaris is great, as I’m sure the 8C would be too.

Then again, I wasn’t driving the Sagaris at Stig speed and I doubt many would in the Alfa 8C either. Not nowadays, though, when this 6,996-mile example will set you back £239,990 – or about double what it was worth new in 2009. That opens the door for plenty of V12 Ferraris, like this 2016 F12 or even this 812 Super fast. All very special cars, of course, but how often do you see an 8C roaming the streets of London or spinning non-stop at a car meet? Hardly ever, and that’s a big win in our book.