8C Competizione

So, the car itself is not necessarily anything to write home about (oh sure, it’s plenty nice, but we’d bet its raison d’être is mainly to be yet another plaything for the bored and wealthy to add to the stable (not unlike, say, the 911 Sport Classic)), but it’s still a lovely motor, and in particular we enjoy the high-key black-and-white treatment it’s been given in these photographs. Which is why we are displaying them here.

The 8C Competizione (production: 500 units) is said to be an homage to the 6C 2500 Competizione driven to victory in the 1950 Targa Florio by the team of Augusto Zanardi and none other than El Maestro himself, the legendary Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.

It’s awfully hard to justify an 8C when a 458 Italia can be had for less, but judged solely on looks (since that’s pretty much all we have to go by), we know which one we’d rather take (although as an aside, a trustworty source informs us that the 458 acquits itself in stunning fashion when witnessed in the metal— which we also don’t doubt).

via

~ by velofinds on December 1, 2010.

Posted in Still images
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14 Responses to “8C Competizione”

  1. The 458 is the kind of car that wealthy Emiratis drive obnoxiously around Knightsbridge at 4 A.M.

    The 8C is for gentlemen.

    Derek Kreindler said this on December 1, 2010 at 10:47 am

  2. i think there is a grain of truth to that, except replace 458 with “koenigsegg” or “murciélago,” and “gentlemen” with “european playboys” (maybe less obnoxious, but only slightly so) for greater accuracy.

    motoring con brio said this on December 1, 2010 at 10:52 am

  3. I know I am going to get flamed for this, but the 8C is one of those rare cars that look better in photographs (and on film) than in real life. It is just too short to be pretty, and its proportions are all wrong. It looks stumpy and not very elegant in real life. And that ass is much bigger in real life too. :-/

    Etienne said this on December 1, 2010 at 3:56 pm

  4. @etienne, i can tell you that there is at least one other person who doesn’t disagree with you 😉

    http://www.automobiliac.com/automobiliac/2010/9/2/the-automobiliac-proposes-vol-4-alfa-romeo-8c-competizione.html

    motoring con brio said this on December 1, 2010 at 4:02 pm

    • Interesting! I thought I was the only one! Even though design is subjective, there are design elements (which our friend Automobiliac pointed out) which universally translate into something beautiful, even if applied to any design. 🙂

      Etienne said this on December 2, 2010 at 1:06 pm

  5. I’ll take the 458. It puts this car to shame in person.

    Automobiliac said this on December 1, 2010 at 6:01 pm

    • I honestly think the sound of the Alfa beats the Ferrari. I first saw both of these cars in South Beach and I could hear the Alfa from 3 blocks away – the FerrarI? Sounds good but less brutal than I expected.

      Murph said this on December 1, 2010 at 6:02 pm

  6. true – However, I would argue this is perhaps art on wheels harking back to the classics while the 458 is the future. Very much cars of different eras – I’m partial to old school! Give me a 911 GT3 of the 458 too!

    Murph said this on December 1, 2010 at 8:44 pm

  7. that sounds about right. for me this is a car that’s cut from the same cloth as the v12 vantage. cutting edge in technology and engineering it is not. but classically pretty it is— both of them (the alfa as well as the aston).

    thought this is also worth dropping here:

    motoring con brio said this on December 1, 2010 at 9:05 pm

  8. That’s exactly what I thought of when I wrote it. Clarkson’s right – even if it isn’t great to drive it’s still great. Look at the Miura – it’d probably catch on fire but good lord was it an incredible car to sit and stare at.

    And I agree about the V12 Vantage – probably the type of car we won’t see a lot of in the coming decade.

    Murph said this on December 1, 2010 at 9:31 pm

  9. This debate is would you rather shag the supermodel or the other supermodel. Personally I prefer the 8C. I never knew the Competitizione existed. I would.

    Paul said this on December 2, 2010 at 4:46 am

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