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One of the things which marked Alfa Romeo from lesser makers from the 1950s through to the 1970s was that it was able to make small runs of special, lightweight, coupe versions of its mainstream cars. The most prized of these were the cars bodied by Zagato, an expression of the historic relationship between the…

A design from the pen of the great Vittorio Jano, the Alfa Romeo Tipo B was a masterpiece on the drawing board and on the race track. It was not, incidentally, the first monoposto Alfa Romeo. That distinction belongs to the 1931 Tipo A, of which four were built, and none survive. There is a…

In the early 1950s, youthful sports car enthusiasts could choose between the MG TD or the XK Jaguar. The performance and price gap between those two models was only partially filled by the Triumph and Austin-Healey. Only the more affluent could enjoy the superior weather protection and comfort of a Porsche or Aston Martin. The…

Unequalled in their class in the 1927-1930 era were the superbly engineered, extremely light and very quick Tipo 6C twin-camshaft, supercharged Alfa Romeos from the design board of the brilliant Vittorio Jano. Alfa Romeo’s concessionaire in England, Fred Stiles, imported four “works” cars with Zagato racing coachwork, chassis numbers 0312871 to 0312874. The cars were…

With its unitary construction-the first on an Alfa Romeo-the 1900 was Alfa’s first mass- producedt car, introduced in 1950. It was assembled on a new production line at Alfa’s original Portello works that was funded in part by the Marshall Plan.Initially powered by a 1844cc, 90 hp twin overhead camshaft 4-cylinder engine and offering fine…

After years of four-cylinder power, Alfa Romeo switched to a six-cylinder engine late in 1962. This new model known as the 2600 had the familiar dual overhead camshaft configuration which put out 145 hp at 5,900 rpm. Top speed was 120 mph. Models included a four-door Berlina with factory bodywork, a Sprint coupe with bodywork…

The 6C series was founded in 1924 when Alfa Romeo engineer, Vittorio Jano, was instructed to develop a medium capacity lightweight car with brilliant performance. The great engineer chose the balance and pick-up characteristics of an in-line six-cylinder engine and combined them with a lightweight and nimble-handling chassis design. The prototype, initially known as the…

This particular Tubolare Zagato was supplied new to Ian Walker and Alan Day of London for use in their joint Walker-Day Racing operation through 1965. Ian Walker himself was a veteran former Lotus owner-driver, then entrant, whose Formula Junior and sports-racing Lotuses and particularly his GT racing “Gold Bug” Elans had achieved great success through…

For nearly 40 years, many of the world’s outstanding classic sports car designs have flowed from the drawing board of Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design. One of the most fluent, indeed a true post-war classic, was the Alfa Romeo GTV (Gran Turismo Veloce) Coupe of 1967, which he designed during his rime at Bertone. Evolved…

In the postwar period, it became apparent to Alfa Romeo that to survive the company needed a mass-produced car. But it was essential for that car to maintain the traditional values and characteristics that had made the company great. That car was the Giulietta Sprint. Nuccio Bertone was commissioned to design this small coupe just…