Alfa Romeo 8C Spider

The flash of red and sinuous shape may catch your eye first. An elegant and tactile cabin may hook you, but it is the throaty blare of its so-Italian V-8 engine that will ultimately gaff you and land you in the boat. The banshee wail issued by an 8C Spider is so captivating, it should be available for download. It will be among the smartest 99 cents you'll ever send to iTunes.Considering that this car that was conceived and designed only as a coupe (making its debut in concept form at the Frankfurt auto show in 2003), the 8C's Spiderfication comes off superbly. Like a slightly shorter and curvier-than-average supermodel, there's not a bad line to be found -- and plenty of sinuous shapes to appreciate. Carbon-fiber body work bolts and bonds to a steel and aluminum tubular chassis. There's additional bracing to compensate for the structural strength given up by the loss of its lid. While structural rigidity suffers by nearly 30 percent, the coupe was so strong to begin with that the Spider is a mostly body wiggle-free machine. Alfa bagged the notion of a retractable hardtop, citing high development costs, design compromises in the rear-deck area, and the more coachbuilt nature of a rich-looking soft top. Good call. Weight goes up by about 200 pounds