Great Marques—The Alfa Romeo Story

Originating in the Italian city of Milan a century ago, the Alfa Romeo marque conjures up images of sophisticated road cars and legendary competition success. In the 1930s Alfa Romeo’s racers were the finest in the world and provided the foundation for a wealth of superbly engineered, stylish road-going models.

“I still have, for Alfa, the tenderness of a first love. The pure affection of a child for his mother.”

ENZO FERRARI, 1952

DESPITE BEING REGARDED as a quintessentially Italian car maker, Alfa Romeo’s roots go back to the early 20th century and the French auto manufacturer Alexandre Darracq. Looking to expand his operations into Italy, Darracq set up a factory on the outskirts of Milan in 1906. The venture failed, and four years later a consortium of Italian investors took over to create a company called Alfa—an acronym for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. The first Alfa-badged model was the 24HP, which was designed by the company’s chief engineer, Giuseppe Merosi, in 1910 and featured a 4,082 cc, straight-four engine. The model’s entry in the 1911 Targa Florio race in Sicily was an early indication of Alfa’s sporting intentions. Merosi went on to develop a range of successful models over the next 12 years, with engine capacities ranging from 2,413 cc to 6,082 cc and featuring innovations that included a double overhead camshaft.

As with many other car makers. World War I initiated a switch at Alfa from automobile manufacture to the production of military components such as aircraft engines. In 1913 businessman Nicola Romeo took a controlling stake in Alfa, and, after post-war car manufacture had resumed, the company was renamed Alfa Romeo in 1920. The 6.3-liter, straight-six G1 was the first new offering, and in this model drivers such as Giuseppe Campari, Enzo Ferrari, and Uvo Sivocci secured competition successes for the marque.

A significant development occurred in 1923, with Vittorio Jano replacing Giuseppe Merosi as Alfa Romeo’s chief engineer. The ex-Fiat employee would prove fundamental to Alfa Romeo’s future success, developing a number of models that cemented the marque’s reputation for producing superb racing cars. His initial creation was Alfa Romeo’s first eight-cylinder model, the P2. It won the inaugural Grand Prix World Championship in 1925 and continued to take Grand Prix titles to the end of the decade. In the 1930s, Jano-designed cars—including the P3, 6C 1750, and 8C 2300— enabled Alfa Romeo to dominate Grands Prix and races such as Le Mans, France, and Italy’s Mille Miglia.

The recession following 1929’s Wall Street crash plunged Alfa Romeo into serious financial difficulty. In 1933 the Italian government stepped in to save the marque. Operating under the state-owned holding company IRI (Instituto per la Ricostruzione Industrial), Alfa Romeo’s operations were streamlined so the company concentrated on producing aircraft engines and cars for wealthy buyers. Coachbuilders, including Pinin Farina (later called Pininfarina) and Touring, crafted beautiful bodies on Alfa Romeo chassis, with models such as the 8C 2900B of 1938 exemplifying the company’s desire to blend road and race attributes.

World War II saw car production halted once more, and heavy Allied bombing of the company’s factories meant that it did not resume until 1946, when the decision was made to produce smaller vehicles for the family market. Launched in 1950, he 1900 was the first Alfa Romeo with an integrated chassis and body. That same year, Nino Farina won the first Formula 1 World Championship in the Alfa 158, which had dominated racing since its introduction in 1938. Further success came in 1951, when Juan Manuel Fangio drove the 159 to Alfa Romeo’s second Formula 1 World Championship title.

At the 1954 Turin Motor Show, Alfa Romeo revealed the landmark 1,300 cc Giulietta Sprint. This car featured the world’s first mass-produced aluminum, double-overhead-cam, four-cylinder engine, which would be used in Alfa Romeo’s models for 40 years. Building on the success of the Giulietta, in 1962 Alfa Romeo unveiled the Giulia. The winning formula of a powerful engine in a relatively light body won the Giulia many export orders, and it remained in production through to the late 1970s. Even more enduring was the iconic Spider roadster, unveiled in 1966, which had a starring role in the 1967 film The Graduate. The Spider continued in production until 1993.

Back on the track, Alfa Romeo had retired from Formula 1 after 1951, but from the 1960s it competed in the World Sports Car Championship, triumphing in 1975 and 1977. Modified versions of Alfa Romeo’s road cars began to feature in rallying, touring-car, and GT series, amassing a host of titles from the 1960s through to the new millennium.

Alfa Romeo struggled in the global economic slump of the 1970s, but still managed to produce a number of successful new cars. Stylistically daring models like the 1970 Montreal won critical acclaim, and cars such as the million-selling Alfasud of 1971 and the 1972 Alfetta gave the marque a solid backbone, remaining in production for 18 and 15 years respectively. The Alfasud was made in a new factory in Naples, which was funded by the Italian government in an effort to reduce unemployment in the south of the country—hence the car’s name (sud meaning “south”).

The company’s continuing financial problems eventually led to Alfa Romeo being taken over by Fiat in 1986. For a number of years the brand struggled to find a place within the giant Fiat corporation. It was during this period that poor returns on exports to the United States, combined with the difficulties of meeting U.S. regulations on safety and emissions, prompted Alfa Romeo to withdraw from the American market.

With the arrival of the sporty GTV, launched to a critical fanfare in 1995, Alfa Romeo seemed to have found its feet once again. Three years later the universally lauded 156 garnered the European Car of the Year award, a feat repeated in 2001 by the compact 147. Since then Alfa Romeo has gone from strength to strength, releasing models such as the GT, Brera, and all-new Giulietta. These new Alfa Romeos hark back to the engineering excellence and cutting-edge styling that captivated car-buyers in the company’s formative years.

1910 The Alfa company is formed in Milan.

1911 The marque’s first model, the 24HP, competes in the Targa Florio race.

1920 Under Nicola Romeo, the company is rebranded Alfa Romeo.

1921 The G1 becomes the first Alfa Romeo model.

1925 An Alfa Romeo P2 wins the first ever Grand Prix World Championship.

1933 The Italian government saves Alfa Romeo from bankruptcy; holding company IRI takes over the firm.

1938 Alfa Romeo wins the Mille Miglia for the 10th time since 1928.

1946 Car manufacture resumes after the end of World War II.

1950 Nino Farina wins the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship in the Alfa 158.

1959 After more than 20,000 sales since being introduced in 1950, the Alfa 1900 is replaced by the 2000 model.

1966 The Spider roadster is introduced; it will be produced until 1993.

1967 The Alfa Romeo Montreal is unveiled as a concept car at Montreal’s Expo 67; the Montreal enters production three years later.

1971 The Alfasud is lauded by critics; along with the Sprint variant, more than 1 million will be sold by 1989.

1975 Alfa Romeo wins the World Sports Car Championship; it repeats the feat two years later.

1986 Alfa Romeo is taken over by the Italian Fiat Group.

1995 The GTV sports car is introduced; several setbacks cause Alfa Romeo to withdraw from the U.S. market.

1998 The 156 is named European Car of the Year.

2001 The 147 is named European Car of the Year.

2004 Launch of the Bertone-designed GT, followed by the Brera in 2005.

2010 In celebration of Alfa Romeo’s centennial, the new Giulietta hatchback is launched, winning critical acclaim.

 

It is a quote. The Definitive Visual History Of The Automobile 2011