THE HISTORY ON PARADE

STARTING POINT
The history of the Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 with chassis number 6C 700635 is well documented for most of its unfolding. The car was in fact the personal automobile of Benito Mussolini and was frequently used as a propaganda “vehicle” during public appearances, parades, and displays of power organised by the Fascist regime. Among the best known occasions were the Great Military Manoeuvres held in Trentino-Alto Adige at the end of August 1935. Mussolini also ordered that the car should participate in the 1936 Mille Miglia, where it was driven by his personal chauffeur and driver Ercole Boratto. Numerous photographs from the period portray the car during these events, and several sequences preserved by the Istituto Luce also document its public use.

RESEARCH
The research carried out for this study has allowed the presence of the car to be identified in several historical contexts. In particular, documentation confirms its use during the military reviews of the Blackshirt legions departing for the East African campaign, held in Benevento and Isernia. Contemporary newspapers and photographic material from the period have provided further evidence of these events. Additional sources have been examined to confirm the car’s participation in the 1936 Mille Miglia. One previously unidentified photograph has also been contextualised, revealing that it was taken during a public review attended by Mussolini in Eastern Liguria. Finally, in order to reconstruct the later history of the car, testimonies and archival documents relating to its subsequent ownership have been collected and analysed, allowing the historical continuity of the individual chassis to be followed through its more recent decades.