1943 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS

The history of Alfa Romeo coincides basically with that of the history of the automobile and features many stories and numerous cars. The Alfa Romeo 6C stands out amongst the most representative models – the cars of the beginning and the modern post-war ones, and the racing and touring cars. The long journey of the Alfa Romeo 6C lasted almost 25 years, accompanying Alfa Romeo industries from the 20s to the 50s. In the early 1920s, Vittorio Jano was commissioned with creating a lightweight, high-performance vehicle to replace the large and heavy RL and RM models. The Alfa Romeo 6C was not only a model, but a complete range of road, race, and sports cars, produced between 1927 and 1954. The "6C" name refers to the number of cylinders of the car's inline-six engine. The different models’ bodies were made by coachbuilders such as Castagna, James Young, Pinin Farina, Touring and Zagato. From 1933, an Alfa Romeo built body also became available; it was made in Portello. The car was introduced in April 1925 at the Salone dell'Automobile di Milano as the 6C 1500, since the 2-litre class - that led Alfa Romeo to win the Automobile World Championship in 1925 - changed into the 1.5-litre class for 1926’s race season. The production started in 1927, with the P2 Grand Prix car as a base model. The more powerful 6C 1750 was introduced in 1929 in Rome. It was produced in six series between 1929 and 1933. Most of the cars were sold as a bare-chassis, then bodied by coachbuilders. The 1750 quickly gained a reputation for winning races. In 1933, the new Alfa Romeo 6C 1900 version was introduced, with a displacement of 1917 cc and with a light alloy head – used here for the first time. The powerful 8C 2300s, despite their successes, remained reserved for races and, to satisfy the market’s request for a high-performance automobile sold at a lower price, Alfa Romeo introduced the 6C 2300 at the Salone dell’Auto di Milano in 1934, designed to replace the 6C 1900. That same year, three 6C 2300 Gran Turismo bodied by Carrozzeria Touring won the first three places at the 24 Ore di Pescara. Therefore, after the race, Alfa Romeo began to sell the model under the new “Pescara” name. The arrival of the 6C 2300 B was a real revolution, introducing a chassis with independent suspensions on the four wheels. This car was “the king of the hill” in the history of the Mille Miglia race from 1935 to 1938, and the various 6C models participated with true and proper teams, led by the most talented drivers of the time.

The Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 was succeeded by the 6C 2500, the final model in the series before World War II. When production resumed after the war, numerous special versions were created, showcased at concours d’elegance, and still made significant impacts in races. While the 6C 2300 B of 1935 marked a departure from the original 6C design, the engine maintained a direct connection to its roots. The evolution of the 6C engine, which began in 1925, culminated in the final 2.5-liter displacement. This design, conceived by Vittorio Jano, remained fundamentally unchanged and continued in production until 1953. The sedan version of the 6C 2500 debuted at the 1939 Berlin Motor Show, followed by a long-wheelbase version intended for specialized applications. In 1942, the chassis underwent a significant redesign, featuring a stiffened central crossbeam that replaced the earlier parallel beams. The 6C 2500 Sport version, also introduced in Berlin in 1939, featured an engine derived from the 6C 2300 B Mille Miglia. The displacement increase was achieved by enlarging the bore by 2 mm. It utilized a Weber 36 DCR carburetor similar to that of the Turismo model but with modified specifications. The Sport model was equipped with 5.50x18 tires on wire wheels. No Sport models were produced in 1941 due to wartime priorities. In 1942, the Sport model adopted the same chassis modifications as the Turismo model, starting with frame no. 915119. Wartime production constraints led to only a few cars being built in 1943 and 1944. After the war, production resumed, and many chassis were supplied to independent coachbuilders for bespoke designs. Pinin Farina and Touring received most of these commissions, followed by Stabilimenti Farina, Ghia, and Boneschi. Builders like Monviso, Castagna, Balbo’s successors, and the Swiss firm Graber each produced only a single example. A noteworthy development was the creation of the famous Super Sport version, derived from the 6C 2500 Sport. This model, designed for competition, featured a shortened chassis and three carburetors instead of one. The Super Sport lineage began in 1939 with the 256 model—a racing version with Scuderia Ferrari origins, as indicated by its name (2.5 liters, 6 cylinders). It evolved into the Super Sport road car, which remained in production until 1953, with Carrozzeria Touring's iconic "Villa d'Este" coupe serving as its pinnacle. The last 6C 2500 Sport example was built in 1950. The 2500 marked the end of the 6C series and was succeeded by the Alfa Romeo 1900.

The Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS (Carrozzeria Turinga), with chassis no. 915527, is the 5th of just 6 “SS” chassis built in 1943. It was registered new in Italy with Roma plates during wartime. It was bodied by Carrozzeria Touring, which, in 1941, following the fascist regime's anglophobia, changed its name to "Turinga," a designation it retained until the end of the war. Automotive production at the coachbuilder was not entirely halted, though it was secondary to its aeronautical manufacturing for the war effort. Touring's collaboration with the Regia Aeronautica added "wings" to its emblem—a feature that became a permanent part of its badge—but also made its Milan facilities a target of bombing raids. The Turinga cars, built during the war, were very few and reserved primarily for high-ranking authorities, mostly military. However, they are significant from an aesthetic perspective: the first Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport chassis debuted the "trilobo" front grille design, a hallmark that remains a distinctive feature of Alfa Romeo cars today. Notably, the first owner of chassis no. 915527, in 1943, was an Italian racing driver, followed by two other Italian owners as documented in its papers. The car is believed to have later crossed into France, eventually coming into the possession of Baron Napoléon Gourgaud du Taillis, a direct descendant of General Baron Gourgaud, First Orderly Officer and companion of Napoleon during his exile on Saint Helena. The Baron, a lifelong Napoleonist and a man of culture, intellectual curiosity, and wit, was also a resistance companion of Louis, Prince Napoléon, and a company director. He owned the car from 1945 to 1947, after which chassis no. 915527 crossed into Switzerland, passing through eleven different Swiss owners over approximately 17 years. In 1960s, the car was acquired by French wine connoisseur Michel Dovaz. In 1983, German photographer Herbert Hesselmann had the opportunity to photograph his car collection. The resulting images gained global attention, as the car enthusiast community was stunned by what they saw: a collection of rare and valuable cars in severe states of disrepair. Despite efforts to keep the location undisclosed, hints from Hesselmann's surroundings and details in Walther Wuttke’s article for Der Stern revealed Dovaz’s estate. This exposure attracted thieves and souvenirs collectors, forcing Dovaz to relocate his collection to a château in southern France. In 1986, Hesselmann and Schrader released the book Sleeping Beauties, which documented the collection. In 1989, Dovaz exhibited the vehicles (chassis no. 915527 included) at the French Musée Automobile de Sarlat, but eventually sold most of them, keeping only 14 cars. In 1990, the Turinga was sold in the Netherlands before returning to Italy in 1992. It then entered the hands of car historian Vittorio Serventi, who embarked on a challenging and thorough restoration. For the project, Serventi consulted Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni personally. Although Anderloni was unable to locate specific materials related to this car, he vividly remembered it as the first vehicle he worked on directly after joining the coachbuilder, having been assembled in semi-clandestine conditions following the “Armistice” of September 8, 1943. Anderloni highlighted the importance of this car, noting that it retained front fenders that ended before the door but already featured a front fascia with double bumpers and integrated air intakes forming the trilobo. The dual headlights fitted to this car were thought to have been his idea, raising questions about whether the design innovation should be attributed to Anderloni or, as some suggest, Count Trossi a little later for his car, custom built with the repurposed aircraft lights of his airplane. If the first hypothesis is true, that the solution with dual headlights is to be attributed to Anderloni and was adopted on chassis no. 915527, this should be considered the first example of the type. The Touring heir confirmed that only a handful of such models were produced in semi-secrecy and recalled that the car was likely finished in hazelnut brown. The restoration was eventually completed by specialist Celli, and after nearly four years, the car was fully restored, re-registered in Italy, and ready for concours d’elegance and other historic car events. Serventi sold the car in 2002, after which it passed through the hands of other collectors, who also entered chassis no. 915527 in the Mille Miglia re-enactments and Villa d'Este concours d’elegance. Since 2021, the car has been part of a private collection.