Alfa Romeo 4C star of ‘Autostyle Design Competition 2013’

• The tenth edition of the event dedicated to world automotive design gets underway
• Awards for the promising new models in the International Special Versions Competition
• Cars on display and workshops with the sector's finest at Villa di Bagno
• 4 October, 10 a.m.: Alessandro Maccolini, Chief Designer of the Alfa Romeo 4C , will reveal the secrets of the supercar that marks the return of the brand to the world of lightweight sports coupés

The tenth edition of 'Autostyle Design Competition', a captivating voyage to discover world automotive design, will run from 3 to 4 October at Porto Mantovano (Mantua). The highlight of the event is the traditional International Special Versions Competition, reserved for promising new models from some of Europe's most famous design academies.

Hosted within the Villa di Bagno, an evocative location possessing a garden with a history of more than 100 years, the prestigious event's superior schedule features debates, workshops and round tables with the sector's finest. This splendid setting will also host a display of the 20 cars which captured the most attention in the course of 2013.

Here there is a place of honour for the new Alfa Romeo 4C, an uncompromising 'driving machine' that beckons drivers to thrill behind its wheel, whether on the road or on the track. Currently being presented to the international press at the Balocco Test Centre - Alfa Romeo has been testing and perfecting its models on this circuit since 1962 - the supercar marks the return of the brand to the world of lightweight sports coupés.

Extraordinary performance, unique handling, extreme aerodynamics and design that takes up the stylistic features of the Alfa Romeo tradition. That's a summary of the new lightweight supercar that will be unveiled to those in attendance at the show in Mantua by Alessandro Maccolini, Chief Designer of the Alfa Romeo 4C, during the workshop entitled 'Alfa Romeo 4C: one-way street' scheduled for 4 October, 10 a.m.

Designed by Alfa Romeo Style Centre, the development of the 4C's exterior was characterised from the start by the need to emphasise the style of the car and the technical characteristics both from a dynamic and aerodynamic point of view. For this reason, all the style solutions adopted have been optimised in accordance with the ultimate goal of the car: performance.

To meet this end, the surfaces were treated as sculpture and engineers worked side by side with the designers to carve all the innovative aerodynamic solutions out of it. The result of this teamwork led to a car that conveys pure sports style through a union of technology and beauty, which is an essential requisite for any Alfa Romeo sports car, where form is always first and foremost function. Besides, every structural element has been conceived for maximum dynamic efficiency, and to help create the downforce needed to ensure maximum grip under fast cornering.

The Alfa Romeo 4C immediately brings to mind some of the traditional iconic models which have left a significant mark in the history of the Brand. Above all others, in terms of dimensional and layout similarities, one stands out in particular: the 33 Stradale of 1967, a car that combined extreme mechanical and functional requirements with an essential style which "clothed" the engine and chassis appropriately with unmistakable Alfa Romeo treatments.

The Alfa Romeo 4C has followed suit, and thus completes a journey which was embarked upon with the 8C Competizione, emphasising some particular concepts of the brand, such as compact size, dynamism and agility. The same search for the bare essentials has been applied to building one of the world's lightest-weight cars, the Alfa Romeo 4C. A genuine search for the ideal weight led to the formula to combine 'lightness and efficiency' while exploring new solutions and materials, not to mention meticulous development work involving highly advanced technologies, in many cases coming from the excellence of Formula 1 or the aviation sector.

This vehicle quite simply screams Alfa. Its sports car soul creates unique driving sensations, both on the road and when racing, where velocity and transverse acceleration offer even the most expert driver unrivalled driving thrills: from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds flat, 258 km/h top speed, deceleration peaks in the range of 1.2 g and lateral acceleration peaks over 1.1 g. All this is also achieved with a balanced weight distribution, with 40% on the front axle and 60% on the rear.  The dynamic qualities of the Alfa Romeo 4C are also confirmed by a weight to power ratio of less than 4 kg/HP; it's a value worthy of a 'supercar'.

'Autostyle Design Competition 2013' is organised by Berman S.p.A., a car component company since 1972, by Auto&Design magazine and by the Politecnico di Milano (Mantua Campus), and is sponsored by the Mantua Chamber of Commerce, the Province of Mantua and the Comune of San Benedetto Po (Mantua).

Turin, 3 October 2013