Recent Visit ot the Fiat Dealer

RJH

True Classic
I went to my local Fiat/Alfa dealer last week. They had a Alfa 4C Spider there in the showroom and I spoke with the sales manager.

He said sales of the Alfa 4C have been terrible for Fiat. They said they had a conference call with FCA and they admitted they rolled the car out poorly and did a very poor marketing job. I was very surprised by this. The car looked amazing in person and much better than the photos.

He went on to say the new Fiat 124 will be in the showrooms in 3 weeks. And also the Giulia soon.

Perhaps poor 4C sales will lead to low used 4C prices? I can only hope. I look at it as a new modern Fiat X1/9 Bertone except the price is way out of range.
 
Beautiful car

I had my Abarth in for an oil change and they had a yellow 4c on the showroom floor. Love the looks and I could deal with the Spider version... if the seats fit and if it wasn't such a pain in the keister to get in and out of it. The high door sills and seat bottoms that would only fit a much narrower backside than I sport are deal-killers for me.
 
I think the 4C, at least in the USA, is a car with no market.

It's a beautiful car, but its extremely narrow focus as pretty much a track day car, plus the small size of the cabin, limits its appeal here.

The closest comparable car I can think of is Lotus, and they struggle to sell more than 250-300 cars a year in the USA.

I wonder if they made a version with typical amenities and from steel or aluminum instead of carbon fiber, with a matching price reduction, would it sell better?
 
As said, know your market. Mazda still keeps cranking out Miatas since 1989.....practical, fun and desired ergonomics with a nice price. I have seen the 4C and it is a stunning car, did not realize it was a pain to live with. I had a short drive in a friend's Lotus years ago and it was a pain to get in and out of and the seat was rather unforgiving. I asked him before the drive why he didn't drive it to work and after the drive I understood completely. Obviously the new 24 won't have this problem but in typical fashion Fiat will probably totally mess up the marketing of this car.
 
They only have to sell 2500 cars a year for two years, then that's it apparently (5000 car production).

I think it's a HELL of a car for not really that much money. It's the least expensive carbon fiber monocoque chassis vehicle that you can buy!

That's a lot of high tech in there in a modern and reliable package.
 
Fiat/Maserati dealer is about a mile from me today. I should go annoy them, cruise the lot in my X and dribble some rust on their lot.:)

Didn't make it. Ran across a guy at an intersection with a VW stalled with dead battery. We jumped it off my X. I got saved by a good samaritan Monday (I left my lights on) so the karma must be forwarded.
 
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Back in 1980

Back in 1980 I worked in IT at a large commodity brokerage in a rather upscale part of town. I took my brand new 1980 X over to the Ferrari dealer at lunch one day. I was in a 3-piece suit (standard brokerage issue back then), so I guess the salesmen were hedging their bets that I may be a broker. They let me sit in a 308 and even start it up, but they did not seem to anxious to let me actually drive it. I would have. ;)

Fast forward to spring 2015. The local Fiat studio held a spring get together on a Sunday and had the first 4c in town at the event. I rolled up in my primered 85 X in my now standard issue t-shirt and shorts. The 4c was beautiful indeed. I didn't take a ride or even get in it, but it was fun to look at and dream.
 
The lack of a manual transmission killed my interest in it.


I wouldn't go that far. And I'm the biggest manual transmission nazi you'll ever know. Some of these automated manuals are quite impressive.

The car that blew my mind? Audi R8 V10 S-tronic. Absolutely amazing. I also enjoyed the DuoSelect Maserati Quattroporte.

So I'm open to the 4C being a "flappy paddle gearbox".

I seriously sat in one a week ago...white on red. I am not overly happy with how they did the targa top...the front windshield top is too thick and wide and it hampers the open feeling of the car. But otherwise...wow, I'm tempted. Instead of a Ferrari 348/355...get a 4C. The carbon tub is absolutely beautiful.
 
Old School

Call me old fashion (as my grandkids do), but a proper sports car needs to be rowed, not flicked.
As usual, there is no right or wrong here, just a personal preference. :hug:
 
I dunno, I definitely had to row my 72 El Camino but only needed to flick my 90 Miata. Same deal with my 124 spider versus the X I hope to acquire soon.
 
Help me understand.

I just don't understand why it is so useless? No Space inside, barely any trunk space, ugly as sin. The engineers must have heard about the X1/9 somewhere along their live experiences? An X with a K20 conversion is a much better car. Now wouldn't that be a great test? God its ugly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyL-5WQzMQE
 
yep - all that's true

It's all true (the youtube video) - but if I had 70k just laying around, I'd probably get one. I think the K20A powered X1/9 won't be as awesome, but a much better all around car for sure.

I think I'll go with the K20 X...
 
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