The Alfa Romeo 8C Spider is an excellent example of how a car can command an enormous price purely on the strength of mesmerizing design and a soundtrack specially tuned by acoustic engineers to sound like a fiery Italian opera.
Beneath the carbon-fiber bodywork lies a Ferrari-built 4.7-liter V8 producing 450 hp, delivering acceleration to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 293 km/h. Only 500 examples were made, and although road testers complained about mediocre handling and a fabric roof that opened at a painfully slow pace, the Alfa remained a coveted collector’s item.
To park this noisy sculpture in your driveway today, you will have to part with between $250,000 and $350,000.
