The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione should have been utterly brilliant. A front-engined, rear-drive layout with near-perfect weight distribution, one of the all-time great engines in the form of the sonorous, cross-plane crank 4.7-litre version of the Ferrari–Maserati F136 V8, and that body, which is surely one of the prettiest to clothe any car this millennium.
The reality is that the 8C was a rolling embodiment of everything that can sometimes make Italian cars phenomenal and frustrating in equal parts: it simply wasn’t that great to drive. Chief among its flaws was the clunky semi-automatic six-speed paddleshift gearbox.
Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione M – interior
Now, though, we can rejoice, because a Swiss tuning firm has set out to give the 8C what it always deserved: a proper manual gearbox. The company in question is Officine Fioravanti, which we last heard from a couple of years ago when it showed off its 9000rpm Ferrari Testarossa restomod.
Its work on the 8C is arguably even more tantalising: it could have kept things looking factory-spec and whacking in the gearknob from a 159, but instead, it’s crafted an exquisite open-gated six-speed shift arrangement, with further attention given to its manual-ness by leaving the linkage exposed. It’s topped off with a beautiful and, we assume, handmade wooden knob.
Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione M – rear detail
Fioravanti hasn’t just called it a day with the manual, either. It’s swapped out the basic suspension for an electronically adjustable Öhlins setup, given it carbon-ceramic brakes, and overhauled its electronic systems. It’s also given it a new engine calibration, lifting power from the original 444bhp, although by how much it hasn’t said.
Likewise, there’s said to be a “significant reduction” in the 8C’s weight, undoubtedly contributed to by the new FIA-approved carbon fibre bucket seats, which have been trimmed in a sumptuous textured red leather for this show car.
Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione M – interior
Christened the 8C Competizione M, Fioravanti hasn’t said how much all of this will cost, or indeed whether it only plans a limited run or it’s something anyone with an 8C can have done. We hope it’s the latter – we’d imagine there’ll be a fair few owners who’ll jump at the chance to give their 8C the driving experience promised by its sensational looks and engine.
