The 110th anniversary of Alfa Romeo provides a good opportunity for a trip to the factory Museum immersing in the iconic brand’s glorious history. I paid a visit last summer, en route to Mulhouse (with one of the best Bugatti exhibitions of all time), from a magnificent automotive road trip in the brilliant Motorvalley. The Museo can be paired with the headquarters of Zagato located only 30 minutes away.
Arguably the most important car anniversary of 2020 is the 110th anniversary of the Alfa Romeo brand. On 24 June 1910, the Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (A.L.F.A., in Italian, even acronyms sound cool) comes to life.
Their first car ever created was the 24 HP, designed by Giuseppe Merosi (this car was showcased at the FCA Heritage stage at Rétromobile).
Alfa’s birthday became central thematic throughout the year and all around the world, for car events and museums alike. The major car shows boast thematic stages, and several museums announced Alfa Romeo exhibitions for 2020. A lot of things change now with the Coronavirus, but, as of February, there were a lot of preparations from Autoworld to Sinsheim.
With the constant confinement and deconfinement, the cancellations of almost every single car events since April, the anniversary year could not go ahead as planned. Nevertheless, Retromobile and Retro Classics, as well as a few temporary exhibitions provide a generous insight into the history of Alfa Romeo.
The Museum is located at the Arese factory site, the heartland of Alfa Romeos. This complex is unfortunately no longer home to production, as the Fiat (/FCA) Group gradually relocated the production of Alfa Romeo models to new sites.
This you can tell from the old-school surrounding of the Museum, reflecting the modernist concrete architecture of the sixties. The area is in stark contrast with the refurbished Museum compound with brilliant design.
The Alfa Romeo Historical Museum first opened its doors to the public on 18 December 1976. It was housed in a building in front of the administrative headquarter, that was closed down in 2011 for an extensive refurbishing.
The commercial activities are now limited to sales, with the sales showrooms of the Arese Motor Village. These facilities ensure a handover experience worthy for a premium brand. At the same time, it seemed proportionately smaller than the impressive lounges of the BMW World, that I consider the point of reference in this particular game.
The current museum was opened in 2015, and the refurbishing spawned one of the best car museums in the world. After having seen about 50 car museums, the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo is among the top 10 car museums in my books (among factory museums, only bested by Mercedes). The museum is complemented by a wide range of facilities from meeting rooms and café to a 4D Cinema. The museum also maintains an excellent website with a comprehensive catalogue.
During my visit, a brand new concept car, the Tonale was enlisted to convince visitors that the trip will be worth every penny. Since then, the concept went on a worldwide tour (I met her at the Brussels Car Show), that was unfortunately curbed by the can cancellation of events due to the global pandemic.
The ground floor starts slowly, with smaller expos, the first one dedicated to the birth of the lightweight sportscar 4c.
There is a memento of the current racing activities, a Formula-1 car and a set of aeroplane engines to illustrate the versatility of the brand.
The exhibition follows three principles that illustrate the very essence of the brand. The first one is timeline, showing industrial continuity, the second principle is Bellezza (beauty) pairing style with design. The third thematic is Velocità (speed) combining technology and lightweight constructions. Each thematic is honoured by a dedicated floor at the Museum.
The timeline segment welcomes visitors with a selection of iconic series production models. These include the very first Alfas to the recent ones.
They are parked behind a curved line that functions, as you can guess, a timeline indicating the evolution of the brand’s series production models.
The timeline kicks off with the very first model of the brand, the ALFA 24 HP. Initially, the brand ALFA was born from Società Italiana Automobili Darracq—Milano (SIAD), as the Italian branch of French manufacturer Darracq to locally build and sell Darracq cars under license.
The first pre-world war I car of the timeline is equipped with a 4.1-litre four-cylinder engine, that produced up to 45 BHP, despite the name. The model was launched in 1910, the year ALFA was founded and remained in production until 1914. During those four years, nearly 700 24HPs were built in ALFA’s Portello factory near Milan.
The 24HP is followed by a red 15HP, a more affordable model of the pre-war era.
The next car jumps a few decades with the 1922 Alfa RL, Alfa’s first sport model after World War I. Equipped with a straight-6 engine, the RL’s total production was beyond 2600 specimen with various versions, such as the 1925 SuperSport presented.
The next three specimens illustrated the versatility of the model range of the ’30s, starting with six-cylinder 6c series, an iconic car of the ’30s. When the 6C 1750 was launched in 1929, it burst onto the competition scene in truly triumphant fashion. This masterpiece demonstrated chief engineer Vittorio Jano’s genius by winning almost every major race it entered that year. The list of trophies included the Grand Prix of Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Tunis, Rome and Monza, the Brooklands 24 Hours, the Ulster T.T. and the Mille Miglia. Those who were not satisfied with the basic specifications, had recourse to the fashionable coachbuilders of the time, who reduced weight, perfected the styling. A recall a few beautiful blue Zagato from last year’s Zagato 100th anniversary exhibition at Autoworld (along with five others from 1500).
The showcased white 6c 1750 from 1931 is a lovely specimen, followed by a red 8c, a 1932 Alfa 8c 2300 Corto MM. This car is the absolute alpha male, I mean Alfa male of the 30s.
The 8C 2300 is considered by many to be the greatest sports and racing car of all times, given its dominance in racing and in the parking lots of the rich and famous.
One of the best Alfa 110th anniversary exhibition was brought together by Lukas Hüni at this year’s Retromobile, featuring an actual and real line-up of 8c models, with half a dozen specimen.
Lukas Hüni honoured the 110th anniversary of Alfa Romeo at Rétromobile
The next 6c 2300 B from 1938 is also a nice one, although I have a slight preference to the Mille Miglia version showcased in Sinsheim.
The post-war epoch was opened with a 6C 2500 Sport Freccia d’oro, with a pontoon design from 1947.
It is followed by a silver four-door 1900 from 1950 along with a sporty white two-door Super Sprint and a red Giulietta from 1955.
The sixties are represented by a white 2600 Sprint and a Giulietta.
A few steps away, the exhibition continues with the Fiat era with modern cars.
The segment started off with the Alfa Montreal along with its state of the art engine that was a tamed road-legal version of the 2-litre V8 used in the Tipo 33 sports prototype race car.
The Montreal was introduced as a concept car at the World Expo ‘67, held in Montreal.
The production car was unveiled at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show, and it was equipped with decent tech specs, using a 2593 V8 engine producing around 200 PS.
The exhibition continues with modern-day cars, from the transaxle 75 through the front-wheel-drive 164 to the iconic 156 that relaunched the brands last really successful era.
The last car in of this segment is an exotic 8c Competizione, an instant classic of this millennium. A limited-edition of just 500 cars, the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is equipped with a 4691 cc 90° V8 engine of Ferrari origin, delivering 450 HP at 7000rpm.
Given the history of the iconic name, the brilliant design and the solid technological basis, the modern 8C found its way quickly to the high-end auctions and classic car shows.
Last year the FCA stage at Techno Classica featured two 8C specimens, but I encountered several 8c coupés and roadsters at every major classic car shows.
Foreign brands to challenge the Germans at the Techno Classica
Given the size of the Museum, it is worth taking a rhetorical break, but I can assure you the best is still coming with dozens of breathtaking concept cars, design icons and racing legends.
