Top Gear used to promote the idea that you can't call yourself a true petrolhead until you have owned an Alfa Romeo. They were also the first ones to admit that they're pretty terrible cars regarding reliability, but that didn't make them want to change that initial statement one bit.
And as anyone who's owned a car pre-1990 will tell you, a car that brakes down occasionally can indeed be perceived as having a bit of character. You will develop a love and hate kind of relationship, but those are the ones that last forever. It's like the Stockholm syndrome: you'll miss it, even if it's rather bad for you.
Say what you want but today's cars are a lot less likely to breakdown, which is obviously a sign of things moving forward, but it also takes a little away from the experience of owning a motor vehicle. Not having to mend it now and then prevents modern owners from establishing a more meaningful relationship. And even if something was to malfunction, it's not as easy as it once was to make it work again given the complexity of today's engines.
Alfa Romeo is one of the few brands that have managed to keep that type of relationships alive on their current models. And of all the Alfa Romeo cars available today (which aren't that many, to be honest), the 4C best reflects this spirit. That's a car you buy with your heart, something that isn't entirely a compliment. It means that a rational person would choose a different make and model because that is the better option, but it also emphasizes the strong emotional component this brand still manages to exert over the majority of car nuts.
Ever since it was first launched, the best description for the Alfa Romeo 4C was "flawed." That's right, it wasn't bad, it was flawed. That's the kind of attribute usually used to describe a human being, which goes to show once again that you can't bond with many other cars the way you will with the Alfa Romeo 4C.
That's the vehicle somebody who has wanted an Alfa Romeo all their lives gets, ignoring all the "better" options out there and choosing to follow their heart. These four men in the clip below did, and look at them: do you think they regret it even for one second? Of course it's a commercial and everything is scripted, but we doubt there was any real reason to do it. 4C is 4ever.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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