Design and desire: Alfa 8C Competizione - Distinguished parts, delectable whole

Competizione - so it's a race car, then?
Er, no. It's purely a road car, although Alfa is planning some sort of race programme with a different-bodied version.

Sounds a bit special
It is. Only 500 are being made, all left-hand drive, and even though the car has just gone into production, they're all sold. The UK is getting 41.

Pricey?
£111,000.

For an Alfa? Are they mad?
It's not as insane as it first sounds. The engine, a development of Maserati's 400bhp 4.2 V8, is made by Ferrari.

There's a rear-mounted, six-speed Maserati paddle-shift gearbox. The suspension comes from the Maserati Gran Turismo, but has been comprehensively retuned by Alfa .

The bodies are carbonfibre (the stuff Formula One cars are made of) on a steel frame, assembled and painted in Turin.

Maserati builds the car in Modena. Each car takes about eight weeks to complete.