Alfa Romeo released this footage of the assembly line that puts together their new 4C sport coupe. The chassis starts life as flat pieces of pre-impregnated carbon fiber fabric before being CNC cut to the correct shapes for assembly. Since carbon fiber doesn’t have the same strength in all directions (it’s non-isotropic), each layer of the carbon fiber fabric has to have a specific alignment. Once all of the layers are overlapped and compressed together, the piece will be customized to be strong enough to withstand the specific force loading of that area of the chassis. After all of the pieces of carbon fiber fabric are assembled, the chassis is wrapped in plastic vacuum bags and placed in an autoclave where it’s baked under pressure. All of these steps are taken to ensure there are no air bubbles in the resin that holds the carbon fibers as it cures. Expelling all of the air is the key to making strong carbon fiber that won’t shatter when loaded. The completed chassis then heads to the Maserati factory (Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo are all owned by the Fiat group) where the rest of the aluminum subframes, composite body panels and 240 hp 1.8 liter direct injection engine are installed.