Road icon: The Alfa Romeo 4C

Italy’s newest Alfa Romeo 4C is as close to a street legal track car as you’ll find out there.

Structurally, think of a go-kart frame with a rear engine, and you have the basis for the lightweight 4C. You also need to be a hardcore enthusiast willing to put up with impediments and pitfalls to appreciate this high performance set of wheels.
From a raw rumble at idle to its chainsaw roar through the gears, the 4C is everything you’d want in a sports car and much more at an attractive mid-$50,000 base price.

The 4C, built by Maserati in its Modena, Italy, facility, is a mid-engine, turbocharged four-cylinder supercar with a six-speed automatic/manual twin clutch transmission.
The two-seater weighs in at 2,465 pounds thanks to generous use of carbon fiber body parts.Its lightweight, gearing and sport-tuned suspension combine to make it one of the quickest and loudest exotic cars on the planet. Our testing from a stop to 60 mph clocked at 4.3 seconds in race mode, one of three selectable rides.