Alfa Details 4C Sports Car

Fiat SpA has released photos and a few technical details about the limited-production 4C sports car it will introduce in Europe this summer. The car, which will be publicly unveiled next month at the Geneva auto show, is due in North America by year-end.

The 4C will feature an all-carbon-fiber chassis and a newly developed four-cylinder, 1.8-liter aluminum turbocharged engine. Mounted behind the two seats, the powerplant is expected to make about 260 hp. Power will be delivered to the rear wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The little supercar is only 13 feet long, 3.9 feet tall and 6.6 feet wide and rides on a 94.5-inch wheelbase. Alfa says the 4C will have a weight-to-power ratio of less than 4 kg/hp, which suggests a zero-60 mph acceleration time well below 5 seconds.

The 4C was unveiled in prototype form at the 2011 Geneva auto show. At the time, Alfa reportedly planned to produce about 20,000 of the cars over five years.

But the car's plastic superstructure will limit output to about 2,500 units per year, according to Automotive News Europe. The online newspaper says the annual allocation plan will send 1,000 units to Europe, 1,000 to North America and 500 to other markets.