The Alfa Romeo 4C is often heralded as a kind of baby Ferrari. Something about that yellow paint job and open top on the new Alfa 4C Spider makes it look even more like the Ferrari 458 Speciale A's little brother. I like what I'm seeing.
We've known the 4C Spider was coming for some time, and now here it is in the flesh, er, carbon fiber at the Detroit Auto Show. Since the 4C's carbon-fiber monocoque was designed for a convertible version from the get-go, it needs only minor tweaks like an aluminum rollbar underneath the black carbon fiber "halo" and crossbeam over the engine.
The roof is a cloth unit that can be stowed away when it's not in use, and later in the year after its initial release it will get an exposed carbon fiber hardtop.
Beyond that, it's much the same as its roofed sibling — 1.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that emits sex noises and is good for 237 horsepower, a twin-clutch transmission and rear-wheel drive. It only weighs 22 pounds more than the hardtop version.
I dunno, if you're going to get an Alfa 4C, this one might just be the one to get.