Alfa Romeo has designed an excellent 460hp, 4.7 liter, V8 engine coupe, priced at $227,000 or 160,000 Euro, the 8C Competizione. The car is inspired from The Maserati GT GranSport, especially in it’s mechanical part. This car’s goal is to compete the German constructors in power, comfort and safety and will only be built in a limited edition of 500 models. Already 84 models are confirmed to be built in Modena, Italy over the next two years, at Maserati’s factory.

It is not the first time we hear about the Alfa Romeo 8C, the first time being presented as a concept at 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show and now, four years later it finally went on production.

The 8C Competizione combines a sportive design with some retro styles and also modern parts, making it a stylish and lovely car. Not only that it looks good, but it’s great to drive, being extremely powerful. It’s body is made of carbon fiber, which makes it very lightweight and it measures 172.4×74.5×52.8 inches ( long, wide, high ).

Along with it’s beautiful exterior design, there’s a shining interior, with a two seat cabin, made of combinations of carbon fiber and aluminum, to create a solid appeal and comfortable seats. The seats are electronically adjustable and covered in leather, to provide style and comfort, both for the driver and passenger.

The rear-wheel drive is powered by a naturally aspired, V8 with four valves per cylinder, that’s also used in Quattroporte and Gran Turismo, but with some upgrades. The gear shifting is made using the paddles on the steering column and this is the only option. Alfa Romeo states the car reaches 0-100km/h in 4.2 seconds, being extremely fast and can reach a top speed of 296km/h.

The Geneva 2002 presented car, ItalDesign Brera concept coupe was a very big hit, even the new Alfa Romeo 159 has it’s styling. Robert Cumberford, Automobile Magazine’s design editor says the Brera is pirated from the Zagato study, made earlier, but Ital is taking the credit for it. Alfa Romeo’s new coupe platform was going to be shared with Saab, originaly, but the joint venture didn’t work. The car is 173.8 inch long and has 3 engine options: a 3.2 liter V6 which produces 260 hp, the most powerful, a 2.4 liter direct injection turbodiesel, 200 hp and a 185 hp, 2.2 liter with direct injection. You can choose from six speed manual or automatic transmissions. It will be on sale in November and possibly in 2007 on the US market too.