Alfa Romeo 4C Spider goes on sale in the UK – price from £59,500

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The Alfa Romeo 4C Spider – Alfa’s open-top take on its pocket supercar – finally goes on sale in the UK with more equipment than the coupe and priced from £59,500.

It’s more than two years since the production version of the Alfa Romeo 4C was revealed, and that was two years after the concept. So we shouldn’t be surprised it’s taken more than a year for the convertible version – the new Alfa 4C Spider – to go on sale in the UK after it debuted in Geneva in 2014.

Alfa has priced the 4C Spider at £59,500, some £8,000 more than the 4C Coupe, but it does get the latest equipment upgrades for the 4C, including upgraded sound, parking sensors, cruise control and a car cover. You’ll also be able to buy a carbon fibre hardtop at a later date (this is Alfa – they haven’t got round to making it yet).

You also get, out of necessity, some re-working of the 4C’s looks to accommodate the soft-top, including a new aluminium rollover structure sitting under a a black ‘halo’, a carbon fibre windscreen frame and an engine strut for extra rigidity. At the back, Alfa Spider buttresses enhance the looks, and there’s a new engine cover with heat extractors and a small spoiler.

There’s also a new carbon fibre air intake system for additional transmission cooling, a choice of different alloys in either 17″/18″ (f-r) or 18″/19″ in dark or silver finishes and the option of the new Spider launch colour – Giallo Prototipo.

Under the skin it’s the same as the coupe, with the same 1750cc, 237bhp engine and performance the same too – 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 160mph.

The Alfa 4C Spider isn’t exactly cheap, but if you can afford it then it’ll be a lot of fun. Now on sale at Alfa’s UK dealers, you can get your order in straight away – and actually take delivery of your new drop-top Alfa just in time for summer to be over.

But this is Alfa Romeo.