Introduced in 2013 as the company's first true-blue sports car in decades, the Alfa Romeo 4C soldiered on into 2019 with almost no upgrades. At the 2019 Chicago Auto Show, the Italian company launched the 4C Spider Italia, a limited-edition roadster with a handful of extra features. Although it doesn't stray far from the regular model, it confirms that the 4C Spider will remain in production for the 2020 model year.

With the Coupe discontinued at the end of 2018, the Spider remains in dealerships for at least one more year, but the Italia is far from special. Finished in an exclusive paint and fitted with custom graphics and badges, it's just a poor attempt to keep this bare-bones sports car appealing among newer products. Is it worth getting one? Let's find out below.

What's With the Italia Badge?

The Italia nameplate sounds really familiar, doesn't it? We've seen it on the already iconic Ferrari 458 Italia, produced between 2009 to 2015 and replaced by the 488 GTB. But even though both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari are under the same ownership, the 4C Spider Italia has nothing to do with the Maranello firm. Alfa Romeo probably chose Italia to reinforce the car's origin and simply because adding the country's name to a nameplate makes it sound cooler. At least that's what it did for the Ferrari 458. If you ask me, Alfa could have gone with historical badges like Sprint or Speciale, but the latter requires an upgraded engine by tradition.

What makes the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider Italia Special

Now that we established what the 4C Spider Italia isn't, let's have a look at what it brings to the table. Unfortunately, there isn't much to talk about. The cool thing is that it's painted in an exclusive, bright paint. It's called Misano Blue Metallic, it's not available on any other 4C model, and it makes the roadster stand out.

Alfa Romeo also switched from plain black to piano black front air intake surrounds and rear diffuser, but this hardly makes a difference. Sure, you can brag to your friends about having a mirror-like shine on those elements, but no one will really care. Finally, the 4C Spider Italia sports new graphics on the rear fenders with "Spider" lettering and the Italian green, white, and red flag.

Anything new inside the cabin? Not really. Oh wait, Alfa added an aluminum dashboard insert with the 4C Spider Italia logo and a numbered plate on the center console. The plate is numbered 1 to 15, for each of the 15 cars set to cross the pond to the United States in 2019.

Power comes from the 4C's standard 1.75-liter engine. Although small, the turbocharged four-banger generates a solid 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque and pushes the roadster from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds. The impressive performance is also the result of the car's low curb weight, rated at only 2,337 pounds, mostly thanks to its carbon-fiber monocoque chassis.

The Italia package adds $5,000 to the 4C Spider, which retails from $68,495, including shipping and fees. This means that the 4C Spider Italia will set you back $73,495 before options. Select the optional wheels, the carbon-fiber trim group, and the Akrapovic exhaust and pricing increases to almost $83,000, but you get a fully loaded 4C Spider Italia.

It's far from cheap, but the 4C Spider Italia stands out as one of the very few bare-bones sports car on the market. And given that Lotus and Caterham cars are tough to get in the U.S., you don't have that many options to consider.

While the U.S. market will get only 15 units, European markets will have access to 108 examples. The U.S. allocation may seem really tiny, but with only 238 cars sold in 2018, it's actually more than reasonable for a limited-edition vehicle.

Further Reading

The 2020 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider Italia Is the Best-Looking Debut at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show, But Is It Too Little Too Late?

2020 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider Italia is a final attempt from Alfa to stay relevant

Read our full review on the 2016 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider

Read our full review on the 2018 Alfa Romeo 4C Competizione

Read our full review on the 2014 Alfa Romeo 4C.

2019 Chicago Auto Show - Everything You Need To Know