At the Alfa-Romeo Club's national convention, held near Santa Rosa this week, I attended the Concours yesterday and saw one of the most impressive, striking and influential of all pre-war Italian sports cars.....a '39 Alfa-Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Berlinetta Aerodinamica Coupe, with coachwork by Touring.
This car was based directly and very closely on the '38 8C 2900 ( the only example of which is in the Alfa-Romeo Museum today ) which A-R conceived and built to compete and win the Lemans 24 hour race that year. To A-R's great disappointment it competed as planned, but did not win. It was then sent off to run that year's Mille Mglia, but after that entry got "lost" for several decades before it was found, restored, and now is the Alfa-Romeo museum's star next to Giuseppe Farina's Tipo 158 World Championship winning Grand Prix car.
With the '38 experience on hand and considering the sheer amount of money invested in the project, for '39 A-R introduced the 6C 2500 SS Berlinetta Aerodinamica ( the car featured here ) for sale to wealthy clients who wanted a race-car based, truly grand touring coupe patterned directly after the Lemans design but much refined and housebroken for fast, luxurious long-distance road travel. Towards that goal, a smaller, more suitable 6-cylinder street engine was installed. A total 33 were built and sold by the time WW II broke out in September of '39.
The particular car featured here was "lost" soon after its initial sale and "discovered" in an inoperative state in Eastern Europe only in 1989, i.e. shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall.......however, it had lost its original body and had been converted very crudely to a hand-built cabriolet, with the original body nowhere to be found. The buyer of the car contacted Carrozzeria Touring in Milan and a deal was struck for Ing. Carlo Anderloni, the former head and CEO of Touring to undertake the complete and fully authentic recreation of the car to its absolutely original standards utilizing the services of master coachbuilder Dino Cognalato, the original builder of the car's original body who spent almost his entire working life at Touring beating panels and fitting them. It was the last project Ing. Anderloni undertook and finished.......sadly he passed in 2003. Complete documentation, including original photos and prints from '38 & '39 were used and accompany the car. There also exists complete proof that the original chassis, engine, powertrain and running gear are the basis of this restoration / recreation. It is currently housed in a San Francisco automotive museum collection.
The car created a sensation on its introduction in '39 and was considered revolutionary for the era, with such elements as the fully enveloping body, attention being paid to aerodynamics, and beautiful detail execution. The original engine is an in-line DOHC 6-cylinder displacing 2443 cc, with 3 dual-throat 36 DO2 Weber carbs, makes 125 HP @ 4800rpm, and sends power to the rear through a 4-speed transmission. Borrani wire wheels, independent front suspension with live rear axle, longitudinal torsion bars, hydraulic shocks all around, and hydraulic brakes with very large Alfin ( aluminum drums with cast iron friction liners cast in place ) drums complete the running gear.
Thanks for looking,
JZG
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by TZombek
