Jim Resnick
The 4C isn't perfect, but it will make you find excuses to drive it.
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Alfa Romeo's 4C Spider is a car of won'ts and nots. Aside from the fully carbon-fiber tub—like a million-dollar LaFerrari—you won't find much high-tech zootery (or is that high-zoot tech-ery?). You won't find autonomous lane-keeping, radar-fed cruise control, crash-avoidance software, or inductive charging mats. It does not have luggage space where a normal suitcase will fit. Power steering or power retractable roof? Not so much. You’d even be challenged to find basic cruise control at all, unless you look hard, because it's hidden pretty well. But, you won't care.
You will find a laser-focused sports car, nimbleness, and a big dose of driving magic it otherwise takes Ferrari money to obtain. Yes, this is the $64,000 "baby Ferrari" question that nearly no one asked for ($76,495 with options as tested). It's as simultaneously brilliant and flawed as actual Ferraris of 10 or 15 years ago. In that sense, a "best of times / worst of times" sports car. Dickensian.
Throw the lightweight little Alfa (2,487 lbs/1,128 kg) around a track or your own favorite set of switchbacks, and you quickly discover why this car is here on Earth. The Alfa snicks and sticks everywhere, making you a driving champion mentally. This is a Michael Schumacher maker for your mind.
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