Arguably the most important car anniversary of 2020 is the 110th anniversary of the Alfa Romeo brand. On 24th 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).
Five years later, the company changed its name in Alfa Romeo, when Nicola Romeo took over the company. Since then, the history of the brand was in the limelight harvesting record amount of victories in several decades, ground-breaking technologies and prestigious awards for their cars created with a lot of passion.
These cars still evoke a lot of emotions, and Alfa’s birthday became major thematic throughout the year and all around the world for car events and museums alike. 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.
Now that the dust settles, some key events were cancelled, and the future of every car event is currently quite uncertain. Thus it seems a safer bet to look for museums, where social distancing is more manageable, and exhibitions last longer.
I already wrote about the Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim a few years ago after my third visit there. It is a versatile technical museum, showcasing all kind of vehicles from bikes through trains and tanks to the Concorde supersonic passenger aeroplane.
The main building keeps dozens of exciting road and race cars, including many F1 race cars and quite a few supercars and exotics.
The Auto and Technical Museum Sinsheim offers a lot more than cars
The origins of the Museum are explained in the Sinsheim article. It is a must-see for every car geek, and most importantly, it offers a vast amount of thrills and joy for families.
I walked some of the best car museums in the world, wondering what my kids would do seeing all the untouchable legends. Sinsheim and its sister museum is a paradise for kids. Here you can walk up the Concorde, try simulators, and take 10-15 meter slides from to take off from planes.
The Mythos Alfa exhibition is located in a brand new hall, built and dedicated for this exhibition. It is on for quite some time and is scheduled to last until next year, so there is plenty of time to see it.
The Museum assembled the selection of cars in close collaboration with Alfa Romeo (both the factory museum and Alfa Romeo Germany), offering an overview of the company’s history in motorsport as well as in design.
The exhibits encompass pre-war masterpieces and top models such as a 6c Mille Miglia and continue with design icons like the Montreal and rarities such as the Alfa Romeo Matta right up to the current Giulia.
The cars are gathered in smaller podiums, and the vehicles might also change as evidenced by the half-empty front podium. One of the most impressive cars of the exhibition, the Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Aerodinamica Spider was on certified leave.
It was taking the podium of the Alfa Romeo stage at Retro Classics, along with the Stelvio Q4 that broke the Nürburgring record in its class.
Iconic Brands at Retro Classics: Mercedes, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Mazda and BMW
The other car on the podium was a 1933 8c Zagato, the car from the golden age of Alfa. The 8C 2300 is considered by many to be the greatest sports and racing car of all times.
This is thanks to its dominance, not only in racing but also in the parking lots of the rich and famous.
For a lot more 8Cs, have a look at the truly impressive Alfa exhibition of Lukas Hüni at Rétromobile. They showcased some 8 different sport and race cars, including the awesome Bimotore.
Lukas Hüni honoured the 110th anniversary of Alfa Romeo at Rétromobile
The exhibition also enlisted a modern-day 8C, a 2011 8c Competizione. Built in a limited edition of just 500, the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is equipped with a 4691 cc 90° V8 engine of Ferrari origin, delivering 450 HP at 7000 rpm.
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.
The last one is a supped up 2003 Alfa 147 GTA with light retouches.
On the right side, the next line-up is a funny mix, starting with a 2019 Giulia Quadrifoglio with full decoration.
The next podium features a silver aluminium body that appears to be a project car, paired with the all-wheel-drive drivetrain of a 2004 156 Crosswagon Q4.
The two larger podiums are connected by a 1975 Alfasud race car prepared by Hähn Motorsport.
The next podium presents a rather diverse selection of all purposes from off-road military to dolce vita.
The 1953 Matta was a military car, an Italian Jeep so to speak. Originally baptised as the Alfa Romeo 1900 M, it became known by its nickname Alfa Romeo Matta (meaning “mad”).
It was conceived as a four-wheel-drive light utility vehicle for the Italian military, produced between 1951 and 1954.
Next up is a beautiful 1954 1900 Super Sprint, followed by a white 1964 2600 Sprint and another red 2600 Touring Spider from 1966.
My favourite grouping is right next, by the wall, four cars with notably racing and sports aspirations.
The first one is an early 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.
The RLTF (Targa Florio) was the race version of RL, weighing almost half of the road versions, with a refined engine. The car exposed was driven by Ugo Sivocci, who used the green cloverleaf symbol on a white background and when he won Targa Florio in 1923. That symbol was carried on by the Alfa team for the sake of good luck.
The black 1938 6c Mille Miglia is an exquisite car, to put this into financial perspective, based on past Auction results and estimates, they are valued at 2-3 million euros. And this car is in the midfield of the exhibition.
The latest car in the line was a Giulia Super with a livery to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the brand (even if the vehicle is from the ’70s).
The next stage features 4 elegant two-door cars from the ‘60s-‘70s, including a highly peculiar Montreal, introduced as a concept car in 1967 at Expo 67, held in Montreal.
The original concept car was a 2+2 coupe using the 1.6-litre engine of the Alfa Romeo Giulia TI and the short wheelbase chassis of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT, with a body designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone.
The first production car was unveiled at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show, and it was equipped with decent tech spec. The final production Montreal was using a 2593 V8 engine producing around 200 PS, taming the 2-litre V8 used in the 33 Stradale and in the Tipo 33 sports prototype race car.
The next group featured two generations of Giulias and a lively lightweight coupé, a 1600 Junior Zagato. The Alfa Junior Zagato is based on the mechanical platform of the Giulia, designed by Ercole Spada.
The car was presented at the Turin Motor Show in 1969 and offered various engines, initially with the aluminium 4-cylinder 1.3 twin-overhead camshafts up to showcased 1600, also available as a Spyder.
The centre stage featured the most impressive cars, all high-end full-breed supercars of their era. The first one is a blue 1940 6C 2500 SuperSport, with an illustration of all the logos of the company.
The Alfa Romeo 1900 C52 has the very fitting nickname Disco Volante (another cool Italian name, this time for Flying Saucer).
The name actually covers a series of experimental sports racing cars from the early ’50s. They were produced in collaboration with Milanese coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring, with a 2-litre all-alloy four-cylinder engine. For their modern take, I highly recommend a peek at last year’s Zoute Concourse:
Legends, rarities and beauties – the Zoute Concours is a truly refined car spotting experience
The car was distinguished by streamlined, wind tunnel tested spider bodywork, this coupé was reborn a year later following a conversion. Only about 4-5 vehicles exist today.
Even lower production figures can be attributed to the 1989 SE 048SP (make that name sound cool Italy… : ) ). The Alfa Romeo SE 048SP was a Group C racing car built by Alfa Romeo in the early 1990s.
The car showed the joint effort of the entire FIAT Group, building on the racing success of the Lancia LC2, and the contribution of racing specialist Abarth. Yet the car never entered a race due to the turbulent times of the Group C regulation changes.
This exhibition encompasses the entire history of the legendary company from the early 20’s to the 2019 model year with every category Alfa ever participated. The sheer size and quality of this exhibition make Sinsheim one of the best places in the world for fans of the iconic Italian brand.
Where is the iconic Alfa Romeo SZ Zagato? Conspicuous by its absence. Probably the best looking road going Alfa ever made.
I had one and it got looks wherever it went. And that beautiful V6 exhaust note is the purest ever.
I have another bad news, looking at auction bids and asking prices, you also made a bad investment decision by selling it 🙂
The SZ is a truly impressive car, must have been quite a presence in those times.
I have seen quite a few SZ specimen, all in private hands, mainly at classic car shows (the Belgian Autoworld had a lovely Zagato exhibition last year https://egzostive.com/autoworld-zagato/ ).
I suspect the reason for not having an SZ was the lack of easy access to one.