The 1900 Alfa Romeo of 1950 marked a turning point for the marque. Gone were the straight-eight and supercharged projectiles that had written so much motor racing history. Now Alfa replaced them with a modest four-cylinder engine housed in a modern-style steel saloon body. But still the engine possessed twin overhead camshafts and the suspension was ranked with the best. Even in those austere days, there was room in Italy for glamour and excitement in automobiles. In the following year the 1900C appeared with a platform slightly shorter in wheelbase than the original saloon. The 1900C provided the dynamic new school of Italian designers with the perfect base on which to create coupe bodies of unsurpassed elegance and the stylists at Ghia, Touring, Pinifarina and Vignale eagerly took up the challenge. This example is the work of one of Italy's most illustrious coachbuilders, Carrozzeria Ghia.
Apparently this Ghia-bodied Alfa was sold new at the Paris Salon in 1955 to a member of the Spanish Royal family. Painted in gray with a black roof and a black and white interior, the car is presented in original condition and is said to have only 50,000 miles from new. It is still fitted with the original 16-inch Nardi steering wheel and polished Borrani wire wheels. Following the car's import into the United States in 1990, it has been preserved in original condition, and in 1999 it won Best Unrestored Car at the Concorso Italiano at Quail Lodge. Offered with copies of Italian registration documents dated from 1957 and a California title, this Alfa has an interesting history and should make a welcome addition at any Alfa meet.
{analysis} This car sold for $35,200, including buyer's premium, at Christie's Pebble Beach auction, held August 18,2002.
Alfa 1900s continue to be an acquired taste. They fall somewhere in between the ground-pounding eight-cylinder, supercharged cars of the '30s and the high-revving, small-displacement Giuliettas and Giulias of the '50s and '60s.
The first completely new postwar Alfa, the 1900 was of monocoque construction, a first for Alfa, and was powered by a new in-line four-cylinder engine with a cast iron block and aluminum head. In the four-door 1900 Berlina, the single-carb 1884-cc engine produced 90 horsepower and it took 18.4 seconds to go from 0 to 60, but still managed to be a factor in competitive road events including the Carrera Panamericana. The 1900 Berlina became known as "the family car that wins road races."
The 1900 evolved through its nine-year production run, with a larger, 1975-cc engine introduced in 1953. Dual-carbureted versions of this engine produced as much as 115 bhp. At the same time the mechanicals were developing, chassis were made available to various Italian coachbuilders, including Vignale, Zagato, Touring and Ghia.
The most striking examples of Italian coachwork on the 1900 chassis were the C52 Disco Volante or Flying Saucer, and the BAT series of aerodynamic prototypes built by Bertone.
Ghia was producing some attractive coupes as early as 1953, and by 1955 their involvement with the Chrysler Corporation was apparent in their designs for the 1900C. The Chrysler "dream cars" of the early 1950s were designed by a team under the direction of Virgil Exner and built by Ghia. The influence of this relationship is obvious when the car pictured here is compared to the Chrysler Dual Ghias.
There is some controversy about this particular 1900, as noted in the December issue of SCM (page 10). According to Alfa guru Peter Zobian, S/N 2186 was actually a Super Sprint that was ordered with a single-carb, lower-performance Sprint engine (kind of like ordering a Hemi 'Cuda and then specifying a slant six engine). Zobian argues that the car should be priced as a Super Sprint; I would disagree.
This Alfa 1900C was offered with a pre-sale estimate of $50,000 to $70,000, which, given its generally unrestored condition (euphemistically referred to as "patina"), was optimistic. Our own Dave Brownell described the car as having, "Good door fit; some paint chips and cracks, especially to nose; paint worn on trunk lid; fair to good plating. Another time-warp car preserved in near original condition," and rated it a #2-. So clearly it was a sound car, but just as clearly would need a full restoration before being trotted out onto a national concours field.
This same car was offered at the 2000 Brooks auction in Monterey, and was unsold at a reported high bid of $55,000. However, this bid may have been the result of an overexcited chandelier.
Especially in the rarefied Monterey atmosphere, buyers will step up for perfect cars, but generally turn up their wallets at cars with needs, especially when they are fringe models like this 1900C.
The buzz in the room after the sale was, "the East Coast dealer who stole this car will pocket a quick $20k," and perhaps he did. From my perspective, $70,000 is what this car would be worth when completely restored, and perhaps even uprated to a Super Sprint engine. As it sat, the $35,200 it brought should be considered a bargain, but certainly not the deal of a lifetime.-Carl Bomstead{/analysis}