1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GT Mille Miglia

In the early 1920s Vittorio Jano received a commission to create a lightweight, high performance vehicle to replace the large and heavy RL and RM models. The Alfa Romeo 6C was a 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 straight-six engine. Bodies were made by coachbuilders such as Castagna, James Young, Pininfarina, Touring and Zagato. From 1933 a factory Alfa Romeo body, built in Portello, was also available. The car was introduced in April 1925 at the Salone dell'Automobile di Milano as the 6C 1500, since the 2-liter formula that led Alfa Romeo to win the Automobile World Championship in 1925, changed to 1.5-liter for the 1926 season. The production started 1927, with the P2 Grand Prix car as basis.
The more powerful 6C 1750 was introduced in 1929 in Rome. The car featured a top speed of 95 mph (153 km/h), a chassis designed to flex and undulate over wavy surfaces, as well as sensitive geared-up steering. It was produced in six series between 1929 and 1933. Most of the cars were sold as rolling chassis and bodied by coachbuilders. The 1750 quickly gained a reputation for winning. In 1929, it won every major racing event it was entered, including the Grands Prix of Belgium, Spain, Tunis and Monza, as well as the Mille Miglia, with Giuseppe Campari and Giulio Ramponi. In 1930 it won again the Mille Miglia with Tazio Nuvolari and the Spa 24 Hours. Total production was of 2635 cars.

The 6C 1750 Gran Turismo (4th and 5th series) replaced the 6C 1750 Sport 3rd series in 1930. Of this car it maintained the general approach: wheelbase, roadways and mechanical characteristics, while the power from the DOHC engine increased by 3 hp. Many minor mechanical changes were made, the most important being the increase in the diameter of the crankshaft pins, which up until then had retained the measurements of the 6C 1500.
This Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GT, chassis no. 10914569, is one of the cars produced in 1931 and is a V series. The body was by Carrozzeria Touring, that built on the chassis a 2-door berlinetta “Weymann”. In the Weymann system the heavy metal sheets were replaced with waterproof pegamoid panels, applied on light wooden frames, which allowed to have a lightweight body and, at the same time, very silent. The lack of resistance over time of the pegamoid, which dried up, pushed the Touring technicians to find new solutions and led a few years later to the invention of the "Superleggera" construction system. Chassis no. 10914569 ran the 1933 Mille Miglia, ranking 17th overall and 1st in class with its owner-driver Giannangelo Sperti. An outstanding performance for a Sport-Touring car, moreover not equipped with a compressor. The car had an intense life in re-enactment events from early 1980s with the owner, the famed collector Mario Righini.