The Alfa Romeo 4C you and I will, probably, be able to buy is not exactly what they first promised as an affordable sports car. With a base price of over $70K and limited production numbers, it is more of a thoroughbred; a proper Italian exotica.

It is every bit as wonderful, though. Here’s a lightweight, mid-engined Alfa that is designed with no other goal than driving fun in mind. Granted, choosing a 1750cc Turbo engine for it may seem like a decision made by some beardy in the accounting department to make the car more fuel efficient, but don’t forget it churns out 240 horsepower. Which, in a car with a dry weight of 895 kg, is a lot.

Hooked up to the sophisticated latest-generation “Alfa TCT” dry twin clutch automatic transmission that sends the power to the rear wheels, that engine enables the 2014 Alfa Romeo 4C to go from 0 to 100 kmh in 4.5 seconds and reach a top speed of over 250 km/h. And don’t worry about turbo lag, as the engine is fitted with a revolutionary scavenging control system, and it’s not that big anyway. It’ll get up to speed in no time at all.

But the best thing about the Alfa Romeo 4C is the way it looks. The car is bite the back of your hand beautiful. The shape of the body is so glorious that you just don’t mind those idiotic headlights, or the Spartan interior. In fact, you grow to love the simple cabin, as it makes you focus on the job of driving, rather than distracting you with apps and connectivity features that brings up your Facebook.

Alfa just released a bunch of new and very nice pictures of the 4C. So, let’s check’em out: