Alfa Romeo 4C gets a price - £45,000

The Alfa Romeo 4C pocket-sized supercar will cost £45,000 in the UK – right in the heart of Porsche Cayman prices.

The new Alfa Romeo 4C (pictured) will cost £45,000 in the UK

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After lots of anticipation – and the arrival of the launch edition at £52,000 – Alfa Romeo has finally pit a price on the new Alfa 4C for the UK – £45,000.

That tips the light and agile Alfa 4C right in the middle of the Porsche Cayman and Cayman S territory, signalling clearly that Alfa see the 4C as a proper contender.

With performance from its wrung-out 1750cc modified Giulietta lump, the lightweight Alfa 4C can scoot convincingly to 62mph in 4.5 seconds – quicker than the Cayman S – but should, in many ways, be compared to the Lotus Elise S, a car with similar lightweight credentials and performance but which costs £8k less.

But the 4C does make heavy use of carbon fibre – a quarter of its structure – and has more tech on offer, including a multi-function digital display in place of the instruments, Alfa’s DNA settings and double-wishbone front suspension secured directly to the monocoque, while the rear uses a performance-tuned McPherson setup. But it does have unassisted steering.

The shame is that Alfa hasn’t seen fit to offer a manual ‘box, and early driving reports aren’t glowing with praise for the latest-generation “Alfa TCT” dry twin clutch transmission. But it’s a small gripe – the Alfa 4C is hugely appealing.

The Alfa Romeo 4C goes on sale next month (October 2013) with first UK cars expected in early 2014. There will be just 3,500 4C built.