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This amazingly rare and elegant Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 was owned by the late Mr. Brian Eckersley, Surrey chimney sweep, for some 42 years, from the time he purchased it from a dealer in Warren Street, London, in 1956 to his untimely death last November. With supercharged 2.3-litre straight-8 engine, long-wheelbase chassis and rakish Cabriolet…

Introduced in 1951, the 1900 was Alfa Romeo’s first post-war design and the first model intended for series-production. It was also the world’s first such car available with both a twin-cam engine and a five-speed gearbox – and there was synchromesh on every ratio. Given Alfa Romeo’s history, it was inevitable that the factory would…

The Giulia range was introduced by Alfa Romeo in 1962, sharing similar bodies and identical chassis to the earlier Giulietta series. Engine capacity was increased, however, to 1570cc and the gearbox now housed five forward ratios instead of the Giulietta’s four. The increased engine capacity provided 12bhp more, but more significant was the extra torque,…

Alfa Romeo’s successful Giulietta range debuted in 1954 with the arrival of the Bertone-styled Sprint coupe, the Berlina saloon not appearing until the succeeding season. Veloce models with improved performance followed, and the agile Giulietta SV quickly established an enviable record in production car racing, notable victories including a Granturismo class win in the 1956…

The Giulia TI was Alfa Romeo’s flagship performance saloon in the 1960s and became a popular choice with the Italian police force of the era. The exceptional Giulia TI pictured here not only boasts a contemporary racing pedigree, having competed in the 1964 Solitude Rally driven by Heinz Heinrich, but has achieved considerable competition success…

The 1966 Geneva Motor Show saw the debut of the Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider, which replaced the existing 101 Series Giulia Spider. The Duetto’s Pininfarina-designed body was inspired by a styling exercise on a 3.0 litre Disco Volante chassis seen at Geneva in 1959, and sported an extremely attractive and individual line. The mechanical components…

{vsig}1998-11_1583{/vsig} The jewel-like Alfa Romeo TZ2 model is in effect “The Baby GTO,” simply one of the most charismatic smaller-capacity Gran Turismo car designs of all time. Furthermore, the car pictured here has hardly been seen in public since the late 1960s, and it retains all the distinctive TZ2 componentry which some of its sisters…

Its factory devastated by wartime bombing, Alfa Romeo did not resume car production until 1947, the pre-war 2500C standing the Milan marque in good stead until 1952. The firm’s first all-new offering of the post-war period arrived in 1950. Designed by Dr. Orazio Satta Puliga, the 1900 was the first Alfa to employ unitary construction…

Bodied by renowned Italian coachbuilder, Touring, known for creating some of the most exquisite early Ferrari and later Maserati designs, the Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider closely resembled the Vignale-bodied 3500 Maserati roadster. The 2600 was introduced in late 1962 and although similar to the 2000 series in design it offered a different grille, hood, windshield…

When Carlo Leto di Priolo wrecked his Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce on the 1956 Mille Miglia, he had the car rebodied by his friend Elio Zagato, with lightweight and aerodynamic aluminium coachwork. The rebuilt car was further campaigned in races with such success that 18 further examples of the “SVZ” were constructed by fellow competitors…