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Alfa Romeo recently revealed photographs of the construction process of its new 'compact supercar', the 4C. As can be seen on these images, Maserati is is instrumental in the production of this strikingly beautiful sportscar. According to Alfa Romeo, "The designation '4C' refers to Alfa Romeo’s great sporting tradition: in the 1930s and 1940s the names 8C and 6C were used for cars – both racing and non – fitted with the powerful ‘eight cylinders’ and the innovative ‘six cylinders’. The 4C design layout and construction achieves the weight/power ratio of an authentic supercar (lower than 4 kg/HP) by containing the weight rather than increasing the engine power in order to guarantee maximum agility and optimum performance. Designed by Alfa Romeo engineers and manufactured at the Maserati plant in Modena, the captivating coupé uses technologies and materials derived from the 8C Competizione - carbon, aluminium, rear-wheel drive - and technologies from the latest Alfa Romeo standard models currently on the market, but thoroughly developed to enhance the sports appeal of the new car to the full. This is demonstrated by the new 1750 Turbo Petrol engine with direct injection and aluminium block, the sophisticated 'Alfa TCT' twin dry clutch transmission and the DNA selector with the new Race mode." As a matter of interest, this year marks the 90th anniversary of the legendary 'Quadrifoglio Verde' emblem. The first Alfa Romeo to be adorned with the Quadrifoglio Verde was Ugo Sivocci’s ‘RL’. In it he won the 14th edition of the Targa Florio in 1923. This victory was the first of ten achieved in this prestigious competition. Since then, all Alfa Romeo racing cars have carried this emblem and lucky charm known throughout the world, the same which has characterised specific standard production Alfa Romeos from the 1960s onwards. The victory followed a perfect race: 432 km of the Madonìe Circuit (4 laps of 108 km each) at an average of 59.040 km/h, a speed which was amazing at the time, considering the treacherous circuit conditions under which the race was held. Alfa Romeo’s success was so dominant that the other drivers of the Alfa Romeo team – including Enzo Ferrari, Antonio Ascari and Giulio Ramponi – decided to adopt the ‘Quadrifoglio Verde’ for all other races. From this moment on, the ‘Quadrifoglio Verde’ became the symbol of Alfa's race cars and was later also used on special series production models to demonstrate the continuity between 'touring' cars and those designed for competition.
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