Alfa Romeo

Rédaction : Albert Lallement

The brand with the ‘quadrifoglio verde”

Alfa Romeo was founded in 1910, four years after its rival Lancia, and has built its reputation on racing. Throughout its history, its range has been characterised by a strong sporting image, while Lancia focused on refinement and cutting-edge technology.

A common factor of the Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands is that they were acquired by Fiat in 1986 and 1969 respectively. But apart from their geographical proximity, in the north of Italy, these two manufacturers always had a different strategic approach. From the outset, Alfa Romeo's approach, like Porsche's, was characterised by its competition experience which it adapted directly to series production. The slogan ‘Win on Sunday, sell on Monday...’ suited this brand perfectly, and at times its very survival depended on motor sport.

The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint, pictured here in its 1959 version, had bodywork designed by top designers such as Bertone, Zagato and Pininfarina. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.

Alfa Romeo is certainly one of the manufacturers that made the most significant contribution to the development of fast, comfortable and safe cars such as are produced today. This is thanks to the fact that technical research has always been associated with the brand's sporting commitments. Engineers and drivers have always been an effective duo at Alfa Romeo, both in terms of performance and safety. Among Alfa's employees were some of the most innovative engineers of the time, starting with engine builder Vittorio Jano in 1923, soon joined by Gioacchino Colombo in 1937 and Giuseppe Busso two years later. These three talented engineers formed the technical backbone of Alfa Romeo's technical spearhead in the pre-war period and were all later snapped up by Ferrari. The ‘Commendatore’ knew how to surround himself particularly well...

Two Alfa Romeo at the start of the 1937 Liège-Rome-Liège ‘Marathon de la route’: on the left, the 6C 2300 Coupé Pinin Farina driven by Willy Toussaint and Felice Bonetto, and on the right, the 8C 2300 Monza Lungo cabriolet driven by Hugo Dreyer and Max Hahn. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.

FRENCH ORIGINS

The Italian company Società Italiana Automobili Darracq was founded in Naples in 1906 by Alexandre Darracq, a manufacturer based in Suresnes. The factory was then transferred to Portello near Milan, and in 1910 sold to Italian investors who renamed the company ALFA, for ‘Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili’. In 1915, ALFA went into liquidation and a Neapolitan engineer, Nicola Romeo, acquired it and incorporated it into his company ‘Ing. Nicola Romeo & C’.

In 1918, the company ‘Italiana Nicola Romeo & C.’ was officially created, its name simplified to Alfa Romeo. The following year, the new manufacturer developed its own range under the supervision of in-house engineers Ugo Stella and Giuseppe Merosi. Despite the success of models like the 6C and 8C ranges, Alfa Romeo suffered commercial setbacks and in 1933, like many companies that had received state aid, it was nationalised by the IRI (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Italiana), entrusting its general management to Ugo Gobbato.

The Milan company's activities were redirected towards military and utility vehicles. The decade following the war was a particularly successful one for Alfa Romeo, as it returned to the automotive sector with key models such as the 1900 in 1950 and the Giulietta in 1954. This success continued with the Giulia in 1962 and the Alfetta in 1972. The 1980s were marked by the 33, 75 and 164 models. The Alfa Romeo brand was acquired by Fiat in 1986, and became part of the Fiat Chrysler Group in 2014 and has been part of the Stellantis Group since 2021.

With over a million units produced between 1972 and 1984, the Alfasud designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro (Italdesign) remains Alfa Romeo's most successful commercial model. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.

ALFA CORSE

Alfa Romeo's racing successes started right from the beginning, with Giuseppe Campari winning the 1920 Mugello Grand Prix in a 40/60 HP single-seater. Over the following decade, Alfa cars won European Grand Prix races with drivers such as Antonio Ascari (Alberto's father), Achille Varzi, Rudolf Caracciola and Tazio Nuvolari.

At the same time, Alfa Romeo 8C 2300s won the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1931 to 1934. The Alfa Corse factory team was created in 1938 with the aim of competing with the German cars entered by Mercedes-Benz and Auto-Union. The following year, Enzo Ferrari, who was in charge of Alfa Romeo's racing department, left because the Milanese brand stopped him from building cars for Scuderia

Ferrari for the understandable reason of non-competition. Alfa Corse's first major victory was achieved by Clemente Biondetti in the 1938 Mille Miglia with his special 8C 2900B. After the two Formula 1 World Championship titles won by Giuseppe Farina in 1950 and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1951 with the Alfetta Tipo 158/159, followed by the World Sports Car Championship title in 1953 with the Alfa Romeo 6S 3000, the Alfa Corse team officially withdrew from competition.

Carlo Chiti encouraged Alfa Romeo to return to racing in 1966 by buying Autodelta, which was then to become Alfa Romeo's new ‘Reparto Corse’ (Racing Department). The Milanese brand was back on a successful track, winning the World Championship for Makes in 1975 (Alfa 33 TT) and the World Championship for Sports Cars in 1979 (Alfa 33SC). That same year, Alfa Romeo returned to Formula 1, but in 1985 it withdrew due to a lack of convincing results. Alfa Romeo's racing cars are traditionally decorated with a green four-leaf clover, the famous ‘Quadrifoglio Verde’, on top of a white triangle. The origin of this decoration can be traced back to Ugo Sivocci's victory in the 1923 Targa Florio at the wheel of his RL Super Sport, on which he had affixed this design for good luck. The symbol was later adopted for a number of particularly sports-oriented models, such as the Giulia Sprint GT Veloce and the Alfasud Sprint.

The Montreal of 1969 allowed Alfa Romeo to return to the top-of-the-range sports car category, which it had abandoned after the 2600 coupé and spider. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.

The Argentine sports magazine ‘El Gráfico’ celebrates the World Championship title of compatriot Juan Manuel Fangio (here with Alberto Ascari) in 1951 in the 159 Alfetta. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.

Planes and trucks too!

Like many European carmakers starting at the turn of the last century, Alfa Romeo diversified its production very quickly into sectors such as industrial vehicles and even aviation. As early as 1910, engineers Nino Franchini and Antonio Santoni fitted a 24 bhp Alfa engine to their experimental biplane. In the early 1930s, Alfa Romeo regularly produced engines for military and civil aviation, and in 1941 the Alfa Romeo Avio branch was created.

The company then merged with Aeritalia in 1988, was bought by Fiat Aviazione in 1996 and became part of the Finmeccanica Group in 2004. The HGV division was launched in 1930 with the name Alfa Romeo Veicoli Industriali. Truck production ceased after the merger with the Fiat V.I. Group in 1967, while vans, buses and trolleys were produced all under the name Alfa Romeo V.I. until the 1980s and the takeover of the brand by Fiat.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL

Among the models produced by Alfa Romeo in the post-war era, the 1968 Montreal is generally considered to be its masterpiece. Marcello Gandini, the chief designer at Carrozzeria Bertone, who designed its lines, achieved a subtle balance between the design of the 1960s and that of the futuristic decade that followed. For the 1967 Universal Exhibition held in Montreal, Canada, Alfa Romeo was honoured to present ‘The Dream Car’ in the pavilion displaying the major technical achievements of modern man.

The two prototypes on display at the Alfa Romeo Montreal Expo were designed on the basis of the chassis and powertrain of the Bertone Giulia Sprint GT coupé. The Alfa Romeo Montreal was initially intended to be a concept car, but its success with the millions of visitors who admired it led to its production in small numbers. The commercial version was presented at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show, and no less than 3,925 units were built between then and 1977.